Dental Staff wearing braces

[lauralea]

Hi all,
I just thought I would get this out there,
Have you guys noticed how probably everyone who is working at your ortho's office either had, has, or are going though treatment for the second time. Is it a prerec to work at a orthos office to either have perfect teeth, or get braces?? Im just curious, what is it like in your orthos office?
Comments?

[katie1018]

A hygienist at my ortho's had braces and got them removed a few months ago. Her teeth look perfect!!

My ortho, on the other hand, doesn't have the best looking teeth for someone in his profession! lol

[Sunny]

I now work for my ortho, but didn't when I started treatment and I'd paid for my treatment before I started working there ... so no discount for me.

It's not a pre req to have a perfect bite where I work, although oral hygiene is required to be A1. Your initial contract is one month, then six month ... then usually a year or ongoing. How the contract goes is more about how your study is progressing, but they also talk about oral hygiene. I totally agree with the oral hygiene issue ... and the right of every person not to have straight teeth unless they want them.

In the time I've worked here, two staff members have had a couple of teeth corrected, free of charge. The treatment has been very short and was due to one of them having not followed through with retainer wear after having had braces while they'd been at school and the other never having braces, but having alignment issues with his lower teeth.

One potential assistant asked if she could have her teeth fixed for free if she got the position ... after that comment she wasn't given a second interview!

I think if someone was working where I am and wanted to have their bite sorted, there'd be a discount, but the decision would be between the person and the orthodontist they chose.

One ortho is currently trialling invisalign, because he's considering adding training in this discipline to his CV. I've been told that there are ortho's who trial lingual brackets and other types of brackets so they know what they feel like ... if this true or just urban legend, I'm not real sure.

I suspect the number of people who've previously had ortho treatment will also depend on the country you're looking at and where the people have come from. Orthodontic treatment is still predominately for kids from mid to higher economically well off families and for more city then rural kids ... in Australia and New Zealand that is.

As for the part about second time round treatment ... that would be an interesting one to do research on. I really have no idea why you'd think his, but it maybe due to more information now being available with regard to the need for ongoing retainer wear for life ... or it might reflect on younger people lacking the discipline to follow through with ongoing retainer wear for life ... or it might reflect on people of this age moving around and doing the OE thing and many other things and possibly loosing their retainers while travelling and not being able to afford to get another one in another country ... etc etc etc.

If the second time round part was to be proved true ... then we have a massive lesson to learn ... retainer wear is for life!

[Phantom Muse]

I have only been to my ortho's office twice so I haven't really noticed the teeth of the staff - but now that you've got me thinking about it, I'll probably try to catch a discreet "stare" at my next appointment!

At my dentist's office, however, EVERYONE has the brightest white smiles I have ever seen. My dentist has just begun offering Invisalign Express, and he offered this to all of his dental assistants at no charge. How nice was that?! They were probably also his "guinea pigs!" It was my hygienist who suggested I give Invisalign a try, as she was just finishing her re-treatment with the dentist (for teeth that had moved as an adult because she didn't wear her retainers as a teen!)

When I was talking to a friend last night about braces (her daughter has them, my daughter just got hers off) and her daughter is one year into treatment and she was never told that retainer wear was for life. In fact, my daughter gets her retainer in one week, but the ortho has not yet told her what sort of schedule she needs to follow. I am thankful for this forum, because I can keep her on track now!

I was not told much about retainers either as a teen my first go around, so perhaps an additional question to research might be the comparison between re-treatment numbers for those who had braces 20 years ago, 10 years ago, and then following those who get them off now to see where they are in another 10 years. Most of my tooth movement happened within 10 years of getting my braces off (and not regularly wearing a retainer). Hmm.. there are probably so many reasons! All I know is that I will now wear my retainer for life (and told my daughter that if she ever needs help financing the replacement of a lost retainer - I'll be there!

[lauralea]

RETAINER FOR LIFE=NO RELAPSE IN TREATMENT!
Phantom Muse, Im going though treatment for the 2nd time due to not wearing retainers. My parents paid good money to put me in braces, and they were upset when I lost my retainers (less then 6 months after treatment finished i might add). So when I said I would be going ahead with treatment again, they were happy and glad that Im also investing in my smile.
I think it would be an interesting survey to see if people are being braces for the 1st time or 1nd time around, and if so how long between (5, 10, 20 yrs?) and the reasons (not wearing retainers, movement with retainers on, cosmetic, bite, ect).
I still have like 3 weeks before I get my braces on, however I kinda want it to be sooner rather than later!
cheers'

[Denise]

Yes everyone in my ortho's office either has perfect teeth, or are in braces. I think at least 3 of the tech's are in braces, and my orthodontist is also in braces. Although, I've had mine for 10 months, and he's had his the whole time as well and in that time I've noticed he's had at least 3 different kinds of brackets on. So I am wondering what the deal is because he not only has perfect, straight teeth (and an awesome bite) but he's changing his brackets a lot. Who knows, maybe he just wears them to make his patients feel more 'connected' to him. Either way, I love my ortho's office and everyone in it. They are the most awesome people!

[lauralea]

I wonder if he is 'trying out' the different types of brackets. No better testimony then that of his own opinions eh.
Very interesting...

[braced cat]

Hi everyone!

Trying out different brackets sounds interesting. Nothing's better than the ortho's own experience.

My ortho, who is also my friend, had braces when he was on junior high. But since he was careless on keeping the retainer, he lost it for about thrice and didn't wear it for sufficient time. The teeth relapse and he plans to get his second braces after putting mine. He told me that this is a good lesson to learn. Getting braces off is not the end. One should take retainer seriously.

[MCOMarkhamOrthodontist]

I myself have been in metal, ceramics, and Invisalign. Third time's a charm... I wear a retainer nightly now! Having been through these treatments is great though, since it's given me a profound appreciation for what we do for patients every day .

With this in mind, I think it's excellent to have a team that understands what orthodontic treatment is from the "other side" of the chair. It's also difficult to expect people to seek your expertise if those working for you do not show how important your services are.

This reminds me of the newspaper ad from the headlines on Leno... a laser eye surgeon promoting his practice... while wearing glasses!

[Carrie]

One potential assistant asked if she could have her teeth fixed for free if she got the position ... after that comment she wasn't given a second interview!

I don't know if that's a reason not to give another interview. Here I think it would be considered part of the benefits offered to employees. I've worked as a Medical Assistant in several specialities and during the interview it was always standard practice IF the physicians saw their own employees as patients or not. Personally I wouldn't see my Employer as my Physician but that's just me. In the case of ortho I would probably get them from my employer or at least ask WHERE was a good place to get them, meaning which competitor does he recommend? lol

[Sunny]

I think it was more about her asking for her teeth to be done for free ... rather than focusing on the first job interview. The general feeling was she wanted her teeth corrected ... and for that she'd work for us as long as it took ... then ... well we didn't really want to find out.

When I started working with my orthodontist, I found it really strange to begin with. I guess I felt like my teeth were being checked all the time, but I soon realised that's not the case. Here your 'chair' time is booked, just like it is for any other patient and that's when your teeth are checked. I'm sure if you needed a wire clipped, you could get that done more easily ... but so far I've not needed to ask.

Trying out different brackets sounds interesting. Nothing's better than the ortho's own experience.

So far I've trialled three different types of brackets and we have one ortho currently trialling invisalign. I agree that this is a great way to be able to understand some of what the patients go through.