Metal Mouth Message Board

Maybe it is just me (I am the type of person who likes to know what's going on) but my ortho does something that annoys me and I wonder if anyone experiences this as well. When hygentists/orthos do something different to your wire, bracket, elastic..they SHOULD TELL YOU. It has happened to me, 2 times already, where later on in the day, after my ortho appointment, I see either a bracket missing, a wire positioned differently etc. and I, of course, start to think--is that normal? did i accidently break it off? they didn't tell me they were removing anything, re-positioning anything etc. etc. maybe they forget to do something? So, i usually call and get the answer, "no, we meant to do that" I'm always relieved, but then annoyed. I guess most poeple wouldn't question it, but I have been in situations where people "forget" to do things or weren't paying attention. And I would hate to think all is well, and then at my next appointment-4 weeks away-that in fact, "you should've called us, so we could've fixed that for you..." I have got into the habit of asking them what they have done at the end of my appointmet, but really it should come from them. I feel that if they are going to do something out of the ordinary to your braces they should tell you, so when you see something different you know what you are looking at. Just my opinion.

I haven't had any of that happen to me yet but I does sound very annoying. They should be telling you this stuff but I'd say continue to ask them for a recap of what they did and even ask for a mirror at the end so you can see exactly what happened before you leave. Maybe at some point they'd get the picture that you'd like to be informed.

I take my notecard with questions every time I go to the ortho...this time on the notecard was to ask them to tell me everything they do before they do it...they were very good about it...they just need to know what you need/want..

My ortho and assistants are awesome for telling me what they are doing and even what will happen at my next appointment. You have to think, until fairly recently, orthos dealt mainly with teenagers who honestly probably didn't really care/listen to what they were saying...this is all new for them too

thanks everyone for your replies

Before the assistant puts the wire/ligs back on my Ortho comes to see me first, he'll spout off a bunch of technical terms to her as he's inspecting my teeth and when he's done examining everything he then explains to me what he just told her to do. As she is assembling everything she also explains it as she does it so I'm well informed before I leave.

Maybe try requesting that your Ortho or his assistants to do the same. Communication is key.