looking for advice on choosing ortho

[smurfette]

Hi all ... and very Happy Holidays to you!!

I've been reading stuff on this site since the summer or so, and I know you all have some great advice ... so I'm asking anyone who might be able to help to give me some of that great advice

Here goes:

I believe I have an overbite and an overjet, no dentist ever told me I need braces, but I think they always thought it ... it's pretty obvious to me.

I've seen four orthodontists for consults and I'm trying to decide who to go with or if I should go for another consult, this is what they said:

Dr. A -- (listed as a board certified diplomate orthodontist, his office is 2 miles from my home, he wasn't very thorough or very personable): 18 months in Damons, $5,600, records fee included. Never mentioned extractions or jaw surgery.

Dr. B -- (listed as a board certified diplomate orthodontist, her office is 16 miles from my home, she was thorough and friendly and easy to reach): does suresmile, wants to extract two premolars (not sure whether first or second): 15-18 month, would cost $6,000 in traditional, $6,500 in ceramics, or $6,250 with ceramics on top and traditional on bottom. Plus $325 records fee.

Dr. Y -- (NOT listed as a board certified diplomate orthodonist, NOT sure if he's certified, 27 miles from home, very nice, very thorough): 24 months in traditional or Inspire Ice, wants me to pursue jaw surgery and says he would ABSOLUTELY NOT pull teeth from my mouth. $6,575 without surgery; $8,075 with surgery plus the actual cost of the surgery.

Dr. Z -- (listed as a board certified diplomate orthodontist, his office is 17 miles from my home, nice enough, but hard to reach, wonder if he has too many patients, but prices are incredibly great): wants to extract two upper first premolars. 24 months with $5,580 for ceramics (Clarity) upper and lower, or $6,700 for iBraces (linguals) upper and lower - incredible price from what I've heard!! He also offers Clarity self-ligating for $500 more.

The thing is, I'm super-nervous about pulling my teeth out. I've been reading stuff on here and I know that it's a small majority of people who've been unhappy with their profiles, but it would really bother me if I ended up in that group. I think my lower jaw is too far back (I sucked my fingers/thumb for many years, plus I've been told I do the tongue-thrust thing). But the orthos I've seen seem to think that my upper jaw is too far forward vs. my lower jaw being too far back. I disagree. I think my lower jaw (unless I push it forward, which I often do) is too far back and that my upper jaw is fine.

I don't know if anyone can answer this for me or if I would need to post pictures in order for anyone to answer. If so, I will next time.

I'm leaning toward the two orthos (Dr. B and Z) who said they wanted to pull two upper premolars, but I don't want my short lower jaw to be more pronounced - I think it makes me look like I have a double-chin!!

Any thoughts?

Thanks, in advance, for any advice you might have.

~ Smurfette.

[Megan11]

I chose an ortho similar to your Dr. Z. I noticed that he seemed quite rushed and there were always a lot of people in his office but I also thought he was the " most qualified" so I chose him.

My teeth are coming along fine but I ALWAYS leave his office frustrated because I can barely talk to him and all his assistants do pretty much everything and yell " Dr ____ I'm Ready" then he takes like 20 minutes to come over there and I'm left in cheek protractors while the assistant saying I'm so sorry this is taking so long. FINALLY he'll come over and be like yea thats good, and walk away. 20 MINS JUST TO WALK OVER THERE AND BE LIKE YES THATS GOOD! They are clearly over booked and had I known what I know now I would have NEVER chose this place.

Not to mention my ortho used to eat at where I work and never remembers me.

Its not personable at all whatsoever and thats a quality that is very important to me and if it is for you I suggest you do not choose Dr. Z

[smurfette]

Thanks so much for your replies! I really appreciate your help since I'm in a bit of a hurry to make my decision because of insurance reasons.

Meryaten, I see what you're saying about the diplomate status, is there a way to find out if Y is board-certified or is that the same thing? His website says he "is an accredited orthodontist ... a dental specialist who has completed an advanced post-doctoral course, accredited by the American Dental Association, of at least two academic years in the specialty of orthodontics." Is that good enough?

Dr. Y said he didn't want me to have extractions because I have a nice profile and that it would make my upper lip look less full. Drs. B and Z said I have enough soft tissue so that it wouldn't be very noticeable. Both B and Z did mention surgery as an option, but both said it wasn't necessary in my case and a bit too extreme. I guess I liked hearing that since I'm not sure if I can afford it. I even asked Dr. Z if we could do braces first and see how it goes before committing to extractions, he said this would be a waste of time. But, maybe I'll ask Dr. B the same question. Dr. Y said we could do braces and, if I don't like the results, do the surgery later on. He even said that my lower jaw might come forward on its own by just wearing braces, which seems weird because I'm in my 30s.

Soworth, thanks for that link!! With the number of times I've read this site, I'm surprised I never found it on my own. It was very informative! I'll also plan to do a search for "Dr. Bill."

Megan11, sorry to hear that you have a tough time with your ortho. Thanks for the warning. I think, even though Dr. Z has the best prices, maybe I'll cross him off the list. His office, last week, even called me to cancel an appointment I had never made ... yeah, I think he has too many patients

Sorry this post is so long, I just feel like there are so many things to figure out - I just want these things on ASAP so I can hurry up and get my nice smile!

Do you guys think since 2 of the 4 agree that they're probably both right? I guess I'm also worried that if my upper teeth come back (which I guess they have to anyway) that I won't have room in my mouth for my tongue. I think I read someone's post who said this happened to him/her and now has a lisp and has to go to a speech therapist?

[artprincess]

go with which ortho u feel most comfortable with.

[lionfish]

I intended to have several consultations but stopped at one because I just knew this was the right doc for me.

Same here. They were recommended by my dentist (whom I love); every person in their office was so kind and sweet and caring; the money was what I expected; and the doctor who did the consult was funny and charming - I signed the paperwork on the spot. There have been a few hurdles, but my teeth have improved a lot, and I've learned so much...even though the experience hasn't always been exactly what I expected, I think it's exactly the experience I was supposed to have.

Same experience here too. No. 1 was recommended by my dentist, came highly credentialled and the office staff were great. I didn't look any further.

[merlinb]

To me, you should consult Dr Z, he seems more reliable and seems to know what he does. However, try to get more reviews about each of them and their services. For the cause you can use the search engine to compare the services of each of the orthodontists with some renowned service providers. To start with i can give you SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM a reliable dental clinic within Toronto. So best of luck!!!!!