My soon-to-be ortho has bad reviews!!!!

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#1 Post by **Emetic** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 4:05 am

Now I'm freaked out about getting braces.

After pestering my very anti-doctor/dentist parents to have me go to the dentist for a check-up and cleaning, I lucked out and was told I had gingivitis and no cavities. After the cleaning, I flossed my teeth everyday for 5 months and now the gingivitis is gone. The dental hygienist has been helping me convince my parents to get me braces and it's working. I'm 19 by the way.

However, my parents aren't willing to check out any other orthodontists in the area. The dental hygienist reccommended Dr. S because he did all of her kids teeth and after my mother found out he only lives 3 minutes from our house, my parents have their mind made up that Dr. S will be our orthodontist. And they haven't even met him yet.

Why am I freaked out? I went to DoctorOogle.com and typed Dr. S in the search engine and read some of the reviews there. There's 5 reviews--3 good, 2 bad (and much more detailed than the good reviews).

Here's one of the bad reviews:

I found Dr. S's chair-side manners rather rude. We had just moved to the area and my son needed follow on care. When I asked Dr. S's questions about further treatment to educate myself, he became snippy and wanted to know if I was the orthodontist. We did not return and after I told his office staff of my disappointment at his behavior, they apologized and commented he sometimes does that. The ladies at the front desk were pleasant but that was the only positive outcome.

What would you do if you were me? Would you go for a consultation anyway? Should I show my parents the reviews? I'm afraid if I show them the reviews, they'll pull the rug right from under my feet and decide to not get braces because they're too lazy to find anyone else. Ugh.

#2 Post by **IzzyCharm** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 5:04 am

Not to sound stupid but if you are 19 why do your parents have to get you braces? You're an "adult" and should be able to pick who you want to work on your teeth. For me I personally don't take other people's word for it on stuff like this. I say go and meet him and see how he treats YOU. If you don't like it then go find another ortho. My mom is VERY anti orthodontics and still doesn't get why I'm getting braces now but I had to do what was best for me.

#3 Post by **Lisa65** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 5:25 am

Who is going to be paying for this treatment? You or your parents? If it's you then you have the right to see who you choose.
If however your parents are paying then I guess you might need to be a little more circumspect. Even so, at 19 you should be able to have an opinion as to who you choose to treat you.

Perhaps take the tack that if they are going to be paying for expensive treatment for you, then obviously you want the best possible result so that they aren't wasting their money. It's definitely worth getting more than one consultation and it could be that this Dr S IS the best one for you.

Having a poor chairside manner doesn't necessary mean he's a bad orthodontist, plus it could be that the attitude of the person writing that review somehow got Dr S's back up and caused him to react as he did.

#4 Post by **Emetic** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 5:27 am

They don't have to get me braces, but I can't afford them on my own right now. I plan on paying them back with interest later on in time. That's one of the reasons they agreed to it--that, and the dental hygienist begged them to do it now because she could tell I was really insecure about my teeth.

Other than that, there's a lot more to it than that. I'd check out some other orthos myself if I could, but I don't have a car and I depend on my parents right now because of my BDD. I understand what you're saying about me being an adult and picking my own ortho, but I wouldn't be getting the braces this soon if it weren't for them and I have to go with whatever decision they make because, although I plan to pay them back eventually, it's still their money. I can choose to wait a very long time to afford it myself, but I REALLY want to get this over with, if you know what I mean.

I think I'll take your advice and see him and see how things go. After that, if I think he sounds rude or incompetent, I'll mention the bad reviews to my parents again and try to find someone else to go to. Unfortunately the one guy I really want to go to is too far away. He had over 5 perfect reviews at Dr.Oogle.

How did you find your current ortho?

#5 Post by **Emetic** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 5:36 am

Lisa...
They're paying for treatment, but I've agreed to give them the money back when I can afford it.

Hopefully you're right about Dr. S. I started thinking that maybe the reason he got the bad review is because her son was already in the middle of treatment somewhere else and maybe he wanted to do things differently than the other guy? Either way, it makes me very anxious about the consultation because I ask a lot of questions myself and I'd hate to have him get snippy with me about that. I don't think it's very professional what he did, but hopefully there's more to it than the reviewer is letting on.

#6 Post by **broochie** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 6:15 am

Emetic,

In understand your concerns and I think you're right to be wondering. Getting braces is a long and costly process. It can produce wonderful results, or a disaster, so it's something that needs to be tackled carefully. Yes, it is a good idea to check-out several orthos before picking one. But as you seem very dependent on your parents' good will, I agree with the previous posts. I would go see that ortho. Write down questions you want to ask him during the consultation and see how comfortable you feel with him. And Lisa65 is right: having poor manners is a shame, but he could still be a very good ortho. As to the one who got 5 good reviews, can't you at least organize one consultation with him and go there by bus or something? Maybe after you check him out, if you really like him, you could convince your parents?
Finally, this board is definitely the place to get information, advice, and support. Hang in there, and let us know what happens!

