In the last blog we started to look at why orthodontic treatment doesn’t always get the result the patient wants. In Part 2 we will look at the other reasons why things go wrong.
The wrong plan was made for your treatment:
When adult orthodontic treatment started to become more popular there was a big rise in the number of dentists offering tooth straightening options. Amongst the orthodontic community there was a lot of concern that treatment would be delivered by inexperienced and poorly trained individuals who had no peer support. All dentists are “allowed” by the GDC to do orthodontic treatment if they are competent, so it’s not limited only to specialist orthodontists. There are many excellent dentists who do tooth straightening but they accept that there are some cases they are better off referring to a specialist for treatment . This is because they have a good understanding of what can be treated effectively with simpler orthodontic treatments. If you undertake treatment with someone they should be able to discuss all aspects of orthodontic treatment with you so you know the alternative – be wary of the “one trick pony” or if they’re overly negative about seeing a specialist (who may charge more) or having a longer treatment. They should genuinely have your best interests at heart, so they need to explain why – it shouldn’t be only about the price! Remember this is an investment in yourself.
Planning the treatment correctly is the most important aspect of your care – even if you are not aiming for the “perfect” result. In order to do this the clinician needs to understand the causes of the misalignment of the teeth including the jaw relationship. Getting this wrong will ultimately lead to a result that doesn’t make you smile!
The plan wasn’t delivered properly:
There is a growing number of adult treatments that rely on a 3rd party to plan the treatment for the clinician (usually general dentists). It all sounds good on paper, they load up the patient records and a group of peers take a look and help make the treatment plan. However, ultimately the best plan in the world is only going to work if it’s delivered properly – and that’s all in the hands of the person putting the brace on your teeth (that’s all braces – not just train tracks). Straightening teeth is an art, but you need learn the science behind it to be a Master. Things sometimes don’t go exactly to plan and so the clinician needs the knowledge, skills, plus experience to recognise when they need to intervene and get things back on course.
In the next blog I will talk about how to get it right the first time around and give you some simple questions to ask at your consultation so you can judge if you’re in the right place for your treatment.