Ok, so my orthodontist passed away about a week prior to debanding me. I stayed in braces for about a week longer and then his assistant debanded me. The retainers fit fine and I went on my merry way. Another orthodontic group is lending their services so his assistant said that they would see me sometime in the next week or so.
I figured I'd be good. This was last Thursday.
I've been wearing the retainers religiously. I think I have had them out for MAYBE 2 hours a day, if that. Had them in all night long and have been very good about not taking them out even though it drives me nuts that I cannot talk yet. Oh well, I'll get used to them.
I started to notice that one of my bottom teeth is shifting. I pull out my bottom retainer (Hawleys on uppers and lowers) and notice that it's pushing my tooth slightly forward. I'm not happy with this. The shifting does get slightly worse while I'm eating and slightly better when I put the retainers back on.
However, now I am really starting to see some overlap/crowding. I'm afraid that this will lead to another round in brackets & wires and that this should be able to be fixed without this treatment.
I'm not sure how to approach this. I paid up front at my current ortho and don't necessarily feel like I'm getting finished properly. HOWEVER, I don't want to be the squeaky wheel driving everyone nuts either. I also don't necessarily think that the orthos that are lending their time are going to want me to keep calling them about what they say are minor issues. I settled for bad teeth for 30 years, I just don't want to have to settle for *almost* perfect teeth now.
Do I visit another ortho and see if they can fix the problem? I'm willing to pay for another retainer, if that's what it takes. If they can use my current retainers, do you think I could get away with paying for just an office visit? Any suggestions??
Debanded and concerned
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Bullfighter
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Re: Debanded and concerned
"Another orthodontic group is lending its services" is hard to interpret -- not sure whether that means the new practice has assumed any legal obligations of your now deceased orthodontist. It doesn't sound like the new practice acquired the assets/obligations of the ortho you contracted with, so maybe it's just a courtesy. (Also I'm not a lawyer, so my opinions here are just opinions from Some Guy on the Internet...)randirocks wrote:Ok, so my orthodontist passed away about a week prior to debanding me. I stayed in braces for about a week longer and then his assistant debanded me. The retainers fit fine and I went on my merry way. Another orthodontic group is lending their services so his assistant said that they would see me sometime in the next week or so.
I figured I'd be good. This was last Thursday.
I've been wearing the retainers religiously. I think I have had them out for MAYBE 2 hours a day, if that. Had them in all night long and have been very good about not taking them out even though it drives me nuts that I cannot talk yet. Oh well, I'll get used to them.
I started to notice that one of my bottom teeth is shifting. I pull out my bottom retainer (Hawleys on uppers and lowers) and notice that it's pushing my tooth slightly forward. I'm not happy with this. The shifting does get slightly worse while I'm eating and slightly better when I put the retainers back on.
However, now I am really starting to see some overlap/crowding. I'm afraid that this will lead to another round in brackets & wires and that this should be able to be fixed without this treatment.
I'm not sure how to approach this. I paid up front at my current ortho and don't necessarily feel like I'm getting finished properly. HOWEVER, I don't want to be the squeaky wheel driving everyone nuts either...
I would be a squeaky wheel and tell them your concerns about your bottom teeth ASAP. I know that Hawleys can be adjusted to make slight fixes in tooth alignment, but at some point you probably would need braces again, and then the cost will be an issue.
Until you ask, they're probably assuming that you're basically done with orthodontia and not actively assessing your progress. Also, until you ask you don't really know whether the new ortho is going to focus on solving your issues or focus on getting you out of his office.
Re: Debanded and concerned
Randi,
That is a tough call, I don't know what you should do. I am inclined to say stay the course and have your ortho's new team tweak your Hawley. But PP has a good point, if its a courtesy they might just want your ortho's patients out. I was the squeaky wheel on Monday at my ortho and it was uncomfortable for me, but I paid a lot of money for my braces and to end up with NO retainer due to the assistant not getting the mold right was infuriating and I let them know how angry I was and how unacceptable it was.
I am sort of in the same position as you are, I got debanded last Wednesday but I have NO retainer and my teeth are shifting a bit, spaces opening on top. I also paid up front $6,500 for these braces. I don't have any retainer bc I chose to get a Hawley BUT my ortho's assistant didn't get enough of the impression so the retainer Co. said they could not make a Hawley from the right after de brace mold, he did have enough to make an Essix with the original mold. So, this past Monday 5 days after being de banded, I made the second impression for the Hawley and was told they would 'give me' an Essix the next day to wear til the Hawley was ready in two weeks, and that the ortho could tweak the Hawley if there were any imperfections. To say I was furious was an understatement, imperfections, after $6,500 and 6 months in fixed braces (at 42), was UNACCEPTABLE. The most they could do was offer me the Essix and said wait 2 weeks for the Hawley. I made it crystal clear to the ortho that I don't want a retainer made from teeth that were debanded 5 days prior, I want the retainer made from the perfect result that was Wednesday. As it is, I was supposed to pick up my Essix yesterday and of course it is not ready. So, I am retainer free for a week now, and my teeth literally hurt from moving on their own.
