Braces for Impact

I never really had a lot of dental work done as a kid. Partially, because I didn't have significant issues (one remaining crooked tooth aside), and partially because at one point growing up, we just didn't have money to go to the dentist for, I don't know, about ten years-ish. At one point before the well dried up (or maybe the well dried up because of this), two of my siblings were fitted for retainers, the kind with the key you have to crank to force your teeth to behave (much like Austin Powers), and my sister even had the full headgear at one point, which for some reason I had completely forgotten about and was only recently made aware of through the magic of family home movies.

That is to say, I've never had too much experience with extensive dental work or invasive appliances or procedures, aside from a pulled tooth or two and having the old wisdom teeth removed. My daughter, on the other hand, was inducted into the sorority of orthodontic metal gear just a few days after getting back from a last hurrah of junk food at Great Wolf Lodge. To her credit, Kaiya took the news like a champ, and even seemed kind of excited by the prospect. It helped that some of her friends had already had their smiles brace-ified, so I can only assume the zen attitude was at least in part due to human norms of socialization and having an in-group to validate the change. I guess it also helps that they've made braces "fun" now, and you get to pick your own colours.