Metal Mouth Message Board

I would send the doc a note or e-mail regarding any of your concerns with his/her issues and/or the staffs. As an orthodontist, I am constantly freaked out about how my patients view me as a person: do they know that I care, do they think I'm funny, do they enjoy coming to my office, do they think I look too young...

Sometimes, I probably put my foot in my mouth like the doctor who joked about BP. She just said the wrong thing and it may not be a indicator that she is not a good person - but maybe it does.

I recommend that you all transfer your treatment to me in SC and and we'll show you Southern Hospitality!

dr.j after reading your post i had a thought that made me laugh. how many orthos read this forum? and is my ortho reading this and thinking, damn i knew she was crazy

I like my ortho, he is very nice and he cares. He can be funny but when he needs to be serious he is. Dr J you seem like a well-rounded ortho. It is also nice to hear from someone on the other side in respect to what we think of you. It is nice to have some humor when I go in for appointments, it helps to deal with the bad days and points we encounter while doing this. Sorry got a little sidetracked. I do like my ortho, there are two in practice where I go. I choose to just make appointments when he is there. The other guy is nice too but I feel I get more attention (that sounds like a strange word to put there but I know you guys know what I mean) I want to know they are spending a little more than 1 minute browsing in my mouth. I feel I get that with the guy I choose to see. I feel he gives his patients a little more personal attention instead of chair hopping.

tandi wrote:how many orthos read this forum? and is my ortho reading this and thinking, damn i knew she was crazy

too funny-I was just thinking this last night when I put my post on...hehe then I though-gee I should've picked a better screename that would disguise me!

Lucyloop wrote:Hi Tandi,

I actually really like my ortho - He's nice, but with a really strong North East UK accent - so I can't always understand what he's saying! LOL!

People always say geordie is like a totally different language. Luckily i dont have a problem understanding it.


As for a reply to the thread, my ortho is okay. I feel she lies to me about somethings like the headgear time but i guess sometimes things just take a little longer. She's normally really helpful and i can have whatever colours i like.

My ortho seems to be very experienced and I'm sure he knows what he is doing. I like him, and the way he explains things to me, but he keeps forgetting that I'm an adult, and sometimes he just do things without telling me, like placing the same color of ligs on my brackets. He just asumes things just like when he treats kids. That is completely annoying, I have to remember to ask for everything.

It would be great if all the orthos could read this forum. Some things really would change!

that is too bad. i am sure it was not meant to be insulting or to make you feel uncomfortable, perhaps it was even meant to have the opposite effect. nevertheless i agree, that could certainly make one feel more than a bit uncomfortable.

if your experience otherwise has been good, i would do my best to get past it.

i had an ortho that was a real jerk, and was not providing me with good care. i left feeling that he was not receptive to my concerns, and knowing i was not going to get a good result.

my new ortho is great. very personable, explains everything, and is open to my input regarding treatment. plus the office is nicer, and the staff is great.

i think that we should all shop around a bit more before starting treatment.

good luck i hope things work out for you
chris

Tandi,

I am on anti-depressant medication, and I always dread the "what medication are you?" question. It's a really personal thing to share with someone. I feel like people will think less of me when they know. Having them joke about it would make it even harder. She may have been just trying to lighten the mood, but none-the-less she should have been sensitive to your feelings...

My ortho is great, he's always making me laugh, and he's always smiling, it's refreshing. He is also very professional, and I've seen a lot of his "finished work", so I know I will be happy in the end.

Hey! I've recently met my future orthodontist. She's really nice. Chats a lot and seems to have a good humour. I didn't like her assitant much but... she's only the assistant.! They change sometimes cause at the place I'm at there's like 4 offices in one.
Anyways, GOD knows how scared I was from attending a female orthodontist. I avoid being around other woman...! But if she makes you feel uncomfortable again, and if you dislike her work - find another one ASAP. If I were you I would answer back. Not brusquly, in a very slight way Dare to be complain!
Good luck,
Joe

I meant dare to be b****!
Joe

I don't believe that my ortho shares my social views in the least.

When getting my braces on I was allowed to watch teevee in one of the monitors above me. I selected a documentary on a South American tribe who were clearly not influenced heavily by westerners.

She seemed to find their behavior and customs disturbing. I found it ironic that she was criticizing a cultural appearance norm of theirs while she was performing a cultural appearance norm as her occupation. As she's making comments to her assistant about "why would anyone do that to their mouth" in regards to their practice of lower lip piercings, I'm thinking that these people would clearly think we're just as backwards.

Made me think of her as shallow and uncultured.

But I'm not paying her top dollar to be my social studies tutor. She's being paid to help me attain western ideals of dental normality and health.

I adore my ortho and everyone in his office. I consulted with 5 before I selected him. He and his practice manager answered my questions about a potential future loss of a tooth with root resorption for six months before I finally got my top braces on. They were so patient and still are. He is a diver and has the most wonderful tropical fish in his office. He and his staff are all very gentle and reassuring. I have really had very few problems with pain. He plays great pop music that he personally selects. . I don't get to talk with him very often these days because often he spends most of the time doing something to my mouth and the rest of the time I spend with the techs, but I think he is an interesting, compassionate person who really loves what he does. I think the other orthos I visited like their jobs and are very talented, but I did not get the warm fuzzy feeling from them. Last time I was there, a tech asked another tech where he was, and she said "oh he's in the office making friends," in other words, drumming up business, but I would have had a hard time spending so much time in the office of people I don't like.

Hiya;

[My sister has bipolar, as well
as mannnny other illnesses mixed
in, sometimes it can be so hard
to deal with.. she's very violent,
well.. sorry Im gettin side tracked]

okay, uh.. i just recently got an ortho;
He is veryyy touchy feely, and i dont
know how things will go when its just
him and i ina room.. it kinda worries
me, but maybe he's just realllly nice.
he use to be a childrens dentist



just thouht id put my 2cents in

I don't really know if I'd say I hate my ortho, but he's not my favorite guy! He's pretty impersonal and sometimes treats you more like a paying smile in progress than a person with feelings! I think sometimes he doesn't realize how much pain he is putting you in! One time, he personally was working on me and he pointed out everything that was wrong with my mouth! I was like, I'm not paying you to pick at my smile, but fix it!

I know he's a really good orthodontist! I've seen the smiles he's done and I can't wait for my smile to look like that! But we've still got a long ways to go!

-Hannah




Top braces: 4/28/04
Bottom braces: 11/16/05
Last Adjustment was 2/1/06 where they bonded a bracket to my cuspid, which was impacted!!!! OUCH!