I am nearing the end of my treatment and ortho wanted to shave/file my teeth down so they would fit better in the upper arch. I had some apprehension about this because the tool he pulled out was a circular disk that's supposed to attach to a power drill and rotate it. I asked him if he needed to take x-rays first to make sure that it's safe to file down my enamel and he said no he didn't need to because the structure of the teeth will allow him to file away. I was still apprehensive and voiced my concern. He said this is a very expensive equipment and it is highly sanitary and sounded very defensive and that he used it on all his patients. I didn't know what to say because at this point he sounded upset and there was no way I was letting him near me with that drill now after he was all worked up. I didn't immediately respond and he stood up angrily in the middle of the appointment and said I'm not going to drill if you don't want me to and went to work on another patient! I was shocked at this rudeness, demeanor and overall way this "professional" carried himself with his patients! I was so mad, I almost wanted to leave right then and there - mouth being wireless and just with brackets!
Anyways, it would really help me if can hear your stories of teeth filing/shaving. What tool did they use? Why you had to shave teeth down? How much did they take off? Can they mess up on this while doing filing? Did you take x-rays before the teeth shaving?
Angry Orthodontist with power drill!
Moderator: bbsadmin
I haven't let them use the drill on me either. First my teeth are naturally trapezoidally shaped so there is a black triangle between my top front teeth. My ortho wanted to sand in between them with a drill and I refused about 2 or 3 visits in a row. The thing is those 2 teeth are still rotated so I can't judge how they are going to be cosmetically once perfectly aligned. Plus I think it gives my smile character. I can always choose to do it later in treatment.
Next my top canine was hitting on bottom bracket and limiting work on my bite. He said it's kind of pointy and I'll shave it down so it doesn't hit the bracket. I said I like it pointy, no way! He said he might shave down the bottom bracket instead. In the end he didn't do that but put a bend in the wire and that seemed best solution. The tooth moved into a better position and stopped hitting.
I may want the ends of my incisors smoothed off a tiny bit to even them up when we are finished with treatment and I may allow a little IPR because of black triangles for cosmetic reasons. I was told at initial consultation there could be a need for IPR for functional reasons to fit all my bottom teeth in the arch but have not had that done so far. Slowly he's making room to fit them in. However if the IPR is deemed necessary, I'm OK to that as I agreed to it up front.
He did not get angry at all. He respected my preferences . I like my ortho.
No special Xrays for that purpose. We did discuss the amount of enamel that would have been removed because I asked.
Next my top canine was hitting on bottom bracket and limiting work on my bite. He said it's kind of pointy and I'll shave it down so it doesn't hit the bracket. I said I like it pointy, no way! He said he might shave down the bottom bracket instead. In the end he didn't do that but put a bend in the wire and that seemed best solution. The tooth moved into a better position and stopped hitting.
I may want the ends of my incisors smoothed off a tiny bit to even them up when we are finished with treatment and I may allow a little IPR because of black triangles for cosmetic reasons. I was told at initial consultation there could be a need for IPR for functional reasons to fit all my bottom teeth in the arch but have not had that done so far. Slowly he's making room to fit them in. However if the IPR is deemed necessary, I'm OK to that as I agreed to it up front.
He did not get angry at all. He respected my preferences . I like my ortho.
No special Xrays for that purpose. We did discuss the amount of enamel that would have been removed because I asked.
Braced for 2 years, 11 months, 2 weeks and 5 days (the 2nd time ‘round)
Hawley on top, Essix on bottom
Hi
I've been lurking for a few months now, and decided to register.
My ortho did some tooth slenderizing with that circular disk. It's like a small emery board. It takes off so little of the tooth enamel that it wouldn't effect the integrity of the tooth itself. I needed less than a milimeter on my bottom arch taken off, so he took minute amounts of enamel off each tooth. My front teeth needed just a little bit of room to rotate so he did this over two appointments to let the teeth move. It wasn't a pleasant experience though. It didn't hurt...just sounded horrible and made me dizzy cause it's like resting your head on a vibrating machine. No x-rays here either. He's also reshaped one of my front teeth since one was rounded while the other was more square...looked a little odd and it's so much nicer now.
