Metal Mouth Message Board

I was just thinking about this today and thought I would throw this out there and see what ya’ll thought. I’ve had two adjustments now and a few emergency appts. since getting braces in late January.

When I go into the ortho’s office the techs are the ones that always work on me and the ortho only comes in at the end of the appt to make sure everything looks good. So I’m wondering, who decides what is going to happen at any given adjustment?

Obviously they have an idea as to what steps to take with each person after the consultation, but they don’t know what type of progress has taken place until you are sitting in that chair. The tech is the first one to see me and this last appt she was the one that placed my power chain, changed out both of my wires and ligs, etc…

So do the techs decide what is going to happen at that appt? It’s not like I go in and the tech sees what has happened since my last appt and then talks strategy with the ortho. I get there and the tech just takes a look and goes to work on my teeth.

Do the techs receive the kind of training that they need to have in order to make those types of decisions or am I wrong and the ortho tells them what to do before hand

That's a good question. I would assume the ortho should at least be taking a look?! Maybe the assistants in your office are trained to accurately report back to the ortho? My ortho always does my adjustments. The assistant just does any prep work or assistance type stuff.

My ortho usually looks at me, and then the techs do everything.

In your case, though, perhaps the ortho writes down on your chart at the end of your adjustment what he/she wants done next time and then the techs go to it. The ortho checks at the end, to make sure that this is the right move, writes next adjustment's strategy, and sends you on your way.

In my case, the ortho has the last word on what gets done. And because he is the only one trained to deal with linguals, he gets to do all the work on my upper teeth.

However, the tech staff have done heaps, including attach my lower ceramics, remove and replace wires and change ligs. But the ortho still has the final say. At my last adjustment, one of the tech staff felt that my lower flexi wire hadn't finished its work and went ahead and changed the ligs. The ortho had other ideas; the wire came off and a much heftier one went on. Then he slapped on a couple of mini powerchains to make a couple of teeth rotate.

At the end of the appointment, the ortho dictates notes for my card about what's been done and what will be done next time. He also tells me in advance. So I know that when I return in a month's time, I will be getting elastics.

Hmmm...my ortho looks at me first, dictates a bunch of engineering lingo then the girls get to work. Most of the time he has to do something that they can't do, and most of the time he checks me out again before I leave. If there are two orthos there that day, the one that doesn't actually treat me asks me if everything is ok before I leave.

Then the receptionist, the billing clerk, the office manager, all ask everytime how is everything going...then ask about my daughter (also their patient). I couldn't ask for a nicer more open staff.

At least at my office, the ortho makes all of the decisions on what to use ahead of time, and then confirms it or changes it once he's seen me. So during my first two adjustments, the assistant already had the new archwires (of a specific and increasing large size) laid out and ready; the ortho stopped by, looked at my mouth, and confirmed that this would be the treatment. On my third adjustment (today), the assistant had the wires I was supposed to get laid out, but the ortho told her not to change the top wire (since I still had a gap) but to add a tighter power chain to the top. He also decided against the previously selected bottom archwire and told the assistant to get a steel wire of a certain size and he would bend it himself.

He also had her make a note that at my next appointment (7 weeks) they were going to consider elastics, so now I have that to look forward to.

The assistant who works on me is really good at what she does and she knows what she is doing, however she never makes a move unless she has been told to do so by my ortho. When I sit down, she takes a look, tells me to bite down, and basically gets me ready for the ortho to take a look. Once he has done so, he tells her what to do, she does it, and I'm out the door.

the tehs do all the work for me too. so far ive had 2 diff pppl work on my braces.. the ortho always checks their work after though. and at each station theres a computer and it has my account and profile on there which reads what needs to be done. i always look and see ahah cuz im nosey like that

My ortho is the only person touching my mouth. He doesn't have any assistants so he does every single thing...and I love that. I wouldn't want it any other way just because I've payed a lot of money for this...and want everything to be done by the ortho himself. His partner is the same way...he does everything...no assistants either.

Jayc, that is the way my othro's office is set up as well. There are computers at every station and the tech has my info on screen. I'm pretty sure the tech has looked and consulted with my ortho before my appt. But the thing is when I get there its the tech that takes a look at the progress and goes right to work adding/changing stuff and then when the tech is done the ortho checks out their work before I leave the office. They also ask how its going and if I've had any problems and such but I just thought it was interesting that the ortho doesnt have a look then a discussion with the tech before the tech gets to work.
Thanks everyone for all the input!!

katmc_tx wrote:Jayc, that is the way my othro's office is set up as well. There are computers at every station and the tech has my info on screen. I'm pretty sure the tech has looked and consulted with my ortho before my appt. But the thing is when I get there its the tech that takes a look at the progress and goes right to work adding/changing stuff and then when the tech is done the ortho checks out their work before I leave the office. They also ask how its going and if I've had any problems and such but I just thought it was interesting that the ortho doesnt have a look then a discussion with the tech before the tech gets to work.
Thanks everyone for all the input!!

with that said, im sure the tech is more than qualified to work on our teeth. or else they wouldnt be working at all. the ortho specialist basically is the supervisor/boss just like any company.