Metal Mouth Message Board

My ortho's office charges $80 for cleaning and xrays. 6 months ago, I chose to get the cleaning at my ortho's office, but this time around I'm getting it done somewhere else because I didn't like the job he did last time. The ortho's receptionist was very insistant in me getting my cleaning at my last adjustment, saying I have to get it and it was in the contract that I signed when I started the treatment. I said I didn't want it and I would get it elsewhere. Now the ortho office is requiring that I bring in a paper document as proof that I had cleaning and xrays done.

I was just wondering... is this a common practice? I had no idea they would be so anal about my cleanings.

my ortho just asked for who my dentist was. before i got my braces i had them cleaned and i told her that i wanted to come every 3 months for a cleaning, but my ortho didnt ever ask me if i get them cleaned...whenever i go in he always says i have very healthy gums and teeth.

they are trying to get money out of you...next time ask him where in the contract it says that.

The last 4 Appointments I had, I always had to take my toothbrush and brush my teeth there, with eating a plaque detection tab first. She yesterday explained that I have todo that every appointment I have now the next years, just to check if my teeth cleaning is efficient or if there is something that I can improve. (and we already improved my cleaning technique alot) She just don't want their patients to get bad teeth, at first it felt a bit exaggerating, but now i got used to it, and like it, especially I do like that she cares so much.

But still, your ortho insisting in a proof of that special cleaning sounds all but kind. And also its a very strange conclusion that its in your contract. In my contract I signed for the case of getting problems on my teeth is totaly my problem and not the orthos office fault! So i assume they just want to earn more money by making the special cleaning, otherwise they would have no problem with you letting it done somewhere else or not at all, its your decision, because its your teeth and your money!

I've never had that happen. They usually just look on my insurance somehow and see that i had a cleaning. Dont ask me how they did it they just did. I had to rinse with some blue stuff and the only part that turned pink was behind my front teeth thankfully. I had a perio test done twice last month. But im guessing they will be doing that each time i have a cleaning which is every 3 months starting now.

Can't you buy that stuff that shows you where plaque is? I think i might want to pick some up just to be sure i'm brushing it all off!

When I went for my ortho assessment he said my teeth were nice and clean, I'm not sure whether he would have insisted I got them cleaned if they hadn't been. I asked him about cleaning while in braces and he just said your dentist can do that.

in the UK unless you have a private dentist, you don't get regular appointments just for cleaning. I have an NHS dentist which is partly government subsidised. There aren't many of them left and he is heavily overbooked, so I only get a check up once every 8 months or so, and any necessary cleaning is done then.

I have to admit I don't think my dentist is much good really. I only stay with him because he's NHS. He's going private from next month and I might find another one after my next appointment which is in 2 weeks time. I'll get him to give my teeth a little clean first though!

Yes, they make "agent blue", which I suppose is really directed at children learning to brush, but I use it to be sure that areas aren't neglected. Tastes like bubblegum too, lol.

Thanks for your responses guys. I will just do the cleaning elsewhere, and just bring in a receipt. If they need more proof, I will just tell the orthodontist office they can call the office. I'm not going through any more hassle than I have to.

Sounds like a good plan.

Show them your receipt; if that doesn't make them happy, it should be up to them to do the "leg work"!

Drazda - I have never heard of that being a policy. My ortho did not do cleanings, he expected I'd be visiting my regular dentist for that. For one I remember I had an ortho appt to remove the wires - went to the dentist for cleaning, then returned to ortho. I only had to do that once, and it's been so long I don't even remember the situation or why. It may have just been I was able to finagle both appts in the same day so it was a courtesy, who knows. My other cleanings during treatment they just did the best they could.

Personally, unless it was covered by the ortho in my treatment plan and it wasn't an additional cost, I'd rather go to my reg dentist because cleanings are covered by insurance, therefore no out of pocket cost.

I agree with everyone else! That is crazy that you HAVE TO get your cleanings at your ortho? If they did a good job then that would be great but if they didnt do a good job or were too rough with you ,I don't blame you for doing it elsewhere.
I agree that a receipt is enough proof. My ortho does not bug me about my cleanings. My dentist said I should get cleanings every 3-4 months just to make sure that I had no problems after Iget my braces off. I know there are a lot of people that get the braces removed and find out they have several cavities!
The choice is up to you and your ortho sounds like he wants $$ and being too pushy about it!

Gennel

Kiwi - funny you mention the ortho pointing out someone else's poor hygiene. I had a friend in high school who basically just had his removed because he wasn't taking care of them. I think it was a bad decision on his part not to cooperate with treatment, when you think of it being your parents' dollar vs your own. LOL!

I had to get a "cleaning/cavity clearance" form signed by my general dentist for my ortho.

BTW: Do you with this cleaning mean the professional dental cleaning done with a salt/water pistol, which removes all soft and hard stuff from you teeth? If so, i didnt knew i can let it done with braces too, cos i usualy make this every year once, and i already was sad i cant do it the next 3 years.

Can i still ?

My dentist uses a pistol of which a water and salt mixture beam comes shot out and hits u teeth. Every 2-3 teeth i have to rinse and what there comes out is ... dirty So this cleaning is very powerful, after the procedure the teeth are very shiny, white and glossy. *edit*: And this is luckily not unhealthy for teeth, i always get a concentrated fluorid paste on my teeth afterwards and should not eat anything for 2-3 hours.
You never saw such a cleaning ?

The high speed brush with the paste my ortho did used yesterday before i got braced. And ya i defenatly realized several differences between different parts of the world here regarding braces, but that goes to much off topic now, that doesn't belong to this thread