I know others will have advise, but the advise I was given here was stay the course with your ortho (and those covering for him) and have them tweak your Hawley's to fix spaces/slight over lap.
As for going back in braces again that is up to you and it is heartbreaking to even think about a week out of braces!
For me, this was my last try with braces as well as my THIRD try; and I will never be in them again so my retainers better work. I hear you on the you waited 30 years for perfect teeth for the poor ortho to die in the home stretch (condolences btw). I am 42 and had fixed braces as a kid, failed Invisalign at 35 and fixed braces at 42. So, it sucks to see those perfect teeth at deband that have shifted in a weeks time (with or without retainers). Seeing the relapse so soon its scary and I am angry about it too and with all this money I spent trying to straighten my teeth I sometimes think I should have done veneers and been done with it especially now that I can't even get a retainer until Thursday for the Essix as my ortho is closed today (are they ever open?) and my Hawley won't be in for 2 weeks from Monday. The whole thing at this point is utterly ridiculous.
Sorry I am not much help, just another in the same position right now.
Frances
That is a tough call, I don't know what you should do. I am inclined to say stay the course and have your ortho's new team tweak your Hawley. But PP has a good point, if its a courtesy they might just want your ortho's patients out. I was the squeaky wheel on Monday at my ortho and it was uncomfortable for me, but I paid a lot of money for my braces and to end up with NO retainer due to the assistant not getting the mold right was infuriating and I let them know how angry I was and how unacceptable it was.
I am sort of in the same position as you are, I got debanded last Wednesday but I have NO retainer and my teeth are shifting a bit, spaces opening on top. I also paid up front $6,500 for these braces. I don't have any retainer bc I chose to get a Hawley BUT my ortho's assistant didn't get enough of the impression so the retainer Co. said they could not make a Hawley from the right after de brace mold, he did have enough to make an Essix with the original mold. So, this past Monday 5 days after being de banded, I made the second impression for the Hawley and was told they would 'give me' an Essix the next day to wear til the Hawley was ready in two weeks, and that the ortho could tweak the Hawley if there were any imperfections. To say I was furious was an understatement, imperfections, after $6,500 and 6 months in fixed braces (at 42), was UNACCEPTABLE. The most they could do was offer me the Essix and said wait 2 weeks for the Hawley. I made it crystal clear to the ortho that I don't want a retainer made from teeth that were debanded 5 days prior, I want the retainer made from the perfect result that was Wednesday. As it is, I was supposed to pick up my Essix yesterday and of course it is not ready. So, I am retainer free for a week now, and my teeth literally hurt from moving on their own.
I know others will have advise, but the advise I was given here was stay the course with your ortho (and those covering for him) and have them tweak your Hawley's to fix spaces/slight over lap.
As for going back in braces again that is up to you and it is heartbreaking to even think about a week out of braces!
For me, this was my last try with braces as well as my THIRD try; and I will never be in them again so my retainers better work. I hear you on the you waited 30 years for perfect teeth for the poor ortho to die in the home stretch (condolences btw). I am 42 and had fixed braces as a kid, failed Invisalign at 35 and fixed braces at 42. So, it sucks to see those perfect teeth at deband that have shifted in a weeks time (with or without retainers). Seeing the relapse so soon its scary and I am angry about it too and with all this money I spent trying to straighten my teeth I sometimes think I should have done veneers and been done with it especially now that I can't even get a retainer until Thursday for the Essix as my ortho is closed today (are they ever open?) and my Hawley won't be in for 2 weeks from Monday. The whole thing at this point is utterly ridiculous.
Sorry I am not much help, just another in the same position right now.
Frances
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chocomorsel
- Posts: 96
- Joined: Thu Dec 02, 2010 7:17 pm
Re: Debanded and concerned
Wow Frances. Your braces, that were only on for 6 months, requiring very likely lest than 9 total adjustments were 6500 big ones? And you were OK with that and paid it? Wow. That sounds like an awful amount of money for such a short and likely very mild amount of work/straightening.francis29 wrote:Randi,
That is a tough call, I don't know what you should do. I am inclined to say stay the course and have your ortho's new team tweak your Hawley. But PP has a good point, if its a courtesy they might just want your ortho's patients out. I was the squeaky wheel on Monday at my ortho and it was uncomfortable for me, but I paid a lot of money for my braces and to end up with NO retainer due to the assistant not getting the mold right was infuriating and I let them know how angry I was and how unacceptable it was.
