Mouth and School

Yes, it's going to be hard for her to talk for a while. She will eventually adjust her mouth to talk better, though it will still be different than her regular voice.

Give her Tylenol and send her to school. When she gets adjustments later on to her braces, she'll be sore, and you don't want her to always think that she gets to stay home from school because her mouth is sore.

Good luck!
Dawn

I had 7 teeth pulled in preparation for braces. I also had a palate expander before I got braces. It was cemented to my teeth and basically made the roof of my mouth flat across. It was very very hard to eat and speak. I had to expand it daily for 6 weeks then wear it for another 6 months. During the expansion phase I had to get up for school an hour early every day because expanding it was so horribly excruciating. I cried and trembled as I did it each morning, then had to have time to pull myself together and let the teary redness leave my eyes before getting on the bus.

It was far from fun, most definitely not a fond memory or good experience, but this is the age everyone is getting orthodontic work done. She should wear all dental appliances exactly as directed, and maintain all her usual activities as much as possible. Dropping out of life is not a positive way to cope with a challenge. She'll adjust much much quicker, and get better longer lasting results, if she just has to suck it up and be tough from day 1.

It is impossible for her to understand this perspective now, but as an adult she will be glad you spent the $ to fix her teeth at the appropriate time of her life.

She should wear it as the doctor instructs her to.
Wearing it inconsistently will make her treatment last longer and will make the pain last longer.
Give her some Tylenol and send her to school.
She'll adjust to the plate just fine in a few days.
When they eventually take it out, she'll feel strange that her mouth has so much room.
I had 7 years of braces (5th grade through 11th grade - I thought I'd never be rid of them) - I went to school with all kinds of hardware in my mouth.
I had rubber bands all over (in 6 places) from top to bottom and I was always snapping them when I was in chorus just by opening my mouth to sing.
Braces are a lot easier now than they were 40 years ago.
My son finished up his in 2 years and I'm so glad he never had to go through what I went through.

I had a plate, retainer, and braces. She'll learn to adjust. I wouldn't keep her home from school for it. Her mouth may be a little sore, but it's not what I would call painful. My mom would have to crank the plate ever day for me and it would be sore after a cranking. Just give her some soft foods for lunch. Applesauce is a good bet. Yogurt. Lunch meat not on bread. (Bread and mashed potatoes will be a little difficult for her to adjust to initially).

If she just got the plate yesterday, Id MAYBE keep her home a day (to adjust), but certainly send her to school after that.

Maybe, because school is distracting, so that can help.

Kids TEASE everything. Let her stay home and learn to speak with it for a day. Make sure that she does some homework that she may review from her backpack. A day of at home will be more appreciated than a day of teasing at school for mispronounciations.

By "plate" I think you mean maybe a palate expander? Do you have to adjust it periodically?

Anyway, my son had that and actually enjoyed the novelty of not making certain sounds right. He recited the alphabet and I remember that X and Q were hard.

I think sending her to school and back to normal activities as soon as possible is a good thing. You can adjust her foods as needed, and if food gets stuck in there, she can always go to the nurse for some help. Zillions of kids have braces and deal with it through distraction and occasional tylenol which the orthodontist can authorize for the school nurse. It's just not a big deal for them and it's best if parents can be responsive to initial discomfort but get them back into the groove quickly.

My reply is probably way too late for you in terms of school, but hope it helps.

I wore headgear at night. Is this thing removable? Perhaps you could ask the orthodontist if she could just wear it at night?

For the pain, I suggest some Tylenol. It's going to ache. If it's "excruciating," I'd say that the adjustments are too drastic. Slow down.

If the plate is removable (like headgear), I would suggest letting her go to school without it, but making sure she wears it all the time outside of school.