Girl’s New Smile Doesn’t Fade Despite Need for Braces

Now she needs braces.

The Palmdale girl who spent nearly eight years of her life unable to smile because of a congenital birth defect and underwent three operations to correct the condition is finally able to visibly express her joy. But now, her parents noticed that her teeth are crooked.

“Now that she can smile, you can really tell she needs braces,” Lori Thomas said.

“That’s the next step,” sighed Thomas, mother of 7-year-old Chelsey, who gave the first full smile of her life about two days ago, about six weeks after completion of the second of two microvascular surgeries performed at a hospital in Woodland Hills.

The operations, done at Kaiser Permanente’s Woodland Hills Medical Center, were covered by the Thomases’ health insurance policy.

The braces won’t come so cheaply.

But this week, when Chelsey looked in the mirror and realized that the upward tilt at both sides of her mouth represented something more than a simper, something stronger than a smirk, the braces didn’t seem like a big deal.

“I’m not looking forward to it,” admitted Chelsey, taking a break from playing with friends Tuesday afternoon. “But I don’t mind going to the dentist.”

A trip to the orthodontist isn’t really that scary, said Chelsey, who has had plenty of trips to doctors’ offices over the years.

Chelsey was born with Moebius syndrome, a rare condition that impairs use of her facial muscles, causes hearing and speech problems and other medical difficulties.

And no dentist could dampen her spirits anyway. She has just achieved her lifelong dream of smiling before her eighth birthday, which is on June 29.

“I smile at my mom when I go to bed at night,” Chelsey said. “I’m going to smile at everybody.”