A Salute to Orthadontia

Orthodontics Phase I:
Age: 5 years
Concern: Severe cross bite and narrow upper jaw creating a 'duck bill' protrution of her front teeth.
Plan: Series of permanent appliances and removable retainers that will widen the upper jaw and help correct the cross bite in hopes of avoiding jaw surgery later on.
Cost: $1800.00

Orthodontics Phase II:
Age: 7 years
Concern: Continued cross bite but, also, widening the upper jaw has created spacing that needs to be addressed in order for perminent teeth to come in properly.
Plan: Braces on top teeth, continued permanent appliance in upper jaw.
Cost: $2200.00


Orthodontics Phase III:
Age: 9 years
Concerns: While the upper jaw has shown significant improvement and most spacing issues are resolved, potential surgery is still probable. Spacing also needs to be retained until all perminant teeth are in place. Perminant teeth that have grown in so far are HUGE, needing more space than previously expected.
Plan: A new series of perminent retainers that will hold the spacing in place while perminent teeth come in and continue widening the jaw to allow room for the teeth.
Cost: $1600.00

Orthodontics Phase IV:
Age: 13 years
Concerns: Perminent teeth are in and jaw has widened nicely, but teeth are not straight and alignment between top and bottom teeth is not matching up. Surgery is still a possibility.
Plan: Full braces on top and bottom teeth with continual rubber band placements that will hopefully forgo surgery to expand upper jaw with plates, screws and implants.
Cost: $4,000.00

But results like this...

Priceless!

Check out the Cover for Blackberry Crumble

Shauna Gibby at Deseret Book never ceases to amaze me. She's come up with yet another fabulous cover and I couldn't wait to share it! Blackberry Crumble will hit stores in March of 2011.

“Modern Miss Marple: A Magnet for Murder?”

by Jane Seeley, feature reporter, The Denver Post

Local “celebrity” Sadie Hoffmiller has been involved in a number of unfortunate situations that have taken her to crime scenes from London, England, to Miami, Florida, and even in her own backyard of Garrison, Colorado. But is she truly an unwitting bystander in all these investigations? Or is she something more? Is she, perhaps, even the cause . . . ?
***

The word is out about Sadie Hoffmiller’s amateur detective work, but it’s not the kind of publicity Sadie wants. When Jane’s article threatens Sadie’s reputation in the community, she accepts her first investigation-for-hire and travels to Portland, Oregon—if only to give herself some space from her whispering neighbors. And from Pete, who's sending her mixed signals about their budding relationship.
Sadie hopes the Portland air will clear her head, and she is eager to get to work for May Sanderson, who has suspicions about her father’s untimely death. Putting her detective skills to the test, Sadie delves into a complicated past that includes a business partnership that didn’t end well, several unsavory family secrets, and more than a few motives for murder.
Sadie is afraid she might crumble under the pressure, but in a new place with new recipes, she finds herself more determined than ever to uncover the answers buried in scandal, insatiable appetites, and pure and simple greed.