Metal Mouth Message Board

Hello everyone,

I'm so grateful for this board, and decided to go ahead and post to see if anyone has any thoughts or experience with Dr. Kevin McBride from Dallas. I will be having a Lefort I upper jaw surgery, and possibly a sliding osteotomy. I am currently in Phoenix and I was going to have my surgery with Dr. Reed Day, who appears to have a stellar reputation. Unfortunately for me, the surgery center fees have tripled since my first consultation (almost two years ago). So I have been researching other options because at this point I don't think I can afford to have my surgery with Dr. Day. I have to pay completely out of pocket, so unfortunately cost is a major consideration for me.

According to his website, Dr. McBride in Dallas works with uninsured patients to make orthognathic surgery more affordable. But I haven't been able to find any reviews or opinions on his work or facility.

I have also heard many good things about Dr. Dale Bloomquist from Seattle. He seems to work with uninsured patients to make surgery more affordable, and has a lot of experience. However, I have also come across a couple of negative reviews, so not sure what to think.

Many thanks to anyone who can offer any thoughts or advice on this matter. It's a shame that after two years of waiting to be surgery ready, I am almost there, but now I'm not sure I can afford to go with my 'first choice' surgeon.

Ah well, wishing everyone else a smooth(er) orthognathic journey.

If you're willing to travel (which it sounds like) my experience with Dr. Stuart Super in NYC has been flawless. His site is http://facesthatsmile.com. If you want message me, I'd be happy to give you more details.

I haven't had surgery with Dr. McBride but for what its worth, when I e-mailed him about my case he was very helpful and answered all my questions.

Any recommendations for St. Louis, MO?

Hey, I don't know how to message (I'm new here), but can you please give me more details? I am considering Dr. Stuart Super.

You're not far from San Diego, so you might consider Joel Berger (858.292.5175). He did my surgery in Feb, and has been doing orthognathic surgery for ~30 years.

The other surgeon that was recommended was Fred Hammond (619.298.200) at Mission Valley Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery. Again, highly respected, and San Diego is driveable from Phoenix -- you WILL NOT be able to fly home after surgery.

Looking through my bills/insurance paperwork, the huge part of the expense seems to have from the hospital. I guess it's easy to say you should get medical insurance, but if you can...

How long can't you fly? I am planning on traveling out of state for my surgery.

RYANvaughn wrote:How long can't you fly? I am planning on traveling out of state for my surgery.

I didn't have a LeFort, only a BSSO, so I don't know how many days for that. I was advised not to fly for a couple of weeks after my surgery.

With all the swelling and risk of bleeding the last thing you'll want to do is deal with the pressure change in a plane as it lands.

moonpie-

There are several on here who had surgery with Dr. Bloomquist. I do not know if they had ins. coverage or not. But I had my insurance reject the first time around, so I had surgery with him anyway in Jan 2011 with his private pay structure (BSSO was around 8K)...I am still appealing and trying to recoup my costs, but I saw the unadjusted bills, and the cost would have been roughly 25K, so even if I don't get $$ back, it was a deal!!

And worth it, he was great, everytime I saw him!! He definately knows what he's doing, I had no problem with the office staff--they were all very helpful each time I went in. I did read so negative reviews also, but you know how it is, there are some people you can't please and there are some people who just don't have a good experience. He knew I was traveling 3hours each way to see him (generally back and forth in 1 day)--so he was mindful of that when scheduling my followups...always had an assistant available by phone. And in general there were no suprises with the surgery--I was fully prepared for just about everything. I had no bands or elastics after surgery, which surprised me, and the surgical assistant said it's a little different for each case depending of how good of an occlusion he gets during surgery.

My OD was thrilled with the results so far.

Any other questions feel free to PM me

Wow guys, I can't believe you are allowed to name the people that provided your treatment or are about to. I am not allowed

[quote="sarz"]Wow guys, I can't believe you are allowed to name the people that provided your treatment or are about to. I am not allowed [/quote]

Yeah, I'm hesitating from naming names because nothing has happened yet. I will

[quote="streo"][quote="sarz"]Wow guys, I can't believe you are allowed to name the people that provided your treatment or are about to. I am not allowed [/quote]

Yeah, I'm hesitating from naming names because nothing has happened yet. I will[/quote]


Sorry...hit the "submit" button by accident...


I'm hesitating from name names because nothing has happened yet. I will only be comfortable in naming names provided I get good results. I really like the orthodontist I'm with and he is excellent, but the reason why I am hesitating to name him at this point is because my objective is to have a BSSO+genioplasty in conjunction with an oral surgeon (he already has somebody he trusts). If all goes well, and if they allow me to, I would LOVE to tell everybody about who was involved. Until then....

sarz wrote:Wow guys, I can't believe you are allowed to name the people that provided your treatment or are about to. I am not allowed

Not allowed by who? Did you sign a non-disclosure agreement with your surgeon or orthodontist? Or is this a difference between health care systems across different countries? I'm confused.

DRG

dRG I wondered the same thing....not allowed by whom?

I was asked to remove any names of my surgeon/orthodontist by the orthodontist that provided my treatment. I am currently looking at a letter that I received from him in March asking me to remove any statements that included their names from my blog ( I never even named them directly in it ).
I am so shocked, so I removed them. My treatment from them was awful but I believe we all have a right to express an opinion and have a right to freedom of speech under article ten of the European convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR). I am from England and as we are now part of Europe, this is another Right they have removed from me.

I have to say though, I am very happy with the treatment that I am receiving from my new Orthodontic Practice and will definitely be Naming them when my treatment is complete.