warning for people getting braces

[secondtimewithbraces]

I just want to complain one last time and warn and tell people my story of how i got mislead into 6 months smiles....

FIRST AND FOREMOST NEVER GET SIX MONTH SMILES
unless you have perfect bite and teeth and only one teeth needs to be moved (in my opinion), even then i still would not get it probably because i got mislead.

So i wanted to get braces again because after 2 years of wearing retainer then 2 years of not wearing retainer i grew wisdom teeth and teeth shifted and my bite was not perfect like it used to be.

So i wanted to get braces again, my mum found a dentist which she thought was an orthodontist im guessing, we went there together and he the dentist was like "oh yeah i can fix your bite problem and shifted midline and crowded teeth etc"

so great i found a local nearby place where i can get braces without having to travel all the way to london every two weeks. (i use to live in london). So then he gave the price £3200... at this point i was thinking fair enough braces cost around that much im not suprised... so then after when we decide to pay and sign the contract.

He does not take molds of my teeth, no x-rays etc, only one picture of my teeth from the front, puts the braces on... few months later i realise i do not have brackets on all my teeth and i start researching on google why that is... and i find out i have so called "six month smiles" which does NOT fix bite issues etc.

So i asked him if he could put brackets on my back teeth because they are crooked.. he plays dumb and hes like what do you mean and he litrally looks at my teeth for 45 seconds playing dumb like he dosnt know what im on about and then says your back teeth are fine "maybe is the angle im looking at my teeth from", then says "this treatment only focuses on front teeth".

THIS IS WHAT I WANTED TO SAY

ARE YOU SERIOUS
YOUR TELLING ME I PAID £3200 TO A DENTIST!!! JUST SO YOU MOVE MY FRONT TEETH WHICH ARE NOT EVEN BAD AS IT IS.
ON TOP OF THIS MY TEETH ARE NOW THIN FROM TO MUCH IPR, MY ARCH IS NARROW AND MY SMILE IS NOT WIDE AS IT USE TO BE, ALSO I HAVE DEVELOPED SPEECH ISSUES AND HAVE DIFICULTY PRONOUNCING WORDS DUE TO THE NARROW ARCH

THIS IS WHAT I ACTUALLY SAID

so im so confused i dont know how to argue at this point so i was like "OH okay".... and left it at that because i feel like he would damage my teeth even more.

because for the past couple times ive been back to him all he keeps doing is IPR on my lower teeth to the point it looks thin as hell an has now turned my lower arch NARROW just so he can align them and make them strait, where as before my ortho aligned all my teeth without reshaping my front teeth.

So i contacted one of the best Orthodontist is london maybe even best in england, and they said that dentists sometimes do that and mislead people they are not specialist in dentistry so therfore they cannot fix bite etc... and this guy i spoke to has done over 10,000 paitents with braces and his results look good.

and worst of all this orhtodontist charges £3000 for FULL TREATMENT BRACES and i paid £3200 for sixth month smiles? and it looks ugly as hell

just wish someone could give me £3000 so i can get proper braces IF ANYONE IS RICH PLEASE FEEL FREE TO PAY FOR ME

Also how would i take legal action
LETS JUST SAY i wanted to get some money back because i was mislead how would i go about it?
it would be just my word against his?

I have never confronted someone in a professional manner do not know how to.

if it was up to me i would beat the crap out of them till i get my money back, i would rather someone rob me £3200 then actually pay and go through this 6 month smiles

[shortcircuit]

You could look into whether there is a government agency that oversees dentists (dental board, etc.) and see if there is a complaint process you can go through, the problem is that while your current dentist may have behaved unethically by telling you that this particular treatment would do more for you than it was capable of, I suspect that they are probably still legally acting within the bounds of their expertise. By this, I mean that general dentists in general are allowed to sell this product, instead of situation like a general dentist doing heart surgery.

Is the misrepresentation actionable? I have no idea, in the US it's extremely hard to win any kind of medical malpractice case but I have no idea what it's like in the UK. You can typically get free 30 minute consultations from attorneys here, so you might want to see if that is available.

For those considering getting braces: read, read, and read some more. Try to go beyond orthodontist's fancy websites, many of them are taken from the same generic template anyway. If you're not technically minded and don't want to get into the jargon, which is OK, then get multiple consultations and come prepared to ask lots of questions and even say "ortho A said she is going to do x,y,z, you're saying you wouldn't, so why not and why is your approach better?" Don't worry about offending anybody, this is your mouth and your money and if a doctor gets offended by your questions then it's time to find a different one.

[ditsy]

Honestly and I can't state this enough, go to your local Citizens Advice Bureaux. They can't help with legal stuff but they will give you the right places to contact and give you advice on your contract etc. I have used them for help many times in the past and they have always been great xx

[JCloNY]

I am very sorry this was your experience. I'd be pissed off too. Perhaps there is a consumer complaint board in the UK? With enough complaints they MIGHT look into the practice and decide if further action is needed.

[tmazz]

Wow this sounds really scary. I almost got sucked into getting six months smiles - it seemed like a good deal at the time and wasn't aware that anyone other than an orthodontist could apply braces. Thankfully I didn't go with them and found a proper ortho!
Out of interest who was the expert ortho you spoke to and how did you find them?

[geeky1978]

Send a clear and concise email letter to the dental practice. This is exactly what I did and got my Six Month Smiles money refunded in about a month (£2500). I threatened to complaint to the general dental council and seek legal advice.

Thankfully I also took pre photos and mid photos (with good email records) and it was so clear the whole thing was a complete shambles...

I even had email evidence that the dentist had told me cut my own powerchain off when I was on holiday (after emailing him directly to advise what my upper arch was caving in!)