A New Way to Chew

As many of you know, my son got braces not too long ago. Yesterday, he had an appointment which added another appliance in his mouth. It actually prevents his molars from coming together to bite, so that they can be moved back. This is the new way to do things. When I was a kid getting braces, I had to have a bunch of teeth pulled. That's not how they do it now.

Anyway, the boy came home and wanted to have lunch. He quickly found that he couldn't chew. The plastic covering the roof of his mouth was too much to deal with. And his teeth hurt.

"I can't eat!" he complained. "This is really bad, because eating is something I used to like to do."

"Well, you'll just have to figure something out," I said. "You're not the first person to have a appliance like that in your mouth."

He frowned and tore his sandwich into teeny tiny bits. After an hour, he finished it, but he wasn't happy.

"I know what I need," he said.

"What do you need?" I asked.

"Dentures."

"Dentures?" I couldn't imagine why he'd need those.

"I'll make the dentures chew the food before I put it in my mouth. Then all I have to do is swallow."

Genius!