Which ortho to go with?

[sweetbee1]

I feel like most orthodontists I have gone to have been rushed. I was hoping they'd say that my face would get smaller. I am thin but have wide cheeks I don't like. I also have a missing molar I have to replace by my dentist after ortho is complete. I have a midline that is off center. Only 1 ortho out of maybe 5 I went to noticed that! I would pick him but he charges 8 to 10k for braces and is further away from me.

I have one ortho who works minutes from me and works exclusively with damon braces. She has 11 years of experience but the office she is now is passed down from one of damon's founders. She isn't listed as a top ortho yet but that could be because she's new. She answered all my questions but I can't find many recent reviews of her. She is charging 6800 I believe and that is with a discount. It would mean getting 6 clear brackets with the rest of my mouth being metal damon braces then have the option for invisilign towards the end of treatment for an additional 1k.



The second ortho is 10 minutes from me and has over 20 years of experience. He seems very popular and works with traditional and ceramic brackets. He seemed very very busy at my consultation and needed to leave shortly after but he answered my questions. He is charging 7800 for traditional with an extra 600 if I went for ceramic top and bottom.



I am perplexed on who to choose. I hear ceramics are bulky but I want ceramic on top because I am over 35 and a professional. I also heard it's painful to get ceramics off? Is there anything else I should know? Any suggestions on who I should pick?

[djspeece]

I would base a decision on the following:
1. Are any of them board-certified (if in US)? This doesn't guarantee a better result but does indicate an interest in demonstrating mastery. As an RN, this was moderately important to me.
2. Use the same set of criteria for each of them: what is the likely outcome, what are the treatment alternatives (type of braces, extractions, and so forth) along with an explanation of risks and benefit, do they include post-braces retainer, and what are the options there? Which one seems to listen to you? Of course they are rushed, so go in with a list of well-thought out questions and don't let the conversation wander and show respect for their time.
3. I don't think they can do much with your cheekbones. Some people on this site have complained about sunken cheeks and so forth, but I suspect this is from muscle atrophy (shrinking) due to decrease chewing and decreased caloric intake. The ortho is mostly moving teeth around the existing arches unless you are having your arch expanded.
4. From what I read here, most issues with the midline need to be severe to be noticed by others so maybe you are looking too closely and too often .
5. I'd be skeptical about reviews and rankings and popularity. They mainly come from patients who are extremely happy or extremely unhappy. You might pick up some trends in reviews, but most of us are not really in a position to judge the professional competence of an ortho.

6. I would not think an ortho with 11 year's experience as "new." If I am reading correctly you seem to be preferring her. You'll only be making office visits every 4-6 weeks so I would not weigh location so strongly. I travelled 45 minutes to my ortho through traffic because I trusted him and he was very straight-forward in his conversation.

7. Does your general dentist have a recommendation on an ortho? And if so, why?

Best of luck to you.