I am sort of in the same position as you are, I got debanded last Wednesday but I have NO retainer and my teeth are shifting a bit, spaces opening on top. I also paid up front $6,500 for these braces. I don't have any retainer bc I chose to get a Hawley BUT my ortho's assistant didn't get enough of the impression so the retainer Co. said they could not make a Hawley from the right after de brace mold, he did have enough to make an Essix with the original mold. So, this past Monday 5 days after being de banded, I made the second impression for the Hawley and was told they would 'give me' an Essix the next day to wear til the Hawley was ready in two weeks, and that the ortho could tweak the Hawley if there were any imperfections. To say I was furious was an understatement, imperfections, after $6,500 and 6 months in fixed braces (at 42), was UNACCEPTABLE. The most they could do was offer me the Essix and said wait 2 weeks for the Hawley. I made it crystal clear to the ortho that I don't want a retainer made from teeth that were debanded 5 days prior, I want the retainer made from the perfect result that was Wednesday. As it is, I was supposed to pick up my Essix yesterday and of course it is not ready. So, I am retainer free for a week now, and my teeth literally hurt from moving on their own.
I know others will have advise, but the advise I was given here was stay the course with your ortho (and those covering for him) and have them tweak your Hawley's to fix spaces/slight over lap.
As for going back in braces again that is up to you and it is heartbreaking to even think about a week out of braces!
For me, this was my last try with braces as well as my THIRD try; and I will never be in them again so my retainers better work. I hear you on the you waited 30 years for perfect teeth for the poor ortho to die in the home stretch (condolences btw). I am 42 and had fixed braces as a kid, failed Invisalign at 35 and fixed braces at 42. So, it sucks to see those perfect teeth at deband that have shifted in a weeks time (with or without retainers). Seeing the relapse so soon its scary and I am angry about it too and with all this money I spent trying to straighten my teeth I sometimes think I should have done veneers and been done with it especially now that I can't even get a retainer until Thursday for the Essix as my ortho is closed today (are they ever open?) and my Hawley won't be in for 2 weeks from Monday. The whole thing at this point is utterly ridiculous.
Sorry I am not much help, just another in the same position right now.
Frances
Re: Debanded and concerned
Frances[/quote]
Wow Frances. Your braces, that were only on for 6 months, requiring very likely lest than 9 total adjustments were 6500 big ones? And you were OK with that and paid it? Wow. That sounds like an awful amount of money for such a short and likely very mild amount of work/straightening.[/quote]
Yes, I was shocked to say the least, as my son's braces for the second phase (phase one was appliances) my son's fixed braces metal/metal was $6,200 for 18 months of treatment. I asked why my price was so high and was told "it was because of the ceramic brackets" uhm, I had 6 ceramics and 4 metal brackets on top. Cost includes 2 hawley retainers and all post braces appointments but I also thought it was much too high a price to pay. That said in the area I live in that is the price whether the braces are on for 6 months or 18 month, explain why, I have no idea, have never gotten a straight answer. The invisalign treatment also offered to me was going to cost $7,600 for 10 months of treatment. I tried invisalign with a different ortho years ago and we couldn't finish treatment bc I needed fixed braces to finish the job, so that ortho paid me half my payment back due to the failed treatment. At that time I was not ready to go into fixed braces (mentally was not ready).
Wow Frances. Your braces, that were only on for 6 months, requiring very likely lest than 9 total adjustments were 6500 big ones? And you were OK with that and paid it? Wow. That sounds like an awful amount of money for such a short and likely very mild amount of work/straightening.[/quote]
Yes, I was shocked to say the least, as my son's braces for the second phase (phase one was appliances) my son's fixed braces metal/metal was $6,200 for 18 months of treatment. I asked why my price was so high and was told "it was because of the ceramic brackets" uhm, I had 6 ceramics and 4 metal brackets on top. Cost includes 2 hawley retainers and all post braces appointments but I also thought it was much too high a price to pay. That said in the area I live in that is the price whether the braces are on for 6 months or 18 month, explain why, I have no idea, have never gotten a straight answer. The invisalign treatment also offered to me was going to cost $7,600 for 10 months of treatment. I tried invisalign with a different ortho years ago and we couldn't finish treatment bc I needed fixed braces to finish the job, so that ortho paid me half my payment back due to the failed treatment. At that time I was not ready to go into fixed braces (mentally was not ready).
Re: Debanded and concerned
Definitely call!! They may be able to do a simple adjustment to the hawley and correct the issue!
2 Years 4 months 3 weeks and 4 days in full metal braces!
Click on "WWW" for my braces story!
Click on "WWW" for my braces story!
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Snowglobe32
- Posts: 1224
- Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2009 9:05 pm
Re: Debanded and concerned
I wouldn't freak out thinking you are going to need braces again...give the new office a call. So what if you are a former patient of the deceased ortho...they are helping out his patients.
If you get the feeling that these new folks don't care about how your teeth look, find someone else who does. I don't know why any ortho would not work to get the best possible result for any patient, regardless of where they start. Go in there and show them you care about your teeth and want the issues fixed. It could be a simple tweak her or there.
I guess I am just lucky- my ortho (a perfectionist) and his staff love what they do and I am so happy for that!
Good luck!
If you get the feeling that these new folks don't care about how your teeth look, find someone else who does. I don't know why any ortho would not work to get the best possible result for any patient, regardless of where they start. Go in there and show them you care about your teeth and want the issues fixed. It could be a simple tweak her or there.
I guess I am just lucky- my ortho (a perfectionist) and his staff love what they do and I am so happy for that!
Good luck!