Jaw Surgery Forums » Pre-Surgery Questions

need help CHOOSING an orthodontist asap- help!!

(7 posts)

  1. Cmonster
    Member

    Hello everyone! Im 26 and Im looking to get my braces on this month at some point, I've consulted with several orthos and narrowed it down to these 3 would love some insight from all of you who are going and have gone through the process

    Ortho #1- Very nice, referred to me by my general dentist, uses the in-ovation brackets, stated that treatment time would be 18-24 months, is not board certified, and most of his patients appear to be children but his stuff looks good.

    Ortho #2- Very nice, board certified, found him from a video I saw on youtube, a girl with an amazing smile and his work looks great, doesnt appear to have done a lot of surgical cases *even though the surgeon i shall be consulting with shortly said he is working with him and thus far everything is going great* Nice guy uses the damon clear which sound cool

    Ortho #3- Slightly older than #1 and #2 board certified, very established practice, uses the 3m clarity braces (dont appear to be sexy), has done a number of surgical cases, seems pretty knowledgeable. I've only met with him for 15 minutes as a quick consult, but has a huge practice and appears to have a ton of patients. Im not a huge fan of big things, I like the personal and friendly approach and this place didnt feel wrong but it felt more serious at least in my perspective...

    WHO should I chose, and what influenced your decision, I still havent decided on the surgeon yet, even though I've consulted with 3 and looking to meet with 2 or 3 more before Im finally set. I need to decide so I can get my braces on asap!

    THANK YOU!! :)

    http://metalandmascara.blogspot.com/ my blog
    Posted 6 months ago #

  2. Trobb
    Member

    Number2 sounds good :)

    Posted 6 months ago #

  3. Sarah
    Member

    Hey Cmonster,
    I would personally go with the orthodontist that you feel most confident with, the one that you would trust the most to completely change your smile,

    I'm alot like you, I dont really like big things like ortho #3, and have good reason, im sure that this probably wouldn't happen to you as well, But my first ortho that i went to, was meant to be one of the best in the country, he had just won an award for his work and everything, which obviously resulted in him getting alot more patients who wanted the best. and he was a great orthodontist although because he had so many patients there were often times were he couldn't see me so basically anyone who was free came in, without really any knowledge on my case other than what they could see, and just tightened my braces and sent me off, mind you this was an 2 hour drive for a 2 minute consultation. Because no one really knew enough on my case, no one was monitoring it, so when i went through my growth spurts the permanent plate i had stopped my jaw from growing properly, which has led to my needing jaw surgery now.
    I am now seeing a new orthodontist, that is 10 minutes away, and he has done more in 1 and a half years then my old ortho did in 3 years, and this ortho is able to see me every session and never fails to make me feel comfortable with everything going on.

    Sorry for giving my whole life story, but its just something that you should consider in your decision, because being certified and having alot of patients doesn't always mean you will get the best possible treatment from them.
    So please just choose an orthodontist that you feel 100% confident with and make sure he is one that is willing to talk to you and answer your questions!

    Lower Jaw Advancement Surgery
    Posted 6 months ago #

  4. April
    Member

    I chose an orthodontist with a smaller practice and one who sees a lot of adults. 70% of her patients are adults. I like that because we have specific issues that need to be considered, especially if you had braces as a kid as well, which I did. Also, I want to know what is gong on every time an adjustment is made and what the overall plan is, because I'm paying close to $6000. She's aware that adults want to be in the know when it comes to an investment like this and communicates really well.
    My ortho uses a few different types of braces, but I didn't really get to pick because my bite sort of determined what would work best for my case. For example, I have all metal brackets because they withstand the abuse during surgery better.
    Another thing I like about my orthodontist is that she has taken the time to get to know me personally, as well as her staff, which has made a huge difference during the surgery and recovery process.
    I would try to choose someone who you feel pays attention to you and has a good amount of adult patients and is excited about his/her work....not just in it for the money, which there are many of out there.
    Hope that helps! Good luck!

    Posted 6 months ago #

  5. coffeecups
    Member

    Hm hard choice!

    Choose the one which you feel is most 'enthusiastic' about your case :)

    My surgeon was probably closer to your number 3. He was just the right age to do the surgery as he has had the experience, but he's still at the 'peak' of his game/forefront of technology. I felt he was a very 'quiet' surgeon and usually kept things quite brief/straight forward, definitely not the type to have a 'chit chat'. In fact he presented me two options at the very last minute on the surgery bed on how to cut my lower jaw, which *was* a bit of a shock (he could've been more open).
    I'm in love with him now cause I think he did such a good job with the surgery LOL but he's still very demure about it all. Luckily his partner nurse makes up for the enthusiasm/friendliness which was vital to the process :).

    I got rejected by one surgeon who seemed fairly 'old and experienced', because he had apparently 'stopped practising jaw surgery'... that made me feel uncomfortable lol, perhaps he had alot of failures / is sick of it now?

    He then 'passed me on' to another surgeon he recommended, who was the total opposite: He was so young! I turned down meeting him because there was no way I was going to be a Guinea pig lol.

    So in light of all that, pick the one you feel is most enthusiastic, friendly and high tech. If the office feels 'high tech', you know you're in the right place!

    Posted 6 months ago #

  6. Cmonster
    Member

    Hi everyone thank you all for your advice, I've been sitting on this decision and Im SCARED to make a decision for fear if something goes wrong one way or another- I'll have no one to blame, but me...

    I've made the decision to push out ortho #1 even though he is a nice guy, I think for my case its best to focus on #2 or #3. I am leaning towards the second ortho since its easy to connect with him and such, but he doesnt have as much experience as the third practice which slightly worries me...

    What were the deciding factors for YOU when deciding your braces- and what was your initial consult with your orthodontist like, I'd love more insight as I plan on calling one of them tomorrow and booking a bracing appointment!

    Thank you all :)

    Posted 6 months ago #

  7. Sarah
    Member

    I chose the orthodontist that i felt most comfortable with, for me the thing that helped me chose was the fact that my ortho knew what he wanted to do, and knew just by looking at my teeth what result he wanted from it. But the main thing for me was that he really wanted to know how i felt and what i wanted out of it, he made sure that all my questions were answered and it wasn't simply getting me in and out as quickly as he could, which i found with a few of ortho's, who were more interested in the money then the results and comfort of their patients.

    Posted 6 months ago #

RSS feed for this topic

Reply

You must log in to post.