Metal Mouth Message Board

Hello everyone and thanks for accepting me into your lovely abode of a forum.

I recently got my braces at the Harvard Dental School in Massachusetts with a student doing all the world while a faculty member checks to make sure things are done accordingly. I went there at the referral of my dentist and honestly now, I'm beginning to feel more like a guinea pig.

While there were multiple times where brackets came off and I had to go back to get them back on, however recently, I went in to get a bracket put back on my lower right quadrant premolars. The bracket seems to have been placed at an odd angle. It's difficult to describe but the bracket is more or less at a 15 degree angle downward, which in turn causes the wire to pull the tooth UP more than anything else. I mentioned this to my student orthodontist who said the tooth is not facing the right way and the angle is supposed to TURN it. However I'm quite doubtful since it's getting to a point where whenever I bite down, I feel the tooth going back down into the gum.

Pls can anyone tell me if this is really how it should be. I'm afraid at some point, I'll wake up with my tooth hanging off the wire.

Also does anyone here have any experience with their (Harvard dental school in Mass) student practice? I'm only 3 months in and could/would gladly go somewhere else if horrible final results await.

Thx for reading.

wow that sounds painful!!
i would definately say that the student knows what he is doing so dont be worried!
i haven't had much experience with a student orthdontist but when I had TADs in place, on of the students watching my orthdontist do it, had a go at screwing the TAD in my bone. It was completely painless and I would say that they know what they are doing although they need constant supervising.
Good luck!!

You'll probably not find many others here with experience in your specific practice, but likely there are others who have their orthodontia done at a teaching institution. Brackets fall off routinely for many of us especially early on. I would not worry too much about that. I have had dental work done by residents in a training program, and while they may not be as fast they certainly were very careful, and the faculty spent a lot of time with direct supervision, discussing various dental things while my mouth was hanging open. So the appointments tended to be longer than what you would probably encounter in a practice conducted by a board-certified orthodontist. Hopefully sirwired will chime in, but when teeth are moving they are going to be loose in nearly every direction so I am not surprised at what you are experiencing with your premolar. In my estimation from afar, you are getting excellent care. Those guys at Harvard probably know what they are doing. Best of luck to you.

Hi - My quick response is that if you have a concern about how that tooth is responding, just give the clinic a call and describe the situation. If it's alarming, they'll have you come in and if not, your mind will be at ease.

Beyond that, I wouldn't let the fact that it's a university clinic add to your concerns. First, always remember that the "student" has already completed their four years of dental school, so they're a full blown dentist just like your regular dentist. If you were being treated at a private practice, you'd find that the orthodontist spends less time in your mouth than the assistant does. So, not to oversimplify, but instead of having your private practice ortho parachute in to check on progress before giving instructions to the assistant about what he wants done - and then the assistant does all of the work except for bracket placement - you have a very experienced ortho/faculty member monitoring progress, approving the treatment steps, and then the already-a-dentist ortho resident does all of the work.

Lastly, you might find this research piece helpful: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15953896

The summary conclusion was that there was no significant difference in the overall quality of orthodontic treatment outcomes between patients treated in university programs and private practices. Just as in choosing a private practice, if you have confidence in the abilities and experience of the overseeing ortho/faculty member, then you're in good hands.

I just wanted to add that although I don't have my braces on yet, I have had dental treatment done at a dental school before. Although students operate the clinic, all work is overseen by the professors, many or whom have considerably more experience than your average suburban dentist / ortho. They will have a requirement to attend conferences, commit to ongoing learning and research in order to maintain their position. So rest assured that your treatment plan and overall progress is reviewed by very experienced clinicians