legal/ negotiating advice needed! Dental Nightmare

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

So I haven’t had the time to be on the board in the past couple of months, but when I came up with this dilemma I thought of you guys, Perhaps someone can help me out a bit,

My husband is 21 and has braces on his teeth. He has had orthodontics since he was 8, and full out braces for 6+ years. He recently went for a second opinion at my poor bleeding lips request. The orthodontist he saw told him that due to the braces being on for 14 years his roots of his teeth seem to be experiencing “resorption.” That is where his body starts to reabsorb the roots of his teeth back into the body. HIs orthodontist had taken only 3 x-rays in 14 years, the last being 1 1/2 years ago.

We both became worried about this and decided to have the braces taken off. But that is where the trouble started.

My husband is a very timid pushover. He is intimidated by his orthodontist, who still treats him like he is 8 years old. He has requested to have the braces taken off but the orthodontist is requiring we sign a waiver excluding him from any damage first. Also he refuses to let me come to any of the meetings because he thinks I"m “speaking for Chris.”

The counter-acting problem is that orthodontists are very territorial. No other doctor will touch his mouth with the braces being taken off by the doctor.

So now he had an appointment on Wednesday with the orthodontist. The doctor refuses to let me come with him. He is going to “discuss” options with Chris, and take x-rays to see if there has been damage.

I know this docor will sway Chris into keeping his braces on for several more months if I don’t come. Then CHris will come home upset that he didn’t get what he wanted in this.
My father says I should call the Florida Dental Assoc., and my mother says I should call a lawyer, especially if there is damage to his teeth, and the doctor refuses to take off the braces.

What are your suggestions? legal or medical.

2

14 years? Gah!

I think the parental advice is sound. I’d follow both of them and see yet another orthodontist to back up what the second on said.

3

Ouch!

See a lawyer and have them recommend a dentist or orthodontist who can evaluate your situation. Do not sign a release without a lawyer looking at it. There should be no reason why I can see why removing the braces would cause damage - but I can see the ortho covering his butt.

OTOH, the second opinion seems weird to me, too. The body does not “reabsorb” the tooth roots without braces, I don’t understand what braces would have to do with anything.

IANADentist

4

resorbtion is a phenomenom found in orthodontic patients, nail biters, and ice chewers specifically. It has to do with the pressure on the teeth. I havew found some information regarding it on the net. The only thing they have found to stop the progression is a root canal. I’m sure Chris would love that.

5

tubagirl,

Is your husband seeing a board certified Orthodontist, or a general practitioner who took a course some weekend and thinks he can wade into major ortho without the correct credentials?

Resorption usually occurs in ortho patients because either the teeth were at some point during treatment moved too fast, or because the teeth were moved farther than was really reasonable. In other words, if you have lost a molar, moving the molar behind it all the way into the space of the lost molar from it’s original position might be considered too ambitious. Sometimes, if time has passed and the molar in the back has already naturally moved forward, this would NOT be considered too ambitious.

It is also possible for resorption to occur for no reason at all. It sometimes happens in a tooth, or teeth, that have sustained no injury, no ortho, have no teeth applying pressure where they shouldn’t.

Your father is correct. Call the Florida State Dental Association, and ask them what procedure you should follow. In WA state, you would be referred to what is called “Peer Review.” You would write a letter stating your situation, concerns and complaints, and the local Peer Review Board would examine the records, examine your husband, and question the Dentist if they feel your complaints are valid. Even if they felt no wrong had been done in treating your husband, they would still help you by discussing the case with the Orthodontist, and attempting to resolve whatever the problem is.

I have no idea what the procedure is in FLA, but I would think that they must have some similar manner of addressing this sort of situation. My employer was for some years the head of our local peer review board, which is why I am familiar with the procedure here in WA.

Another thing about this is that when you have gone through Peer Review, if you eventually DO seek legal action, the fact that you attempted to resolve things through the Peer Review process usually works very well in your favor. During the time that my employer was head of the review board, I only saw a few cases that weren’t resolved on the local level. And these were cases that IMHO deserved to go to legal action. And they did, and in each case that I know of, the patient either won, or the Dentist settled.

Pardon me if this is more information than you wanted. And if you have any questions I might be able to help you with, please feel free to email me at scotticher@earthlink.net.

Good Luck!

Scotti

Oh, and btw…he has had braces for SIX YEARS? If nothing else, keep trying to find another orthodontist (board certified) to give you a second opinion. Without knowing all the details, I would hesitate to say that something seems off here, but just let me just state that we have NEVER had a patient in braces for anywhere NEAR that long. I’m not saying it couldn’t happen,and be reasonable, but…