Lost faith in my daughter's ortho (Update)

Message

#16 Post by **badbite** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 10:07 am

I am suprised the ortho didn't say anything about the cavities. They are obvious to me, and I know very little about teeth.

You' d think that he would have tried to smooth the bonding out after seeing the plaque build up. Or at the very least told you to take her to the dentist for a cleaning right away.

Maybe you could take her to the ortho you used so he could take a look.

#17 Post by **katmc_tx** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 10:39 am

I have to agree that the cavities are very plain to see and probably have been around for a while. I also agree that the bonding is quite excessive and did not look like what I had when I had my metal braces.

I also have bad teeth(have had quite a few fillings, crowns and root canals done). I was very very careful of what I put in my mouth while I had my braces on. I love love love candy but I can say I only ate it a handful of times and everytime I drank OJ, soda, juice, wine pretty much anything but water I used a straw. Maybe you should tell your daughter to use a straw and instruct her not to pull in the beverage straight to her teeth but into her mouth.

Good Luck to you and your daugther.

#18 Post by **jennielee81** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 1:59 pm

Thanks again, Rory. The dentist has them pulling the brackets off of 7 & 10 as well for further investigation.

I will certainly use the words, "plaque trap" when they rebond them. I will ask them to be very careful with the cement clean up to avoid plaque traps. That should avoid any personal accusations or defensiveness on either side..

I periodically oversee her brushing and I showed her how to floss last month. I assumed that she was taught how by the ortho, but she (and my other kids said he doesn't do that). She, being my 3rd child, I tend to forget that she is just a kid because she's so mature and doesn't need supervision doing anything...except brushing.

I'm on this like a beagle on a hotdog!!!

#19 Post by **Miss Smiley** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 2:14 pm

Oooooooooh I use a straw for almost everything I drink besides water. It doesn't look too cool when I'm drinking my beer out of a straw.

When I saw the pics, I was surprised to see how much of the flash wasn't cleaned away. Also, I'm very thankful that my ortho has no problem lecturing his patients about not brushing well enough, drinking too much of anything beisdes water, or any little bit of plaque/tartar build up even if it is right before a dental cleaning. You poor daughter must be sad, thinking that braces would give her a lovely smile and ended up giving her some cavities along the way.

#20 Post by **jennielee81** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 2:24 pm

rsprouse wrote:
KK wrote:The bonding is interesting Jenn. I'm sure there must be a reason to leave so much bonding resin exposed ...
No, probably not a good reason

Best,
Rory

There -in lies my concerns!!!!!

#21 Post by **Clo** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 12:37 am

I too think all happened because of this very badly glued brackets. When they glue
brackets, there is always an excess of it that they remove using a small pinlike tool.
They did not do that for your daughter. This looks indeed quite messy. Even more,
this is just unacceptable. Ok, in the beginning of the treatment, all is clean and new.
The glue is almost invisible and it is hard to see where there are places that can
become a problem. But after some time it gets ... less clean. They certainly opened
the door widely for this to happen. This shouldn't have happened if they would have
done a better job. Like you said, you are indeed in the middle of this. But it is NOT
your fault. Only the ortho of your daughter is the culprit.

#22 Post by **Miss Smiley** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 11:22 am

Yeah, I'd probably have had to pull all my teeth ended up in dentures.... This was caught early enough to save the teeth.

#23 Post by **jennielee81** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 1:10 pm

I had a message from my dentist on my machine when I got home. She actually called the ortho's office herself to coordinate appointments. She said I shouldn't have to go between them both to get something worked out so she's just going to handle the date and times so we can get this done in 1 day.

ALSO, she said when the ortho's office calls back, she's going to make sure they understand that the excess cement is completely unacceptable and lead to the formation of these cavities. That they need to clean up the rebonding of brackets better.

WOOHOO! I don't have to deal with that myself. BUT, I will seriously inspect things before we leave. I also will not take any excuses for leaving that flash on there.

#24 Post by **Koolmama** » Fri Oct 26, 2007 8:34 am

Hi Jennie, i'm just curious... can you remember if the bonding was done by the ortho himself or the assistant??

i recall reading somewhere also that having too much cement between the brackets and the teeth isn't good because it affects the torque of each tooth (i.e. the way it becomes positioned individually along the arch)...

#25 Post by **jennielee81** » Fri Oct 26, 2007 2:44 pm

The ortho did the bonding himself. In that office, he does all the work, the assistant hands him things and reminds him of stuff.

#26 Post by **jennielee81** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 2:05 pm

Got my daughter's fillings on her upper tooth today. Turns out the one on her left wasn't a cavity yet. The 3rd suspicious tooth was also not a cavity. The one cavity was only surface and was filled without novicane AND the bonding is flawless. She wasn't traumatized at all

But it cost me $130!

I am still annoyed because:
1. she won't be getting the brackets and wire back on for at least 3 weeks..can't seem to fit her in !

I don't believe that!!!

2. We asked why they had left so much cement on them (while pointing it out) and the ortho said that my daughter had complained that it was hurting so he quit. UH DUDE, you tell her it'll only take a few more seconds and to just hang on and FINISH THE JOB!

My dentist picked the flash from around all of her other brackets at the appointment today and told me to bring her back in after they rebond the brackets and she'll pick it off of those three as well.

#27 Post by **Betho** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 2:59 pm

Wowee I've been reading your story and I'm terribly sorry for all the trouble you've been through with your daughter's treatment. It sounds like things are starting to fall into place though. That ortho is nuts! That was a crummy bonding job and he knew it!

It's nice that your dentist is keeping tabs on things, though dishing out the dough for fillings is never pleasant, especially when they aren't your daughter's fault!

Hang in there!

#28 Post by **jennielee81** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 3:26 pm

Thanks for your support, Betho!!!!!

I do have to take some of the blame here though. I will NEVER put off her 6 month prophylactic appointments again. Or any of my kid's check ups.

My family dentist is the absolute best. I was at a Christmas party a few years ago with a few dozen ladies and we got around to talking about dentists and I said how I had the BEST dentist in Maryland and they argued that their dentists were better. There were 5 of us in this (friendly debate) defending our dentists as the best but a good 10 were involved in the discussion....turns out we all (the 5 of us) had the same dentist!!! none of the other 5 thought their dentist was worthy of that support.

I am a little worried because she (my dentist) and her hubby are a few years older than I am, so there is a good chance they will retire before I am finished needing their services. We had a good chat about this today at Cara's appointment.

My kids'll have to find their own fantastic dentist.

#29 Post by **jennielee81** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 3:43 pm

What a pathetic excuse.

You said it!

#30 Post by **ilovemacs** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 5:25 pm

Good Luck, with the end of this journey!