Monday, March 16, 2009

Confused...



I had an ortho appointment on Friday. I had emailed them a couple of weeks before, letting them know that I had a surgery date. When the ortho came into the room, I reminded him that my surgery date is the end of next month. He started acting all weird, asking if I can't get it moved forward and that now he is under the gun to get my teeth ready. WHAT THE HELL?!?! When I saw the surgeon on December 1, he said my teeth were ready and I could have surgery as soon as I got a date. I don't know why the ortho would mess with my teeth after that. I am so frustrated. First of all, I was under the impression that I would only be in braces a year before I was ready for surgery. I've had them on for a year and a half. And then my teeth were ready and now they're not because he had to go and mess with them. This guy is supposed to be one of the best orthodontists in L.A., so I am a little confused when he acts like he doesn't know what he is doing. UGH. If I'm not ready for surgery by the 29th of April, I think I might have some sort of breakdown!
Oh yeah, I emailed him this morning and asked him if there is a chance that I really won't be ready for surgery. We'll see if he writes back.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would make him get you ready, I am supposed to have surgery on the 16th of April and my surgeon told me that they were going to check the models again to see if my teeth were ready and I said OH NO! I have been in braces for 2 years how more ready can you get! You have to be forceful and say that you have already made plans to take time off and whatnot and be firm, put him in a place where he has to help you. Good Luck!

Anonymous said...

So sorry you are going through this Aimee. I have the exact opposite problem....my ortho is very close to getting me to "you are ready for surgery" point. I am so freaked out and unsure about the double jaw surgery, that I feel I need more time, just to decide if I want to go through with the surgery in the first place. My ortho is so into pleasing my surgeon that I think he decided just to get my teeth ready ASAP, just to stay in the surgeon's good graces. I wish he paid more attention to my needs though. I suspect that I am driving my ortho to distraction with all my stalling and indecision. I hope the ortho and I can remain respectful of our differences in timing/pacing until I am brave enough to decide yes or no on the recommended surgery. I appreciated your post so much because you gave me a different perspective
to think about. I really hope your ortho comes through for you...how frustrating to have to bear this turn of events--even more infuriating since your ortho has such a great reputation and all. You have been so on top of everything having to do with your ortho treatment and surgery, so I can see how
you are feeling more confused and frustrated. Will keep my fingers and toes crossed for you. Take care, and thank you for blogging.
Julie

Sharon said...

I am so sorry, I know how upsetting this can be but don't leave him alone! That's the best advice I can give, keep talking with him and make sure he understands you can not change the date for surgery! Make him work for that money!

Aimee said...

Thanks for the advice you guys. He has 6 weeks to get my teeth ready. I wonder if that is enough time. It really feels like my teeth are just going around in circles. It feels like they have been in the same position 3 different times now and then he changes it. I don't know how to explain it, but it feels like I should have been ready ages ago!! I didn't get a response from him today. I have an appointment for another adjustment a week from tomorrow. I guess I'll see what he says then. Can the surgeon work around how my teeth are or do they have to be precisely right?

Anonymous said...

Aimee: in terms of working around your teeth if the ortho treatment is imprecise:that may depend on whether your ortho and surgeon have worked together or not. I would be less concerned if your ortho is highly experienced with surgical ortho cases,and hopefully,if you are lucky, your ortho has worked closely with your surgeon, and knows the surgeon's problem solving style.Given your orthos latest comments,I would run not walk from his office if he seems inexperienced with surgical cases--the last thing you need is this very sort of situation with your ortho after you have had the surgery (read david sarver's publication about the negative impact ortho treatment can have on orthognathic surgery. I appologize for perhaps raising your concern level instead of lowering it. I can totally see why this is so hard--the good news is that you get one more chance to make sure your ortho is the best doc for you. Best wishes Aimee.

Aimee said...

Hi,
My ortho is definitely experienced with surgical cases and he has worked many times with this particular surgeon. That is why I am confused as to what is going on here. I saw the surgeon in December and he sent my molds back to the ortho with what he needed for my teeth to be perfectly ready. It appeared that they were keeping in touch. If I don't hear from him tomorrow, I am going to give him a call. Thanks for the advice! :)

Platypus Flosser said...

frustrating! you are doing the right thing by being proactive... good for you. my ortho is pretty strange at times too, but did just get me onto the platypus flosser - have you tried it?

Aimee said...

I've never heard of the platypus flosser. I'll google it now. :)
Those look really cool. I wish I had known about them a year and half ago!

momto5minnies said...

GOOD LUCK with everything. I think I may have posted once on your blog. My bite (I think) looked very similar to yours and I just had my surgery on Feb. 27th ... the braces started in April of '07. You can check out my results ... so far so good ;)

Anonymous said...

This happend to me a few weeks ago. try not to sweat it. my surgon is super agressive and said I was ready, but I knew that I wasn't, based on the fact that my orthodontist told me I would be done in June.
I trust my orthodntist-- and want this to be absolutely perfect for the time, money and pain involved.

Diane C said...

OMG - I cannot believe you guys all experienced this same thing. My daughter was supposed to have her Surgery Dec.11, 2008. She had been in braces preparing for the surgery since April. Her OD forgot about the surgery date being so soon and used a slower bracing technique. When he realized he had to quickly get her into speedier brackets however it was already too late. Surgery was pushed off until Feb.26, 2009. Well, we're done now - thank God!

Aimee said...

Yeah, he had told me that he was going to just keep me in a holding pattern, so I don't get it. I think a lot of the ortho's have so many patients, they can't keep up and remember everything. Kinda frustrating.