Brackets on Julieanne

Yesterday Julieanne got her 'brackets' as they say or braces as we would say. They are only on the top and as you can see, white rather than metal. Just before we moved she was about to have braces put on so we obviously put that on hold. After a few phone calls over here I learned there are three orthodontists within an hour's drive and a 2.5 year waiting list if you go with the National Health System (free health care...sort of) or you can pay privately and get in in six months. The moral to the story is if you are looking for a good career option, try orthodontics in Cumbria especially if you love the great outdoors such as hiking, biking, climbing, etc.

Another interesting dental tid bit is they don't clean your teeth. I'm sure we're hyper about our image in the States but I thought dental cleanings were more preventative than image driven. We signed up and paid our 'private' fee to see a dentist (they are severely short handed in the dental dept. up here) only to have them examine our mouths. I was a bit amazed when they said the appointment only took 10 minutes for kids and 20 for adults. Don't get me wrong, the equipment and training seem totally modern and up to the same standards we're used to it's just they don't seem to use them as much as we do. At the end of the examination I asked when we had our teeth cleaning appointment only to be informed that, "We don't clean teeth unless needed or you want to pay the additional cleaning fee." To which I asked, "How is that preventative?" she said, "We educate on good oral care and examine the mouth twice a year." Well, no wonder so many people's teeth over here are brown! (You'll be glad to know, I only thought that and didn't speak it) So we just paid a lot of money to have our teeth examined and Nathan educated on oral care - which of course he seriously needed.