Metal Mouth Message Board

So far have just been for an initial consultation. As you go through treatment how involved is the ortho or is almost all the assessment done by assistants (I'm sure all the actual work is done by assistants, right?).

Sure it must vary but what are people's experiences?

Does the ortho just pop in for two seconds to bark orders at the assistants who then do everything? Or is the ortho usually more involved than this.

thank you

Honestly, in the past 4 months (aside from my original consultation, brace application, and surgical consultation), I've only ever dealt with the assistant. I think her mandate is just to take care of the archwires and get me aligned before the ortho gets really involved.

HI jalapeno

That's a great question.

The way it is at my Ortho's office is like how Kodius Champion described it.

I met my Ortho during the consultations, x-rays, molds of my teeth, etc.

However, my dentist did my extractions and my Ortho's assistants did my SPACERS, PUTTING ON THE BRACES, AND ADJUSTMENTS SO FAR. But I'm only 1 MONTH Braced so maybe like how Kodius Champion said, my Ortho will deal with my braces after my teeth are better aligned. I'm not saying that I have never seen my Ortho since my consultations because he has checked in with me and the assistants for a few seconds to see what they are doing to my teeth but nothing more than a minute.

Hope this info helps!
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3 teeth extracted: Thursday, July 20, 2006
2 teeth extracted: Thursday, July 27, 2006
5 spacers put in: Tuesday, August 8, 2006
Spacers out, full braces in: Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Brace Treatment Time: 22 - 26 months.

yikes, just as i suspected!

still, if it works i supose that must be ok then.

so there are several steps to all this and the first step is getting them aligned and only then does the ortho really get involved.

So what is left to do after they are aligned?

Very interesting this site and thanks for those replies everyone.

(Can't help but think they are making pretty good money for just popping in for a few minutes... $5000-$6000 per patient... hmnnn did i pick the wrong career...)

hmmm...my ortho also does absolutely everything himself, from placing the brackets on originally to changing arch wires, and clipping them when I start to feel like I have a cheek kebab.

He has lovely assistants, but their job seems to be to hand him things, organise things, and keep me entertained with funny dialogue...

My ortho so far has done everything himself - assistant has things ready for him but he changes the ligs, twiddles the archwire etc etc. Not sure it makes a difference though - I've still had to go back a few times coz he has left bits of wire poking out that I impale myself on - would be happy with an ortho OR assistant who had been through braces themselves but sadly no one at my place has...seems a bit rude really that they were all born with perfect teeth

My ortho instructs the asst on what to do. When I go for an adjustment, he comes over, does the whole, "Open. Bite. Open. Bite" thing, and tells the asst to change the wire, put in an appliance, whatever. She gets to work, and he comes over to check on her and usually to see the end result. At my last adjustment he came over five or six times to rave about the progress my teeth were making When I was actually braced, the asst prepped all the brackets with the glue and he placed them on the teeth. I like that he's pretty involved, but maybe for different cases they do different things?

So far I've been in four times- the consult (completely done by the ortho), the spacers (done by the assistant), banding (bands done by assistant, brackets and wire done by ortho) and my first adjustment where everything was done by my ortho.

The ortho looks at my teeth every time. There has been one occasion where she looked at my teeth, told the ortho what to do, and had to go because of an emergency. However, most of the time she'll do a good deal of the 'dirty work,' like putting in my archwire, making sure it fits, she always does the wire ties, et cetera. One time she even put in my ligs, though usually she leaves that to the ortho assistant. And it's a fifty fifty on powerchains. She'll change my powerchains about half the time, and the other half she tells the assistant what size and which teeth.

My orthodontist, placed the brackets, and spends time with me at each visit. The assistants get the trays ready and will assit him when he is working. He has changed arch wires a couple of times, but ususally, the assistant does that. He has done everything else.

as my treatment progressed, the Ortho became more involved, fixing and bending the wires, removing the ligs, checking my bite. I think the first half of the treatment, he always looked at it, but that phase was probably the easiest for the assistants to take care of (mostly changing ligs and clipping the wires) though the Ortho always looked at my teeth and told me what they were doing. Now, the assistant just takes off the ligs and he has been putting them back on.

My orthodontist sees me at every appt. He always takes a look at my teeth and bite and instructs the assistant on what needs to be done. The assistants in his office are highly skilled and seems like can do most things. My orthodontist always does the adjustment of the expander, removal of the expander, adjusting the brackets when newly placed, adjusting the retainer, instructs the assistant of which teeth need the powerchain or ligs, which brackets can be used and always has time to answer my questions, which archwire to use, etc.

The assistant did the X-Rays, photos and impressions of my teeth. The assistant also removes the ligs and powerchain at the beginning of each appt., clips excess wires, etc.

Because of the highly skilled assistants in my ortho's office, I feel comfortable of the way things are done - most important is my orthodontist is the person making the decision of what needs to be done.

ssfw

Thanks for all those replies to my question eveyone. This board is really helpful.

His assistant comes and gets you from a shared waiting area and takes you to one of the two private rooms. Apart from that she sometimes helps my ortho by passing things, but she's rarely in the room and my ortho has always done everything.

When my ortho is finished with your mouth and questions, he then walks you to the reception and tells his office lady when he'd like to see you next, and says goodbye!

KiwiK, this is exactly my experience as well.

It is really disturbing hearing many say that the orth plays an advisory role while the assiants are doing more hands on work.

The assistants take out the ligs, wires, etc.
The ortho makes any bends in the wire, tells the assistant what to do, checks my chart, writes on chart and off he goes.
The assistant puts on the archwire (sometimes he has done it) and replaces ligs or wires.
If we ever need to replace the bracket positions, he removes the bracket and she preps the area and then he positions the bracket.