Kathleen is likely to need braces. Her orthodontist diagnosed this over a year ago and he’s just waiting for the baby teeth to finish their run.

He also spotted an abnormality last year and referred her to an oral surgeon. It was thought she might have a cyst.

Xrays at the time were inconclusive, so the surgeon asked to see her again in 12 months.

That was today. The xrays now suggest she has a supernumary tooth. That is basically an extra tooth growing in the wrong place.

The surgeon wants to extract this, but intends to wait until the orthodontist decides if some teeth need to be pulled to stop overcrowding, in which case he’ll do everything together.

It might be another year before this happens. It will involve an operation under general anaesthetic.

Our private health insurance will come in handy for this. It might still cost us $1000, but the financial damage would have been much worse otherwise.

Kathleen is pretty relaxed about it all.