Are dental surgeons adequate, or do I need an orthodontist?
tastycracker, I’ve met so many people who didn’t think their braces were worth it! I grew up in southern CA where the vast, vast majority of kids were put in braces as a matter of course. Many of those kids had teeth that would have worked perfectly well as they were and had to put up with years of braces for minor cosmetic alterations. And now many of them are going back in their mid-20s because either they didn’t wear their retainers, or their orthodontist missed something that only was noticed when they got their wisdom teeth out. OP, I’d do whatever I could to save money. Make sure you get to talk to some of the surgeon’s old patients, and it might be a good idea to get your wisdom teeth out if you haven’t already. This is all anecdotal, but I do NOT have all that much faith in orthodontia. Literally every dentist who’s seen my mouth since I got my braces off – including one who saw me the week after – has immediately said “We should get some braces on those”.
tastycracker, I’ve met so many people who didn’t think their braces were worth it! I grew up in southern CA where the vast, vast majority of kids were put in braces as a matter of course. Many of those kids had teeth that would have worked perfectly well as they were and had to put up with years of braces for minor cosmetic alterations. And now many of them are going back in their mid-20s because either they didn’t wear their retainers, or their orthodontist missed something that only was noticed when they got their wisdom teeth out. OP, I’d do whatever I could to save money. Make sure you get to talk to some of the surgeon’s old patients, and it might be a good idea to get your wisdom teeth out if you haven’t already. This is all anecdotal, but I do NOT have all that much faith in orthodontia. Literally every dentist who’s seen my mouth since I got my braces off – including one who saw me the week after – has immediately said “We should get some braces on those”. This after almost six
Well, most certainly an orthodontist will have the training necessary to properly install the braces, monitor the movement of your teeth, and make the appropriate adjustments. A dentist would not have received this specialized training (generally speaking). I suspect the ortho will also be more knowledgeable as to the latest techniques and materials. The dentist may well have bought into one company’s orthodontic product and that’s what he installs. That said, I had my orthodontic work done by my dentist and the results were quite good. He was an old guy who had been around a long time and seemed to know how to do everything right. You should try to get in touch with people who have had orthodontic work done by the two different doctors and judge the work. Do the dentists and orthodontists let you pay in installments, as they do here in the states? That really helps soften the blow when you can stretch the payments over time.
I can’t speak on the ortho vs dentist debate. I’m seeing an ortho for my braces and I never thought of seeing a dentist. But if you’re concerned about cost, why bother with the ceramics on top? Why not go all metal since it’s cheaper (don’t know about Australia). I’ve read quite a few times on the archwired.com forums that people who opted for partial ceramics would’ve just went all metal if they did it over again. You get over the novelty and self-consciousness of having metal in your mouth. I used to wonder constantly what people would think of my braces, but I don’t give a crap now. Some with ceramics even opted to go crazy after awhile and use colored elastics. I haven’t checked out the Archwired site since I started my treatment, but maybe you’ll get more feedback there. Good luck.
