The Mouths of Sauron

It was time for some dental attention. John found a great clinic (there are many choices) a few months ago when a chipped tooth needed repairing, to we thankfully knew where to make the appointment.

As a mother, I struggle to find the balance between giving my children autonomy (with consequences) versus hovering around to make sure they do everything "right." I'm much more on the autonomy side, which sounds brave but ends up biting me in the rump on occasion.

So personal hygiene is not a priority for some members of our household (cough cough HANK! cough cough JACK!). The dentist, who was excellent in everyway, painted their teeth with this pink stuff which sticks to plaque--you know those pills that American dentists make kids chew for the same reason? Same stuff, just in paint form. So she painted their teeth, had them rise, and then showed them...where their teeth were pink, plaque was present. The darker the pink, the thicker the plaque.

I took pictures of each of them, John printed them out in 8X10 COLOR format, and these are now taped to their bathroom mirror:

They think it's pretty funny, but when I see the photos and their teeth, this is what I think of:

UGH.

Now it is also time for Hank to get on with the "braces process."  We've had our consultation with a well-recommended and well-qualified orthodontist, and we have our plan...now we just need to get the molds done and set the process in action...which involves an up-front payment of...UGH.  More on that to come.