The lack of professionalism from your ortho would bother me the most though.
I hope your next appointment goes better....
I've been lurking for a few months now, and decided to register.
My ortho did some tooth slenderizing with that circular disk. It's like a small emery board. It takes off so little of the tooth enamel that it wouldn't effect the integrity of the tooth itself. I needed less than a milimeter on my bottom arch taken off, so he took minute amounts of enamel off each tooth. My front teeth needed just a little bit of room to rotate so he did this over two appointments to let the teeth move. It wasn't a pleasant experience though. It didn't hurt...just sounded horrible and made me dizzy cause it's like resting your head on a vibrating machine. No x-rays here either. He's also reshaped one of my front teeth since one was rounded while the other was more square...looked a little odd and it's so much nicer now.
The lack of professionalism from your ortho would bother me the most though.
I hope your next appointment goes better....
I had this slenderizing treatment done on my 2nd or 3rd ortho visit. It's completely safe and doesn't take away much of the enamel or tooth. I had it done on my bottom tooth to allow for a little more space there. It was quick and painless, besides a little vibrating which was over in seconds I can say that there's nothing at all to worry about.
I actually sort of agree with your orthodontist, I know this might offend you and I'm sorry - I'm just being honest. At the end of the day he is a professional and what he said to you about the tool is correct, i can understand that you would be worried about the health of your teeth given that you're spending so much time and money on them but at the end of the day you trusted the man enough to carry out the work for you so why question his advice/treatment now. I probably would've reacted the same way as him. Anyway, my two cents.
I actually sort of agree with your orthodontist, I know this might offend you and I'm sorry - I'm just being honest. At the end of the day he is a professional and what he said to you about the tool is correct, i can understand that you would be worried about the health of your teeth given that you're spending so much time and money on them but at the end of the day you trusted the man enough to carry out the work for you so why question his advice/treatment now. I probably would've reacted the same way as him. Anyway, my two cents.
Re: Angry Orthodontist with power drill!
How long have you been in braces for?unabraces wrote:I am nearing the end of my treatment and ortho wanted to shave/file my teeth down so they would fit better in the upper arch. I had some apprehension about this because the tool he pulled out was a circular disk that's supposed to attach to a power drill and rotate it. I asked him if he needed to take x-rays first to make sure that it's safe to file down my enamel and he said no he didn't need to because the structure of the teeth will allow him to file away. I was still apprehensive and voiced my concern. He said this is a very expensive equipment and it is highly sanitary and sounded very defensive and that he used it on all his patients. I didn't know what to say because at this point he sounded upset and there was no way I was letting him near me with that drill now after he was all worked up. I didn't immediately respond and he stood up angrily in the middle of the appointment and said I'm not going to drill if you don't want me to and went to work on another patient! I was shocked at this rudeness, demeanor and overall way this "professional" carried himself with his patients! I was so mad, I almost wanted to leave right then and there - mouth being wireless and just with brackets!
Anyways, it would really help me if can hear your stories of teeth filing/shaving. What tool did they use? Why you had to shave teeth down? How much did they take off? Can they mess up on this while doing filing? Did you take x-rays before the teeth shaving?
I have similar issue with my orthon that he feel I threatened his professionalism by asking him too many questions.
Though he is doing his job well, but I needed a orthon that feel secure enough or care enough to explain or clear the doubts of the patient. After all this is our teeth we are talking about. I think as a patient, we have the right to know everything that is going on in our body. If we understood the purpose of why and how things done, we will feel more reassured.
I have changed to another orthodontic, though I end up paying more.
Though he is doing his job well, but I needed a orthon that feel secure enough or care enough to explain or clear the doubts of the patient. After all this is our teeth we are talking about. I think as a patient, we have the right to know everything that is going on in our body. If we understood the purpose of why and how things done, we will feel more reassured.
I have changed to another orthodontic, though I end up paying more.
