Metal Mouth Message Board

have any of u heard of cases regarding recycled braces? it sounds pretty gross and scrary at the same time cuz you don't really know who wore them and if they had anything contagious. is there any way to find out if an ortho is using recycled braces?

thanks in advance!

Ewww! Not sure if I would like that. Where did you hear about recycled braces? Guess I'll have to do a little research on that one. HA!

actually i dont remember where i read it from and the funny thing is i just read it a couple of hours ago...hehehe. i remember reading a couple of articles saying that 1 in 3 (i think that's the statistic) orthos use recycled braces...that's very gross cuz what if someone who has HIV gets his braces removed and is given to someone else?!? that's so freakyyy.

Hey, I have firsthand knowledge that my ortho sends them to a recycle facility.

When they put my upper brackets on, the assistant forgot that I was supposed to have ceramic. So after the metal brackets were on, she had to take them off. And put on ceramic. Before the ortho walked away, he said "send those off for recycling". Well, I couldn't let that go. I asked. The assistant said that when they remove metal brackets, they send them to a place that recycles them. She said they get a tax break, but no actual cash. And my ortho doesn't offer to use recycled brackets, they donate the used/recycled ones to dental school.

I assumed (perhaps incorrectly?) that the fee I'm paying for my braces included all NEW brackets, wires, etc. Wouldn't an ortho have disclose that he/she is using "recycled" i.e. "used" parts? I suppose it may vary from state to state, but would also think that "recycling" of medical devices would be regulated.

All I can say is "ick". I wouldn't want used braces, sterilized or not in my mouth.

My ortho mentions in the new patient packet that he does not use recycled brackets and will not even if requested. That was the first I had ever heard that brackets are recycled. I am sure recycled brackets are sterilized appropriatly but yuck it is not for me!

So let me get this straight... Something that is made out of stainless steel has cooties?

I guess all of you who think that recycled brackets are gross take your own silverware to restaurants... And bring your own tools to the ortho office when you go in for an appoitment. What about those molar bands that didn't fit the patient before you?

There's this not so new invention called an Autoclave. And it can make surgical grade stainless sterile.

MMG

Here's the thing, if I'm gonna have to take out an extra student loan to pay for my braces, I don't want ANY other person's "cootie" brackets in my mouth. That's a rip off! I realize things are sterilized, but that doesn't even come close to the rage I would direct toward my ortho for being sly to save a buck for himself. A fork from a restaurant doesn't even hold a candle to being in my mouth for years. No way!

They are properly and thoroughly sanitized before they are re-used.

Despite that, it's not an appetizing thought, I agree.

However, if you were really poor and needed braces and got it done at a dental school, it would certainly be better than not getting braces at all. Dontcha think?

Metal Mouth Guy wrote:So let me get this straight... Something that is made out of stainless steel has cooties?

I guess all of you who think that recycled brackets are gross take your own silverware to restaurants... And bring your own tools to the ortho office when you go in for an appoitment. What about those molar bands that didn't fit the patient before you?

There this not so new invention called an Autoclave. And it can make surgical grade stainless sterile.

MMG

i kinda agree with u but silverwares are different...they don't stay in your mouth for at least a year. i mean, braces are expensive and wouldnt u rather have new braces than recycled braces?

just my two cents.

HollyDontSpend wrote:Here's the thing, if I'm gonna have to take out an extra student loan to pay for my braces, I don't want ANY other person's "cootie" brackets in my mouth.

I agree with you on that! I wasn't aware of recycled brackets until I read a sign in my ortho's office that said he does not use them.

jay.tee. wrote:

Metal Mouth Guy wrote:So let me get this straight... Something that is made out of stainless steel has cooties?

I guess all of you who think that recycled brackets are gross take your own silverware to restaurants... And bring your own tools to the ortho office when you go in for an appoitment. What about those molar bands that didn't fit the patient before you?

There this not so new invention called an Autoclave. And it can make surgical grade stainless sterile.

MMG

i kinda agree with u but silverwares are different...they don't stay in your mouth for at least a year. i mean, braces are expensive and wouldnt u rather have new braces than recycled braces?

just my two cents.

I read something one time that of the people who got sick after eating at a restaurant, not all of them got sick from the food. And germ transfer doesn't take years. Contact for 1 second is sufficient.

I never said I liked the idea of recycled brackets. I only commented on the reality that it can be safely done. You're probably more likely to get hit by lightning than to get cooties from recycled brackets.
But yes, I'll pay for new, not used.

MMG

You know, I don't think using recycled stuff would bother me. (I didnt have recycled parts, though).... I'm a medical assisting student and I just think about all the other stuff that gets "recycled"... scalpels, forceps, hemostats, etc... you don't expect the doc to buy a new one of those for ya... you just sterilize them and use them again. So long as they work the same as they should, it wouldnt make any difference to me.

BUT, then again.... as a medical person, I don't have the aversions to body fluids as much as normal people do... it just doesn't bother me.

If I had gone to an ortho and he'd said, "Ok, here we have our regular sterilized parts, and here we have the 'fresh from the factory parts', and the 'fresh' ones cost $1000 more than the regular ones"... I would have chosen the "recycled" ones.

Isn't everything recycled anyway? The water you drink used to be dinosaur piss.

.vf