Do you the "ok" from your dentist, before getting

[MrMonkey]

Say your teeth are pretty messed up, and you go to your dentist to get one thing done (e.g. a minor filling) and the dentist notices some other problems that need to be sorted, yet you can only afford enough for the one treatment (the filling). What happens then? Can you just say, I'm going to have to cancel?

I want to get a scale and polish before getting braces, but I can't afford to be paying more money on anything else, even if some extra work needs to be done. I already got financially molested by my dentist the last time - because she continually pointed out new minor things I needed done (maybe I was being paranoid but I was pretty suspicious), and I kept...coming...back for the wallet-emptying fun.

[Jewles]

The thing about little things is they turn into big things. You can pay $150 for a little filling or leave it and end up having to spend $3000 on a root canal and a crown. I know which I would choose

[GiverSSJ]

Say your teeth are pretty messed up, and you go to your dentist to get one thing done (e.g. a minor filling) and the dentist notices some other problems that need to be sorted, yet you can only afford enough for the one treatment (the filling). What happens then? Can you just say, I'm going to have to cancel?

I want to get a scale and polish before getting braces, but I can't afford to be paying more money on anything else, even if some extra work needs to be done. I already got financially molested by my dentist the last time - because she continually pointed out new minor things I needed done (maybe I was being paranoid but I was pretty suspicious), and I kept...coming...back for the wallet-emptying fun.

Do you think you can get a second opinion?

[Dutchess]

The same happens to me every time I go to the dentist, there is always something else that needs to happen. It makes me suspicious!

Because I didn't trust it, I asked my ortho if he saw the cavity (luckily the dentist told me he could see it with his naked eye) and my ortho said it was nothing. OD's finished dental school and since he doesn't gain anything by lying this was enough proof for me.

[MrMonkey]

I notice I managed to screw up the title. I meant "Do you need the "ok" from your dentist, before getting braces".

Anyway.

I want to go to a different dentist than my normal one - because I am pretty much convinced my current dentist is going to fleece me. However, the current dentist were in touch with my orthodonist, setting up a meeting for me.

Will I screw things up by visiting a different dentist?
I'm in Ireland, by the way. Maybe in America there's a completely different system, I haven't a clue.

[almost50]

Orthodontists work with a number of different dentists, so switching dentists shouldn't affect your treatment. I switched from the dentist that referred me to my current orthodontist to a completely different dentist. I kind of feel good about it. I trust my orthodontist and I trust my dentist now, but it's nice to know that if I have doubts about what my ortho says I have a dentist that isn't a friend of my ortho to give me an honest opinion.

Some dentists are a little more proactive about fixing things and others have a wait and see attitude. I was told different things over the years by different dentists. You just have to trust the one you are seeing.

[TumbleDryLow]

I would suspect that most orthodontists prefer that you get a clean bill of health from a dentist before going forward with ortho treatment. My ortho and dentist communicated to each other prior to me beginning treatment. You will want to get all cavities filled and have a good cleaning. If your gums are in bad shape you may want to hold off on ortho unitll they healed enough to handle it. Switching dentists should have no impact on seeing your current ortho.

That said, if you don't trust your dentist, by all means get a second opinion. My personal story on this: I was seeing a dentist for many years. Then I switched jobs and got dental insurance which my dentist did not accept. I reluctantly switched to a new dentist, and upon seeing me for the first time, this new dentist told me I had 6 cavities that needed to be filled. Six! How could it be that I developed six cavities in 6 months when I've only had 3 in my entire life? Needless to say I did not get any work done by that dentist, dropped my dental insurance, and am back with my original dentist. Oh, and those 6 cavities? Funny thing. My dentist couldn't find them.

I'm not saying that all dentists are untrustworthy. Probably most are very trustworthy. But when it comes to medical issues which the average person knows little to nothing about---the only thing to go on our your instincts. If your instincts tell you that "something is up", it could be true.

[drrick]

FWIW, I wont move teeth that ar not healthy. So all general dentistry must be done before braces are placed. As far as finding more (or less cavities) when switching dentists...many are better diagnisticians than others. Many use lasers to find cavities. They can be found much earlier with lasers. Also the decay pattern has changed SIGNIFICANTLY over the years. Before there was as much fluoridation (water, toothpaste, etc) cavities were bid and shallow. Now the pattern tends to be narrow and deep. The enamel is hardered by FL but the underlying area is not. have you even had a filling done and the dentist said wow that was a lot bigger than it looked? happens al the time sonce they are harder to spot now than they used to be.

FWIW, a filling is a low fee procedure. If dentists were really unscrupulous they would wait to find them until they turned into more expensive root canals and crowns.

[MrMonkey]

Thanks for the replies, those are some good posts

[Takako]

Say your teeth are pretty messed up, and you go to your dentist to get one thing done (e.g. a minor filling) and the dentist notices some other problems that need to be sorted, yet you can only afford enough for the one treatment (the filling). What happens then? Can you just say, I'm going to have to cancel?

I want to get a scale and polish before getting braces, but I can't afford to be paying more money on anything else, even if some extra work needs to be done. I already got financially molested by my dentist the last time - because she continually pointed out new minor things I needed done (maybe I was being paranoid but I was pretty suspicious), and I kept...coming...back for the wallet-emptying fun.

When I started my journey, I knew I had a month or two of pre-treatment ahead of me before I would even be able to get on my brackets. I needed a full scale/polish, three fillings, and proper home brushing for a few weeks to get my gums into a healthy state. During this time I had spacers put in, but they had to be removed for a cleaning and another set put in. Then I got to have my brackets put on, but no wire was in yet. I then had four bicuspids (premolars) extracted, waited 2 weeks for those to heal... and then, FINALLY, the wire went on. All in all, I had my first consult in December, but I wasn't in full braces/wire until February.

Getting braces isn't as simple as gluing them to your teeth. Especially if there has been a neglect in care prior to your consult, there may be several months of treatment you have to got through - and pay for - before your ortho will put on your braces. I know my ortho refused to put on braces until she got the clean bill of health from my dentist.

This means that there are going to be a lot of additional charges you didn't know about, but this is all to make your mouth healthy!! Pay for what you can now, save up more, pay for a few more treatments, etc. It is not a good idea to rush into treatment with sick teeth, or to force your ortho to treat you against their better judgment.