Who Can We Trust?? OD in Florida
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Who Can We Trust?? OD in Florida
My 18 year old daugther will have to have her 4th, yes you read right, 4th set of braces put on to prepare for orthognathic surgery. She went through 9 years of ortho that did not work. You can imagine how she must feel about this. I am scared to death of picking wrong OD but we have to do this again if she is to have surgery. We are considering Dr John Marchetto in Weston and Dr Chris Freeman in Plantation. If anyone has any experience with either, I would be so grateful if you would post or PM me. Also if anyone has had good experience with someone else in south Florida area, it would be great to hear about. Thanks!!!
Hi Rosy!
I'm 26, and went through years and years and years of ortho work in my childhood (from ages 6 through 17). I had an upper pallate expander that turned with a key, facegear with rubber bands attached to the expander, lip bumber, some funky retainer, etc and then was told around 5th grade that none of that worked and we'd have to start all over or I'd have to have "Suuuuuuurrrrrgerrrrry!" (and yes, the ortho really did say this in a mock scary voice - my mother was LIVID). I have had three OS's and four orthos over the last 26 years, So, I TOTALLY understand your daughter's view
I also had braces as a teenager and rejected surgery as an option in my mid teens because I didn't trust the prognosis - the surgeon completely ignored my concerns about breathing and my nose/sinus issues, and thought I had finished growing without considering family history of later growth - turns out I was right, I grew three inches in height, after 17, and the surgeon I went with now listened to my breathing issues and diagnosed for the first time correctly my breathing issues as being related to a deviated septum.
I can understand your concerns about picking the right doctor now, but more important is for you and your daughter to make sure you know everything there is to know about it. Educating yourselves is the best way to know when you are picking surgeons who is good and who isn't. Ask about complication rates - has your surgeon ever had a case of non-union? Complete numbness in patients? Other problems? Ask for patients to talk to. Ask for before and after. Ask about aesthetic considerations, or his background, etc. Is it upper or lower? My first surgeon was a lower specialist, so referred to because my ortho back then thought I'd need lower surgery - turns out, nope, I had UPPER surgery, when all said and done. The lower was fine. Ask how many cases of your daughter's particular surgery they do every year, of that EXACT procedure, not just surgeries in general. Ask who they trained with, where they trained, research their methods to make sure they're the most up to date (IE what kinds of plates they prefer, etc, their fixation methods, do they wire shut, band shut, allow chewing a week after, 6 weeks after, etc?). Find out as much as you can, and do consults with both and see if their opinions on your daughter's surgery needs match up! Also, ask each of them about the other - you find out a lot when you ask surgeons in the same area (or different orthos in the same area!) about one of their colleagues.
Feel free to pass my screen name on to your daughter if she'd like to talk to someone who understands how frustrating the whole process is. I've had braces twice - the good news for your daughter is that if she kept up her retainers since the last braces run, it may cut down her time before surgery. My teeth were really straight before I got braces for this time around, and the whole thing (braces on, surgery, braces off) lasted 8 months because it took so little time to get my teeth ready before surgery.
Good luck!!!
I'm 26, and went through years and years and years of ortho work in my childhood (from ages 6 through 17). I had an upper pallate expander that turned with a key, facegear with rubber bands attached to the expander, lip bumber, some funky retainer, etc and then was told around 5th grade that none of that worked and we'd have to start all over or I'd have to have "Suuuuuuurrrrrgerrrrry!" (and yes, the ortho really did say this in a mock scary voice - my mother was LIVID). I have had three OS's and four orthos over the last 26 years, So, I TOTALLY understand your daughter's view
I also had braces as a teenager and rejected surgery as an option in my mid teens because I didn't trust the prognosis - the surgeon completely ignored my concerns about breathing and my nose/sinus issues, and thought I had finished growing without considering family history of later growth - turns out I was right, I grew three inches in height, after 17, and the surgeon I went with now listened to my breathing issues and diagnosed for the first time correctly my breathing issues as being related to a deviated septum.
I can understand your concerns about picking the right doctor now, but more important is for you and your daughter to make sure you know everything there is to know about it. Educating yourselves is the best way to know when you are picking surgeons who is good and who isn't. Ask about complication rates - has your surgeon ever had a case of non-union? Complete numbness in patients? Other problems? Ask for patients to talk to. Ask for before and after. Ask about aesthetic considerations, or his background, etc. Is it upper or lower? My first surgeon was a lower specialist, so referred to because my ortho back then thought I'd need lower surgery - turns out, nope, I had UPPER surgery, when all said and done. The lower was fine. Ask how many cases of your daughter's particular surgery they do every year, of that EXACT procedure, not just surgeries in general. Ask who they trained with, where they trained, research their methods to make sure they're the most up to date (IE what kinds of plates they prefer, etc, their fixation methods, do they wire shut, band shut, allow chewing a week after, 6 weeks after, etc?). Find out as much as you can, and do consults with both and see if their opinions on your daughter's surgery needs match up! Also, ask each of them about the other - you find out a lot when you ask surgeons in the same area (or different orthos in the same area!) about one of their colleagues.
Feel free to pass my screen name on to your daughter if she'd like to talk to someone who understands how frustrating the whole process is. I've had braces twice - the good news for your daughter is that if she kept up her retainers since the last braces run, it may cut down her time before surgery. My teeth were really straight before I got braces for this time around, and the whole thing (braces on, surgery, braces off) lasted 8 months because it took so little time to get my teeth ready before surgery.
Good luck!!!
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eggraid101
- Posts: 86
- Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2007 11:39 am
- Location: Leesburg, VA
I can't speak for the orthodontists your daughter has seen in the past, but as much as we try to correct things without surgery, sometimes it is impossible to truly correct a problem unless surgery is done, no matter the skill of the orthodontist. We can do quite a bit to correct the positions of the teeth, but controlling the position of the underlying jaws is much more difficult. I know this doesn't make it any easier for you and your daughter, but I'm sure all those "sessions" in braces were done to try to avoid having jaw surgery. Best of luck, it sounds like you're doing the right thing by looking into the orthodontist you're working with.
The dentists in the area may be able to give you an idea of which orthodontist to see, but I would recommend getting a few opinions.
The dentists in the area may be able to give you an idea of which orthodontist to see, but I would recommend getting a few opinions.
Russell Mullen, DDS MS
Leesburg, VA
Remember: your orthodontist knows your dental history and orthodontic condition best. I can guide you toward better orthodontic information than if you were left on your own and hopefully in doing so play a small part in your quest to achieve a beautiful, fully functional smile, but you should consider your orthodontist the best source of information.
http://www.mullenortho.com
Leesburg, VA
Remember: your orthodontist knows your dental history and orthodontic condition best. I can guide you toward better orthodontic information than if you were left on your own and hopefully in doing so play a small part in your quest to achieve a beautiful, fully functional smile, but you should consider your orthodontist the best source of information.
http://www.mullenortho.com