Well, the 10-year-old Chattering gets braces put on his teeth today. What's interesting is that there's no stigma to having metal in your mouth these days because so many kids have braces, and in our case, they all go to the same orthodontist, which creates a very cozy community. The children support each other through the process: "Oh, you're getting yours today? Wow!" The kids also seem thrilled that they get to choose the colors of their rubber bands, etc. I'd say the field of orthodontic care has made great psychological advancements.
This morning I phoned our osteopath/homeopath to discover which homeopathic remedies are best for managing whatever temporary discomfort my son might experience. Something called Cal-fluor is supposed to be the best for "aching, gnawing discomfort stemming from tension in teeth and jaw from the tightening of the [braces,]" according to Colin Griffith's "The Companion to Homeopathy: The Practitioner's Guide."
Here's a website that outlines which remedies are best for other dental issues.
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I wonder if this would be useful for those of us who grind our teeth at night.
Kathy--I'll look into this for you. While in bar mitzvah training, our thirteen-year-old also started to grind his teeth at night. The pain seems to have stopped for now. But I suspect osteopaths and cranial-sacral therapists would be of greatest help long-term. As to homeopathy, it would be impossible to say what to take, as each person's constitution might require a different remedy. Yours truly, CM