Is this normal?

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#1 Post by **kirjax** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 6:55 pm

I had an ajustment last week. My ortho was busy with a patient so she never came in to look at my mouth. Because of the holiday I had gone 8 weeks. She told the tech what to do without seeing me? I mean everything seemed fine but I always feel more comfortable when they take a look at you (even though they truly don't do much when they come in). Is it normal? I just look for the reassurance of when they're in there taking a look.

#2 Post by **chewmypepsi** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 11:17 pm

I have been wearing braces for just over a year now and it seems that every time I go in for an adjustment my otho is always super busy with a patient and either looks at me for no more than 30 seconds or doesn't even check me at all. This used to really bother me in the beginning, but now I come to expect it. My teeth have really changed and the progress is unbelievable so I guess everything is working the way it should. Still, I feel much more comfortable when the ortho actually checks me out before the tech does their thing. I am paying over 6000 dollars for my treatment and sometimes I just feel I am not getting the attention I deserve for all the money I am paying my ortho.

#3 Post by **newmetal** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 4:05 am

In the practice i go to the orthos do all the work for each individual patient, the assistants just provide the tools,ligs etc. Does anyone else's ortho write notes onto a card? mine does and i never know what they say.

Newmetal

#4 Post by **Whitters** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 4:25 am

It has only happened to me once that my ortho was SUPER busy with another patient and didn't even look at my progress that month.
I was skeptical and disappointed. Instead what she did was look at her notes and told the assistant what to do.
Otherwise she usually looks at my progress and comments on my movement. She either continues with the adjustment or one of the assistants, depending if there is another person there at the same time.

To answer your question newmetal..mine takes notes in a folder as well....

#5 Post by **muppet** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 4:29 am

[quote="newmetal"]In the practice i go to the orthos do all the work for each individual patient, the assistants just provide the tools,ligs etc.

My ortho practice is the same as yours. Mr ortho does the lot even the moulds - only thing he did not do was take the x-rays.

My ortho also has a cardex system I have never seen him write on it yet (apart from drawing diagrams on the back to help explain the answer to my questions) I guess he must write on it after I have gone? If it is anything like medical/nursing cardex it will probably be full of jargon and abbreviations and not make a lot of sense!

#6 Post by **kirjax** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 6:05 pm

well my ortho when she comes in the room usually spends no more then a min. (or less) in the room with me. Usually it's bite down, smile, open and then she tells the tech what to do.

This time she was in the next room and I heard my tech say to her about needing to retie a tooth in and she said yes and then she said what about the elastics and she asked the tech what I was wearing them for and how long? That kind of bothered me. I know you have lots of patients but how do you know if my problem is corrected without looking? It takes a split second to hop over to look at my progress. She was in the next room removing braces off of a patient. Not to hard!

anyways, hopefully when I go back at the end of the month she'll walk in a see me. I trust the techs, they're nice and everythign so far is going fine so I'm not too concerned just yet. But I don't want her to make a habit out of it.

#7 Post by **SinOnYourLips** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 9:51 pm

I'm thinking it also depends on the stage of your treatment. I remember in the begining my ortho barely spoke to me and would just see me for also 20 seconds tops, but when time came to do more important tweaking, he would come in and check up on me, talk to me and sometimes watch the tech do the adjustment. And now in the past 2-3 months, that we are getting closer to the end, he actually does most of the adjustment himself, which I very much enjoy.

Perhaps next time ASK to see the ortho, I think you have a right to see your primary orthodontist and ask him/her questions about your treatment. Best of luck.

#8 Post by **sauerkraut** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 2:54 am

I imagine the technicians are trained enough to notice if something doesn't seem right and that they would call the ortho to check if need be, but I think I would also feel a bit miffed if the ortho didn't so much as take a quick look. My ortho always takes a look first and either does the work himself or gets the technician to do it, depending on what needs doing. But the technician doesn't let you go until the ortho has had another look to check her work.

Newmetal, my ortho also uses card indexes. Usually he tells the assistant what to write in there and to me it sounds like some kind of secret code, made up of strange number combinations and mysterious abbreviations.

#9 Post by **kirjax** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 12:52 pm

Mine is all written down on a file/folder. The xrays and stuff are inside and they write my treatment down on the outside of the file. They put an L for long visit. S for short visit and write the treatment plan for that month that I'm following.

Well I won't get to concerned unless the ortho doesn't see me again. But yea the techs seem to have it under control. There are 2 that I like more then the others. So when I don't get them it worries me more but I got the one that's really good so I guess there was no worry and like I said my teeth are moving beautifully and that's all that matters.