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Ortho Office ~ PLease move to Metal Mouth Forum

Posted: Sat Aug 26, 2006 4:44 pm
by ThisIsMary
So am I the only one who gets strange looks at the ortho's office? Every time I go into the office, all the little kids stare at me strange like they can't figure out if I'm there to pick someone up or if I have braces. The funny part is when my name is call and I walk back and all the little kids have this shocked look on their face. It's not like I'm old, I'm only 18 but I guess that's old to and 11 year old.

I was just curious if anyone else has the same thing happen when they go

Posted: Sat Aug 26, 2006 4:48 pm
by ThisIsMary
I made an oops, I thought I was in the Metal Mouth Forum when I posted this (it's been a long day). Could I get this moved to the other forum since it really doesn't belong in this one?

Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 11:27 am
by jcdamon3
I am usually so excited to be having an adjustment I don't pay attention to anyone else. :-)

Also I go right before lunch and most kids go after school (except in summer) so I don't see that many kids in there.

Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 1:20 pm
by gunter8888
I got that vibe at a couple of the consults I went to, but not much at my ortho's office. Although, I did have one kid and his parents look at me kind of funny as I left the office last time.

Most of the ladies (assistants, finance & front desk) in my ortho's office either have Invisalign or full braces so going in is like hanging out at a braces club. Its great because they totally understand what I am talking about when I describe what I am experiencing and they often have great advice and ideas.

I asked all of the ortho's I consulted with if they had many adult patients and they all said yes. My ortho said his oldest patient is in her early 60s and that 30%-40% of his patients are adults.

Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 5:03 pm
by lionfish
I've almost always been into the office around 8 am. There are mostly kids there, as school doesn't start til 9 or after so it's a good time for them. I've noticed some adults at this time, but kids are in the majority.

My next adjustment is late afternoon, so I'll see if there is a difference.

Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 7:04 pm
by ThisIsMary
I just thought it was funny to watch the expressions on the kid's faces. Every time I go in, there are kids in the office. I think I've seen two adults out of all the appointments I've been to. It's not that it makes feel uncomfortable or anything, I just kind of find it amusing to watch the kid's faces when I go back for an adjustment

Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 8:03 pm
by SDFD TSchott
I've been to a consult and records appointment and I got looks from the young kids to! Now when I go in next week I will find out what more looks I get!

SDFD TSchott
Image

Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 8:34 pm
by lionfish
I find that the kids pay absolutely no attention to me. This is possibly because they think I'm someone's mother or - worse still - grandmother. Even when I get up to go to the chair, I'm still not aware of any interest in me.

Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2006 6:48 am
by ShinySmile
My ortho's office treats 75% older teens/adults, and since I'm only 21 I look like one of the younger patients. :lol:

Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2006 9:19 am
by ssfw
There have been a few times when I arrived for my appt. at the orthodontist, after I sit down in the waiting room, I have felt a child/parent having a look on their face wondering if I was the patient. There are usually 1-4 people in the waiting room when I am there. Once when I arrived, another adult maybe in her 30's was there completing her paperwork so I assume she had an appt. for a consultation. She smiled when I sat down and she had a look on her face like she was relieved another adult is going through ortho treatment. To be honest, getting stares or people wondering if I am going through orthodontic treatment does not bother me at all. The treatment area is L-shaped and unless I look around I don't usually see if there are only children there or other adults. Sometimes I do see adults and sometimes there are only children. Although all of the chairs are in a row, there is enough space between the chairs to have some privacy. I feel so comfortable at my ortho's office that I ask all of my questions and have never not asked because I thought another patient might hear what I'm asking or hear what my ortho. might be saying to me. I feel that we're all there for the same reason but at the same time I think people will always feel that it is unusual for an adult to wear braces even though more people are getting braces as an adult. Still, I think even today a majority of people getting braces are children, which ideally is probably the best time to get braces due to easier expansion, etc.

To any adults having a difficult time deciding to get braces, don't let this type of thing make an impact on your decision. Usually when I arrive for my ortho. appt., I always feel so proud of myself for taking this step and going through ortho treatment as an adult and I feel especially proud when I do feel people in the waiting room or treatment area stare at me or have the look of "are you an ortho. patient?" I don't ever have a reaction to the stares as if I am embarassed to be the patient, it just doesn't bother me.

ssfw

Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2006 2:40 pm
by Dramagyrl
I get them from the parents there with their kids, especially because I work in a small city and most people recognize me from my work. Not everyone knows yet that I have braces, so it's shocked looks from that and, if they don't know me, it's still shocked that it's an adult having treatment lol.
I even had the human resources manager at work laugh in my face during a meeting the other day. Someone complimented my braces and asked how I was doing and I replied by saying my first adjustment (last week) went well and I am seeing progress. The manager started laughing at me. I started to say that they call them adjustments because they need to change or alter the archwire and she interrupts me to pretty much say:
"Oh I know, I went through all that with my son. It's just funny hearing YOU say you went for an adjustment - You're a grown woman, you're not supposed to have braces."

Obviously adults can be far more horrible about it than children.

I give children so much credit for:
a) tolerating treatment with less pain complaint than I have given
b) being respectful to me despite having them
c) putting up with the unkindness of peers, it's often harder as a kid

Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2006 2:57 pm
by Lisa65
My ortho works on his own. He has dental nurses but he actually does all the work himself. So I never see any of his other patients because the appointments are all spaced out. A lot of his patients are adults although I am not sure of the ratio. He does share a waiting room with the community (school) dentist surgery, which offers free treatment to under 16s whose parents are on a low income. Anyone seeing me sitting in there would probably assume I was a mum waiting for her kid to get a filling or something.

I wouldn't care about being seen anyway. The way I see it is that I am doing something positive for ME, and if anyone thinks I'm weird or stupid for doing it, that's their problem. One of my workmates teased me a little saying "why spend all that money on your teeth when you could be dead in a year" to which I replied "at least I'll have a nice smile in my coffin" :lol:

Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2006 5:24 pm
by Betty Bat
Last month, I went in for my adjustment. I was the only one sitting in the waiting area. I saw one of the assistants look into the waiting area, then go back into the "working area". A few minutes later, he came back to the waiting area, looked around again, then said (with a question in his voice), "Betty?"

He confessed that he had seen me the first time, but was sure that I was just waiting for someone. I gave him my biggest sapphire-and-metal smile, and said "Nope, it's me!"

I was a little surprised to see this from one of the assistants, but I think he learned his lesson

Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2006 6:26 pm
by Betty Bat
Yep, he was relatively new - I had seen him a few times, but never had him work on me before. And, I've had him for the last two times! I had noticed him because he's the only male ortho assistant I've seen at my ortho's office. The two doctors are male but everyone else is female, except this one assistant.

Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2006 7:10 pm
by ssfw
Dramagyrl wrote:"Oh I know, I went through all that with my son. It's just funny hearing YOU say you went for an adjustment - You're a grown woman, you're not supposed to have braces."
Dramagyrl,

Obviously your HR Manager doesn't have manners and is an idiot. She probably had braces when she was a child and does not have any idea of the various reasons adults are having ortho treatment as an adult and why a person did not have braces as a child, which really isn't any of her business anyway. It really irritates me when a person is intentionally mean/rude to a person.

ssfw