When you first visited your orthodontist...

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#1 Post by **Tsunami** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 12:51 am

Did you make any specific requests for your treatment, such as a maximum time for the treatment/specific ways to handle your teeth, or did you just let the ortho have free will over everything?

#2 Post by **tkais** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 3:18 am

I let the doctor plan my treatment. He is the professional. I know nothing about moving teeth or how long it should take. That's why I pay him.

#3 Post by **Lisa65** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 7:22 am

well I just left it to him, but after my assessment he gave me 3 treatment options. Although one was recommended over the others, the ultimate choice was mine.

1 extracting teeth to make space for reducing overjet as much as possible
2 use of mini screw implants with hopefully no extractions (recommended)
3 orthognathic surgery (he didn't really go into details but I assume it would have been a SARPE)

I went with the recommended choice of number 2!

#4 Post by **Pirate Wench** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 9:02 am

I left it up to my ortho.....He gave me the option of which braces I would like to use (ceramic or metal). He explained that invisilign would not work for me so that wasn't even in my options.

I agree with everyone else's posts.....I don't have any trainning in this area so I don't have the expertise to make my own diagnosis. I recommend that you get multiple opinions and choose the one that best suites you likes/dislikes and the ortho that you feel the most confidence in!

Good luck.

Mon Jul 31, 2006 12:07 pm

I left my treatment up to my orthodontist and still do. He is very detail oriented. The only option he gave me was to try to move my impacted canine with an estimated 50/50 chance of success or to have it pulled and get an implant. I opted to move it and am glad I did...as it was successful.

One thing I can say is that I went to the orthodontist with far less expectations then he has. I just wanted my baby tooth out and my permanent tooth there and some gaps closed up. I think I will get far more improvement then I originally expected. I never dreamed that my teeth could be as nice as the orthodontist thinks they will be.

I'm already happy with the results and I'm not even half way done!

#6 Post by **momof2grlz** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 1:00 pm

The only mandate I made about my treatment was no jaw surgery. Other than that, I told the ortho I was willing to follow his recommendations (including extractions a year into my treatment plan). I'm frustrated with how long it's taking to close my gaps, but I'm very happy with the reduction in my overjet. My ortho has a reputation as a perfectionist, so I put my teeth in his hands (so to speak)!

Chris

#7 Post by **hippyhippo** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 4:45 pm

I was given an option about orthognathic surgery, but it was strongly recommended that I get it (IOW, the results without surgery would be far from perfect).

The only special request that I'm going to try to make is to get Damon 3s on my top 8 teeth instead of just the top 6. I have a freakishly large smile that clearly displays my top 8 teeth, and I smile all the time. It's totally an aesthetic issue, so if my ortho refuses, then I'll suck it up and not complain.

#8 Post by **Dramagyrl** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 4:53 pm

The first time I went in, my ortho mentioned jaw surgery to get a feel for my reaction. He said some people are totally against it and there would be ways around it. I was open minded to it, considering that he is a professional and would make the best decision. Turned out, after the consultation, he realized I did not need the surgery.
I did however, insist on less noticable braces. I went in with the intention to have Invasilign but he talked me out of it, considering the amount of work I needed done and the cost without coverage. We settled on the clear top brackets, otherwise I've left it all up to him and just ask questions where I have them.

#9 Post by **lionfish** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 5:51 pm

At my first consult, my ortho asked what I wanted out of treatment e.g. straightening teeth alone, getting proper occlusion, etc.

I stressed that I wanted better function and some cosmetic improvement, with maximum invisibility in the form of treatment.

Like you, dramagyrl, I was initially keen on Invisalign, but was told that I was not a suitable candidate.

Having accepted the idea of braces, I was presented with linguals as an option, or a combination of linguals and ceramics (which is what I ended up getting). I was also given a braces alone option or braces and surgery option. The braces alone option (which I chose) comes with lots of elastics, which I was told would be visible.

As far as the actual treatment is concerned, I leave that entirely up to my ortho. He has the training, I do not. Being a professional person, I would expect the same respect and co-operation from a client.

#10 Post by **Granola** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 2:27 pm

At my consultation with the ortho who I ultimately chose, I requested brackets instead of bands on my molars (and one crown) and they were fine with this request.