Metal Mouth Message Board

I went for my 5 week visit at the ortho. It was really busy today. Lots of teenagers there. The ortho tightened my bottom wire and then left the room. His assistant came in to put on the new rubber bands that go around each bracket (I forget what they are called). She put the new ones on but I swear she didn't put them on the molars near the front of my mouth. I asked if she put them on. She said she missed one, and then put that one on. I decided to go into the bathroom to check if she missed any others. She did! I came out and told her. She then asked if the ortho had taken that one off before. I told her he only tightened my wire. I went back to the chair and she put on the last one. My question is should I have told the ortho her mistake? I do not want this to happen again. I don't want her to put these rubber band things on my teeth again if she makes mistakes like this. After I told her that I thought she didn't put the ones on my molars, she should have checked everything over again. I should not have had to go to the bathroom to make sure. What would you guys have done? I wonder if this happens to a lot of teenagers that go there but they don't say anything? I'm an adult and will speak out if I think they did something wrong. I don't want any extra time in braces if I can prevent it.

There's usually a hand mirror available while you're still in the chair . . . once they say they're done, ask to use it to take a look (you don't have to say why). Then you can check for missing ligatures, power chains, etc. Look extra hard to make sure you aren't missing a wire tie, too. They can be harder to see.

When I asked the receptionist (at a consult ortho done today) how many patients they saw a day, I was shocked to hear 55-75 per day! (This is not a "group" practice, it's a solo ortho with 6 or so assistants. She said he does place all the brackets and bands himself at least, but it has me a little concerned. Does anyone know what a reasonable average would be, to help decide whether maybe he's a little TOO popular and I may end up with rushed service and consequent mistakes? She did at least say the worst time to come were the afterschool hours when the teens come in droves, and that mornings were less busy times.

I've never had the problem of my ortho's office being too busy, though I have had an issue with my ortho being in a hurry! (not her fault, though.)

I don't see missing a few ligs as a big deal. I always check my teeth before I leave just to see how the color looks, and if the ortho assistant were to miss one, I'd just say something. It's not a major mistake, in my opinion.

My ortho is a very busy one as well. He has 2 offices not just one. I have no idea how he makes time for both. I feel safe with him however because he comes highly recommanded. He is one of the top 2 ortho's in my City. I don't know why but I feel more secure going to him rather then an ortho who has a small business and maybe not as much exprience. just a my thoughts.

Rebecca

I know what you mean about busy. Last time I saw my ortho for about thirty seconds. Oh and the assistant has also messed up twice and I've had to correct her. I don't think my ortho has ever come back and checked the assistant's work.

My kid's ortho has a VERY small practice and they would occasionally come home with a missing lig.

My ortho has a huge practice and with Damon's the ligs wouldn't seem to be a problem. At my last adjustment, my assistant had a really hard time closing 2 of the doors (the wire had a bend at the door so it was beyond what she wanted to force). After all was "said and done" she was filling out my chart and she asked me to smile. At that point she noticed that she'd forgotten to call the ortho over to close those doors.

I had forgotten they were still open, also. I don't think missing something like that is un-common nor a reason to dump your ortho. If it continues or you notice other details being missed...that would be a cause for concern. My daugher (11 years old) always asks for a mirror at her ortho appointments now.

My last appointment was later in the afternoon and things seemed to be a little stressed, I think I will make my appointments in the mornings from now on. Everyone is fresher then, even me! This may be a good idea for you as well, Lee, if that is possible.

My ortho is also very busy. He does all of the major work (positioning brackets and instructions for which teeth get wire ties and such) while the assistants follow his commands. He always checks their work and asks if they feel comfortable before I leave. My ortho has two offices. I go to the office that he operates two days a week and the other he operates three days a week. He has many assistants. Even though they are busy, I always feel like they have time for me, which is comforting. I've had a few issues with the TPA and wires coming loose from the molar brackets and they always see me right away. I'm amazed he is able to do so much given his workload. I'm very impressed.

This really bothers me. I agree with KK, the ortho should really check the work, and ideally, the ortho should do the work but that just isn't realistic in many ortho offices.

It isn't always simplistic and limited to checking ligs. What if you have things that are hand tied in a very specific way. What if you have multiple hooks and your elastic is accidentally attached to a different hook. As a patient, it's not at all clear what is being done at each adjustment (at least in my case) and it's not really something a patient should have to worry about.

My ortho does half of the work himself. He studies your mouth for a minute or so to see how much progress and what should be done next. His assistant is next to him and he tells her step by step what to put on the brackets and once she's done he takes a peek to make sure evertyhing was done and I'm ready to go. My First adjustment is July 12 and I'm excited and nervous already again lol. I would be a little upset if this mistake was made mroe than once. I would be upset if the wrong stuff was put like the wrong archwire and then have them open all the ligs and redo it...

When I asked the receptionist (at a consult ortho done today) how many patients they saw a day, I was shocked to hear 55-75 per day! (This is not a "group" practice, it's a solo ortho with 6 or so assistants.

Wow! I am doing the Math here and that is a patient every 8 - 10 minutes in an 8-10 hour day!

And if he sees 55 patients a day and they rotate every 6 weeks, that is 1,650 patients he can handle in one year or 825 patients in 2 years. If he makes on average $4,000.00 per patient, he is pulling in 3.3 million dollars. That is quite shocking!

I have damons and one of my doors was not left open, but the wire was not fully engaged or door may have repopened after I left the office. You could hardly tell without looking at it really, really closely! They jammed that wire in there after I had already gone 1 week with all the other teeth already moving around and MAN did that hurt! I thought she was going to break my tooth off! So I basically had two adjustments in a 2 week period with some amount of pain to deal with.