Grillz

Brandon finally got his long-anticipated crown today. It wasn’t as glamorous as he thought and it’s so far back in his mouth that you really can’t see it unless he shows it to you. Which is totally not what he wanted. He wanted a “grill” or maybe it’s “grillz” – evidently a solid metal retainer-like thing worn over the front teeth for style or shock value. Probably just for shock value and another way to show off some “bling.”

See, I’m getting old and I’m not “with it” anymore. Back in the day I hated my retainer. So I can’t really relate with the whole grillz idea. However, I think my shiny silver braces would have counted as “grillz” and they were definitely not the “in” thing to have. But they straightened my teeth and I am very thankful for them, even if I had to endure headgear, tiny rubber bands and getting food stuck in my braces. A small price to pay for straight teeth today. (I was not so sure at age 13.)

Brandon’s a little sore, but I think mostly that’s from the filling he had on the same side of his mouth. He tried to talk the dentist into a gold crown, but he had to get a stainless steel one. This crown should last until he’s an adult. (Then he can pay for his own gold crown or grillz or whatever.)

So the majority of Brandon’s dental work is done now, except for the root canal he needs to have sometime this summer. Yes, he has to have a root canal. Poor guy. The good news is only a few of his teeth had enamel damage (due to high fevers as a baby we assume) and not all of them, like we were told previously. Our goal is to just make it from cleaning to cleaning without any major holes appearing in his molars. We had them sealed today, so I hope (and so does Brandon) that better dental days are ahead.