Orthodontists--ugh!

[CRB#33]

I was told that my DS was getting his expanders off today, and a full set of braces on. They told me that it would take an hour and a half and the only "long" appointments they had are during school hours.

Needless to say, it was a 25 minute appointment to take the expanders off and take a new mold!

He missed a test for this!

I made such a stink about pulling him out for this that his appointment for his full set of braces isn't until May 2nd, because it's the only appointment later in the day (when the only thing he will miss is gym!)

The mold probably won't even be any good by then! They tell me the teeth will shift in a few weeks

I'm starting to wonder what kind of money making scam they have going on here

 

[jamsmom]

Isn't is frustrating?

I hope the mold wil still be good.

 

[ltldeb]

I'm taking DD for her follow-up today to see when they'll start her orthodonture work. I'm not looking forward to what you described, but I know it's coming.

 

[Krisu]

Ive had the same thing happen. And DS has broken wires twice They don't do those kind of appts. after 2:30 PM

 

[ennazus]

That's awful!! The MAJORITY of their customers are in school until 2:00 or so! They should be ACCOMMODATING their customers!!

I haven't had that problem w/ my DS' orthodontist (knock on wood... as we are not finished yet)

 

[cgcw]

We are just starting on that route -- so far, we've been able to snag the 7:00 a.m. appointments or the last appt of the day at 4:45. I know the best is yet to come. I wonder how they can have the hours they do when their actual clientel is in school at those times. I'm not really comfortable taking my DS out of school but it certainly seems to be the norm. Not that it makes me happy.

I'd be really upset if I were in your shoes. Hopefully all will go as planned next visit.

 

[becka]

I am curious about who you all think should take all of the appointments during the day?

All of my orthodontist's patients that are kids could not been seen just in the few hours after school. My orthodontists tries to spread out the after school appointments so that it is as fair as possible and there are some appointments that just take longer and are not scheduled at the end of the day.

I guess I don't see how missing 2 hours of school is such a big deal especially when you know about the absence in advance. Multiple appointments are just part of the reality with braces - parents should realize this going in.

 

[CRB#33]

One of the problems is he has no appointments after 6:00 at night and no weekend hours ever. Except emergencies.

I searched for an ortho with better hours. Hard to find.

No big deal to take your children out of school????

I respectfully disagree.

I probably should have said forget it to the braces I guess?

Plus I had to take the day off. I'm a substitue. I don't have the option of going back to work.

 

[becka]

I am sorry if I offended you but I realize how time consuming (and costly) orthodontic procedures can be because I am currently wearing braces myself. I have to take personal leave/vacation time to go to my appointments and I knew this in advance.

I take school obligations just as seriously as I do work obligations but there are times when a student needs to be out for a few hours for doctor/dentist appointments. You are free to disagree but if missing 2-3 hours of school every few months is going to cause such serious harm to your child's education then yes I would have to say that perhaps braces should have waited because they are not the biggest problem you need to deal with.

 

[Krisu]

If you only had to go every 2-3 months that would be one thing, but as I stated about broken braces, I've had my DS there 4 times in the past month between the initial visit to put them on, repairing the wires and head gear All during school hours.

 

[cgcw]

Becka,

The majority of our orthodonitists hours are during school hours. They close at 5 pm. two days a week, most days by 3 pm or noon and only open 1 evening a month until 8 pm. There are no Saturday hours. Even our dentist offer evening appointments every week and alternating Saturdays. That at least gives us a choice.

I would much rather my DS skip one of his extra-cirricular activities than school work. My DS has a hard enough time keeping up with all of the work -- he's in 2nd grade now. I know as time goes on, the more and more work he will have. Missing that hour of school during the day could set him back a bit. Then when does he make it up -- it's not an option for him to do that at home in the evening. It needs to be made up during school hours -- and if I have to repeatedly take him out of class, he's going to have a tough time doing that. I don't think it's always fair that he misses out on recess or their special privilidges because things are tougher for him. And now we are going to have to add to that because I won't be able to always schedule his appointments so they don't conflict with school.

