His teeth are terrible...Job 41:14

J approved the use of these photos. He thought the text above was a perfect description of his mouth. He's had the high-pull head gear for just over a week now and he is doing great with it. The first day or so his teeth were quite sore, but they are ok now. He's getting to be quite a pro at putting on this contraption by himself...even without a mirror sometimes.

First he inserts the metal thingie in the brackets on his top molars. Then he puts on the other part and hooks up the side straps.
The ortho said he needs to wear it twenty hours a day for the next year. Then his teeth should be less terrible and ready for 2nd phase of treatment.

We had our last visit with the speech therapist yesterday. He praised J for being so quick to pick up new skills such as whistling and gargling. His current jaw placement had made it easy for his tongue to rest against his top teeth. With the therapist, we have spent the last several weeks working on exercises to correct that tongue thrust habit. He's learned a whole new way of swallowing AND slurping. Yay!