Update! I am very excited to let you know....

[smf1971]

UPDATE! I am a very excited mom! My "now" 8 year old daughter finally faced her fear and got her expander in last week! It took a couple of times going to the orthodontist but she finally got it put in! Her pediatrician told us to desensitize her by taking a spoon and laying it in her mouth. So, I would take her and have her lay on the floor in our living room and sit at her head and pretend that she was at the orthodontist and pretend to be putting in her bands and having her bite down on the spoon handle then go on the to the next tooth and the next doing the same thing. I layed the spoon upside down and stuck it up to the roof of her mouth so that she had a feeling of something in there and had her swollen a couple of times. I also took my finger and touched the roof of her mouth. This all is suppose to help with her gag reflex and being familiar with someone playing in her mouth. As a mom, I will try almost anything to help out my daughter so that she can face her fear of the orthodontist and help her to get this going! So, I just wanted to share with you our update. The next challange is cleaning the darn thing! Thank goodness for waterpiks! So, thank you to all that have given me advice! It really helps knowing that we are all going through this together and knowing that I can come here to this message board and find help/advise from all of you!

[haudenosaunee]

Now next step is cleaning process.
First do this process as early as possible.
Thanks for sharing.

[haudenosaunee]

Now next step is cleaning process.
First do this process as early as possible.
Thanks for sharing.

[sauerkraut]

Sorry it's taken a while to respond, smf1971, but well done to you and your daughter.

The trick with the spoon sounds like a good one. I shall remember that as I can imagine I might need it for my son.