JMHO, but I think orthodonitists could be a little more generous in their after school/evening hours. I felt left between a rock and a hard place -- the orthodontist comes very highly recommended. So, my other choice was to try and find a ortho with better hours. But then, the orthodonitist would not have been the recommended one......I guess it's all a big trade off.

My understanding, by the way, in my DS's case, is he's at the best time in his development to start the process. Putting it off could cause more serious problems later. That's not something I'm willing to find out the hard way.

 

[CJMickeyMouse]

I would be surprised to find an ortho with "better hours" as you are asking for.... they need time with their families too! And down time. They can't work 24/7.

We have people that wish they could get prescriptions at 3:00 in the morning too, but we refuse to accomodate them, unless it is an emergency, of course.

My son started braces 4 years ago... and is still in ongoing treatment. He is supposed to be 6'8" tall and his mouth just simply was not big enough at 7 years old to hold all of those adult teeth!

Anyhow, he had WEEKLY appointments for about 6 months. They had to keep a close eye on him as his teeth were moving so rapidly. DS had no problem keeping up... if he needed to stay after to make something up, he did. About 90% of his appointments were during school hours.

Good luck with your situation, but I think you are asking an awful lot if you expect not to have appointments during school hours.

 

[CRB#33]

Okay. To clarify.

I am not happy that I have to take my child out of school for a "long" appointment. However, I do it.

What I really don't like is taking him out and not having the work done I was told was going to be done. And then having to do it again in a few weeks. I'm not going to, hence the waiting until May.

However, my pediatrician has evening hours once a week and Saturday hours, or at the very least a second ped. that he switches on and off Saturdays with. And he does this when the majority of his patients aren't even school aged!

My personal doctor has two evenings a week hours and every other Saturday morning.

My ob/gyn has two evenings a week.

Why not an orthodontist?

 

[CJMickeyMouse]

I would be upset if they did not do what they said they were going to do.... I am definitely with you on that point.

I guess it depends on where you live..... there are NO evening or weekend hours here (doctor, dentist, etc.), and I don't expect that will ever happen.


Hopefully your son's treatment goes well!

 

[jsmith]

I just have one question-why in the world are you putting braces on a child who is 7 years old-this is the scam-from experience you will be doing it again when they 15-my brother spent three years and goodness knows how much on my nephews othro in elementary-as he has grown his teeth have moved so much it is a waste. One of my sons best friends has been in braces since 2nd grade-they took them off for about a year in 5th and during a rowth spurt the teeth moved right back in spite of retaniers. We are just starting with our 2nd son-and he is 14. The last of his permenant teeth are still coming in and he had issues with having two rows of teeth so he would really have had problems to start earlier.
To get better hours try to find a practice with more than one doctor-ours has three-they see patients from 7-7 M-F and 7-12 on Sat-only one dr may be there but they have appts. I have never (this is my second kid in braces) had to wait more than 48 hours to get a problem fixed and when we had our worst problem (DS 1 had a collision in a bastketball game that left two brackets imbedded in the other guys forhead) they saw us immediately. They have always worked with the schedules for activities-we have taken appointments in the middle of the day, but once DS1 could drive they tried to schedule his appointments during the HS lunch or his free hour. I have taken them out on occaissionally for a long appointment of if there were too many other things going on but they worked with me alot.

 

[ennazus]

Originally posted by becka
I am curious about who you all think should take all of the appointments during the day?

They should offer hours that are more fitting to the students!! And they don't have to work 24/7 to accomplish this. Maybe start the day at 12:00 noon and go 'til 8:00 PM. Why offer hours that are OBVIOUSLY inconvenient to most of their clients? There is only one answer.... because it is CONVENIENT to the Dr.

Originally posted by jsmith
I just have one question-why in the world are you putting braces on a child who is 7 years old-

My DS started orthodontist work at 7 years old also and he was told up front that he would probably also need work done when he was a teen ager. Part of the work being done right now was expanding his palate AS IT'S GROWING, which is much easier than expanding it after the growth has stopped. My DS also had braces put on to straighten his almost freakish looking teeth. (sorry to say that, but they were ) Now he is just using a retainer to help jut out the bottom jaw as it's growing. I am thrilled with the work that has been accomplished thus far!!