#7 Post by **ghostmyimag3** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 9:09 am

What was said before is right, reviews don't always tell the whole story. They only tell the authors view of what happen. Besides she could have been telling him what to do to her son's mouth and that may have not been the best thing for his treatment. I found my ortho on a whim. I was looking for invisalign providers and called several. By the attitudes of the secretaries i chose mine. Some were too impatient on the phone and my orthodontist's wife is the secretary and it has a home atmosphere. When i walked in i felt comfortable. Thats only something you can experience by actually going in and meeting them. My orthodontist said metal braces were the way to go to correct my mouth and no extractions would be made. He also found a cavity that my previous dentist had disregarded 5 months prior and had taken xrays even. The cavity had been there for longer than 5 months. Make sure they are thorough in your examinations as well.
If you are not comfortable talk to your parents about a second opinion. I understand it was difficult to come this far. Some orthodontist recommend different treatment plans. For instance a instructor at the college i work at is getting braces and one ortho wants to remove teeth and the other does not. Also one is more expensive than the other. All things you should consider right along with being comfortable and being able to communicate to your orthodontist.

#8 Post by **cowlypso** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 10:06 am

People can definitely have very different experiences at the same office.

I went to an office and had the most awful experience. Ranks right up there in my top three worst dental experiences ever. I won't go back, even though it would save me roughly $1000 to use them rather than anybody else due to insurance issues. But to me, it's just not worth it. They were rude, incompetent (at least in certain areas), and made me wait forever (1.5 hours).

My friend has been going there and absolutely loves them. She says that everybody is always very nice, she's never had to wait long, and they are very good with working with her.

So, who knows. Maybe I just caught them on a bad day. Maybe I saw different staff than she usually does. But we both went to exactly the same office and had completely opposite experiences.

#9 Post by **nico07** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 10:43 am

I chose a different ortho be/c the first one I visited had a terrible bed side manner, an absolute jerk. I'm sensitive and wouldn't want to put up with that for 2+ years.

That being said, go see the guy and see how you like him.

I was 23 when I got braces and my parents paid for it. It was 75% covered by insurance, but they're my teeth and I think it was important to do what's best for me (not that my parents objected).

#10 Post by **bbsadmin** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 3:58 pm

FYI, you may want to know that Dr. Ooogle is not a free service. Dentists pay to be listed:

Participation Benefits:

DR.Oogle is The Good Dentist Guide. It allows patients to post reviews, ratings and recommendations for their dental practitioners nationwide.
New patients who are looking for high quality of dental care may consider your practice because of your word-of-mouth reputation published on DR.Oogle.

Your existing patients who read positive reviews posted about you may also be encouraged in their continuing selection of you as their orthodontist.

Your patients' feedback on DR.Oogle is internal marketing that gets out!

Participation Terms:

Monthly subscription fees are calculated automatically and may change from time to time depending on your listing traffic popularity and practice promotion benefits.

Monthly listing fee: $29.95/month.

Subscription Term: 3 months. Subscription will auto-renew unless cancelled.

Changed your mind? Cancel before the fifteenth day of the month and pay nothing for unused future months.
Upon cancellation your practice listing will be removed.

Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How many new patient referrals for me do you guarantee?

A: DR.Oogle does not guarantee any patient referrals. While DR.Oogle tries to ensure that your practice is fairly represented, we do not pre-screen or control the content of new patient reviews that may be posted for your practice. Should you receive negative patient reviews from your patients your practice promotion benefits from DR.Oogle may diminish or completely cease. Additionally, if other Belmont orthodontists receive better patient ratings than you your practice promotion benefits may be affected.

#11 Post by **Emetic** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 2:26 am

Thanks for the replies everyone! I'm relieved to see that a few people would still give Dr. S a chance so I'll do that and see how things go. I just kind of wish my parents weren't so lazy/trusting when it comes to these things, considering it's my teeth and facial profile that will have to endure the consequences of whatever decision they decide to make.

#12 Post by **Rickysa** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 8:03 am

Just so everbody knows.....That "Dr. S" isn't me

Dr. S

#13 Post by **Chris** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 8:27 am

Just so everbody knows.....That "Dr. S" isn't me
Dr. S

Just remember, you are "married" to this ortho once you sign the contract until after retention and the "honeymoon" period is short.

#14 Post by **venusasaboy** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 3:02 pm

I know exactly what you mean because I am now 19 and got braces at 17 and it took years to convince my dad to let me get them. My dad made me go to like 15 ortho's before we chose one just to get opinions and pricing. I would tell your parents that you should call the insurance company and get a bunch other referals so they can see all the different treatment plans, the timing of how long you'd have braces, and also other places might even be cheaper which is good for you and them! Definitly tell them that. Because you should always get at least 3 opinions before you choose an orthodontist because they always have different ways of doing things. Some might say you need teeth pulled and others might say you do not. You know what I mean? So despite bad reviews, it's good just to check around anyway since it's a lot of money. Would your parents just pick some random car to buy one day? Haha without checking to see the good and bads of it or if they could get the car somewhere else cheaper? No! So they shouldn't do it with an orthodontist if that makes any sense hehehe

well good luck with everything but just remember if all else fails, just because the doctor is rude (which does suck) it doesn't mean he doesn't do really good work. Give him a chance!

#15 Post by **Lisa65** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 2:52 am

Just remember, you are "married" to this ortho once you sign the contract until after retention and the "honeymoon" period is short

marrying your ortho.......hmmmmm could be a good way to get a discount!