How much more have they charged you when you switched? Did you end up having to pay the 1st guy off completely?gracey82 wrote:I have similar issue with my orthon that he feel I threatened his professionalism by asking him too many questions.
Though he is doing his job well, but I needed a orthon that feel secure enough or care enough to explain or clear the doubts of the patient. After all this is our teeth we are talking about. I think as a patient, we have the right to know everything that is going on in our body. If we understood the purpose of why and how things done, we will feel more reassured.
I have changed to another orthodontic, though I end up paying more.
IPR, also called slenderizing or reprox, has been done since the 1940's. there is no increase in cavities, gum disease, tooth sensitivty, etc. It is just one of the many ways we gaing space to align crowded teeth (along with expansion, extraction, surgery, distalization, etc) It is also used to reshape teeth to eliminate black triangles, improve shape and balance of the teeth in the smile. Personally I have reproxed thousands and thousands of teeth and haver had no negative side effects. It is a safe and time tested technique.
Developer of:
The Powerprox Six Month Braces(R) Technique
http://sixmonthbraces.com/
Powerprox Six Month Braces(R)on ABC News
The Powerprox Six Month Braces(R) Technique
http://sixmonthbraces.com/
Powerprox Six Month Braces(R)on ABC News
I have just joined this site, so only just read this post. By now, you may have already had this procedure done, but thought I would describe my journey with IPR, for you and anyone else who is curious. I know I was terrified of this being done, and wanted to read as much about it as possible!
IPR- Interproximal Reduction - "teeth shaving/ disking" was no big deal really. Turns out my ortho does use the hand held motorized instrument, which looks like a dremel. It is basically like a very thin, sharp round disk which spins. He came in, there was water and a suction used with it, and he went to town on about 10 or 11 teeth, in between them. They take off a little in between all these teeth so it makes a little room for when the braces pull together. This was on my bottom jaw because they need to pull these in a little to keep my bite even when they pull my top teeth together. This procedure only took about 8 mins, and it was not as uncomfortable as I thought it was going to be. It did vibrate and you could feel it touch the gum which hurt a little, and then there was the cold from the water on the newly exposed sides of my teeth. My bottom teeth are rather narrow, and this made them even more so, but I know it will all look great in the end.
IPR- Interproximal Reduction - "teeth shaving/ disking" was no big deal really. Turns out my ortho does use the hand held motorized instrument, which looks like a dremel. It is basically like a very thin, sharp round disk which spins. He came in, there was water and a suction used with it, and he went to town on about 10 or 11 teeth, in between them. They take off a little in between all these teeth so it makes a little room for when the braces pull together. This was on my bottom jaw because they need to pull these in a little to keep my bite even when they pull my top teeth together. This procedure only took about 8 mins, and it was not as uncomfortable as I thought it was going to be. It did vibrate and you could feel it touch the gum which hurt a little, and then there was the cold from the water on the newly exposed sides of my teeth. My bottom teeth are rather narrow, and this made them even more so, but I know it will all look great in the end.
I did have this procedure done the first time I had braces almost 12 years ago. to date not one problem with the teeth that had this done.
If you have put the trust into your orthodontist to carry out the process for you then you should commit to what his/her plan is for you. That is why it is always recommended to speak to several of them before making your decesion. Personally, several years ago, I went through five different orthos for my oldest son before allowing one to even touch him. since then, the Ortho has proven himself so well that everybody in the family is either in active treatment or will be very soon.
If you don't have the trust there now you probably never did and just settled on the Ortho you have. Don't worry about the procedure, it will be fine.
If you have put the trust into your orthodontist to carry out the process for you then you should commit to what his/her plan is for you. That is why it is always recommended to speak to several of them before making your decesion. Personally, several years ago, I went through five different orthos for my oldest son before allowing one to even touch him. since then, the Ortho has proven himself so well that everybody in the family is either in active treatment or will be very soon.
If you don't have the trust there now you probably never did and just settled on the Ortho you have. Don't worry about the procedure, it will be fine.