"SEVERE?"

Yesterday I took Ethan to the orthodontist for a consultation. As the doctor was evaluating him he mentioned that Ethan had a severe overbite. Ethan immediately responded, "SEVERE?" as if he was offended by this observation. The doctor explained that anything over 7 or 8 mm is considered severe and Ethan's overbite is 10 mm so it is in fact considered to be severe. Ethan shook his head in disbelief, "I can't believe my overbite is severe!" The doctor then reassured Ethan that it was okay and that it was definitely fixable.

I found his reaction to be so funny. When we got in the car to take Ethan back to school the first thing he said was, "I can't believe that he said my overbite is severe!"

And then in the evening when David got home from work the first thing he said to David was, "Dad, did you know that I have a severe overbite?"

YES! You have an overbite! AND IT'S SEVERE!

You know that Ethan has always known that he has an overbite. They have mentioned it multiple times with every new dentist he has ever been to. They always ask if he was a thumb sucker, which he was not. He had to go to speech therapy for something like 6 years to help him learn to speak correctly because of his overbite. I guess that's why this is so funny to me. Something about Ethan hearing someone tell him that his problem is in fact severe is so shocking to him. As if a severe overbite is worse than just having an overbite. It's still an overbite! The same overbite he's always had... nothings changed!

So needless to say Ethan is an excellent candidate for braces. He will be getting his spacers on today and a full set of braces next Wednesday.