Is this right?!

Message

#1 Post by **xostephie** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 3:18 pm

Ok...I got my braces put on yesterday by my orthodontist and his dental assistant. Well, before I had even left the chair, 6 of the brackets had fallen off! Then, on top of that, at least 1/2 a bracket fell off(It feels like there's a piece of something still in my mouth) on one of my molars. However, they didn't go ahead and add them back on; they just told me to come back in around 2 weeks and they'll add the rest back. On top of that, when they put the wires in, Im assuming they didn't realize that the bracket in the back had fallen off, or rather, they did, but for whatever reason didn't cut the wire off at the last bracket-so now i have a wire sticking out (and scratching my cheek!) On top of that, the end of the wire on my bottom left is sticking out a little bit, and rubbing against my cheek as well!) My dental office is closed on the weekends (and he's only there 2 times a month, so I'm hoping I can just go in and get the dental assistant to cut the wires; but in the meantime I have gobs of dental wax on the ends to keep them from scratching anymore-it's doing a decent job. I'd like to think that my orthodontist was having an off day (he showed up late, and left the dental assistant alone to put on the bottom wire, and didnt even check her work at the end) but should I be worried that I chose a bad orthodontist??? Does this sorta thing just "happen" sometimes?! What should I do?

#2 Post by **jcdamon3** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 6:15 pm

Hi,

I doesn't sound right to me! Where are they when they aren't in this office? Can you drive to where they are? They can't possibly only work two days a month can they? If they do, I want their job!

#3 Post by **xostephie** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 6:31 pm

from what i understand he works at multiple places-it's a dental center that just happens to have an orthodontist as well. I am just really hoping that this was just a fluke, otherwise I may need to pull him aside and let him know that I don't appreciate it-especially since Im paying 4200!(which, from what I've been told, is wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy too much for where I live(another Dental Center said 2500, and that's without insurance).

#4 Post by **jcdamon3** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 6:34 pm

I would get really clear with him what you are supposed to do in emergencies. To me this classifies as an emergency.

#5 Post by **xostephie** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 7:29 pm

Thanks- I definetely plan to do that the next time I go in! I just hope he just had an off day:(

#6 Post by **Chris** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 11:30 am

6 brackets falling off right away? Sounds like they didn't glue properly.
Dental assistants are trained to put the brackets on too, usually the ortho checks the work though. Going in to cut the wire so its not poking is definitely a dental assistant type job...go in right away.

#7 Post by **Flora2006** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 2:29 pm

Honestly, I think I would just switch orthodontists...One-two mistakes are okay...but when right from the start they do SO many things wrong...and the fact that he's only there twice a month...

An ortho possibly having an off-day is not a reason to mess up so much...whether it's his fault or the assistants, so many things going wrong should not happen.

#8 Post by **xostephie** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 5:43 pm

Thanks for the replies yall! While I've considered switching orthodontists, my dad already put down 1300$ towards it, so Im sorta stuck for right now, lol. Unless they screw up badly again-then I do plan on mentioning another place that my friend's whole family has gone to-and they're supposidly REALLY good! In the meantime, I'm hoping they'll be open Monday, so I'll just call and hopefully I can sneak in for about 20 minutes so she can cut these babies a little closer! I think the dental assistant is pretty new to this, but even so, it angers me that he didn't even check it (and if it happens again when I go in in two weeks, I will DEFINETELY let him know...im good at that;))

In the meantime...I'm just crossing my fingers it gets better!

#9 Post by **Chris** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 6:51 pm

If its just a wire clipping, I would just walk in, forget the appt. What can they say when you are already there. It takes 1 minute! I had a poking wire once and did just that. No problem.

#10 Post by **weird_wired** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 10:51 pm

You should be able to get that money back with a stern lawyers letter.

It sounds like they are completely incompetent.

Maybe if you post pics the mystery will be solved, but it sounds really odd that they would let you start treatment with SIX brackets missing.

#11 Post by **xostephie** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 11:38 am

I called and as soon as I told her they were scratching my cheeks she told me to come in today! Which is GREAT because, alas, the wire on the bottom right side has popped out as well- hopefully she'll cut that baby too-although the end isnt poking like it is on top!

Ok...I'm going to try and post pics of it- i couldnt get a really good pic of the mouth of the inside, but I tried to get pics of each side so you could see what Im talking about! (Excuse the dental wax, lol. I have gobs of it on right now to protect the edges of the wires from hurting my cheeks anymore).

#1: This is the side of my mouth that has nothing but cement!

#2:Notice in the bottom left side there's just the wire(there's actually 2 teeth in a row like this-once again, excuse the wax, lol)

#3: This is the side that has both of the wires loose! The bracket in the back on the bottom that was holding the wire is still there, but the wire was loose, and finally came out this morning (and trust me-I brush VERY gently since my teeth are still really sore!). I couldnt get a pic of the top one that's poking into my cheek, but I think this will give you an idea of what I've been dealing with, lol.

#12 Post by **Flora2006** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 12:45 pm

I am glad you can go and get that wire fixed.

You will feel so much better right away!!

#13 Post by **xostephie** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 5:31 pm

hehe...I went in earlier and boy oh boy am i feeling good! She cut the wire on the top as best as she could (there's a tiny bit sticking out, but i'm totally fine with it because it feels soooooo much better than it did!) and then she ended up having to take the WHOLE wire off on the bottom to get the wire back in! THAT was painful! My teeth were still sore, and then her pushing on them didn't exactly feel "Great"! Luckily it only took about 20 minutes, and I feel sooooooooooo much better! I *gasps* actually ate a mini bag of cheeto puffs earlier, lol. It hurt, but I figure I've gotta get myself back on solid foods SOMETIME!:)

Anyways, one more question. Any idea what type of brackets I have???
The ortho didn't really "discuss" what type of brackets I'd be getting, lol. But it turns out they're specially ordered for me, so turns out that's why i have to wait 2 weeks to get the rest on-they LOOK like Viazi's to me, it seems like they're triangled shape, but I'm not sure. Any ideas???
I tried to take an up close picture to give you a better idea, sorry it's a little blurry!

#14 Post by **bbsadmin** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 10:34 pm

I dunno, they look a lot like Viazi brackets to me, but I'm not 100% sure.

There's a pic of Viazi brackets on this page:

http://www.archwired.com/ceramic_vs_metal_braces.htm

Anyway, we've had a lot of stories about brackets popping off, especially at first. Apparently it is quite a skill to put the exact right amount of bonding material on the bracket. Too much or too little and the bond may not take well. Also over time with force the bracket may pop off. In the course of my three-year treatment, 2 or 3 did pop off now and again. So it's not really negligance unless the ortho doesn't want to fix the mistake in a reasonable period of time, IMO.