4My orthodontic treatment 2

Continued from My orthodontic treatment) (1)

I was plagued by occasional migraines and stiffness in my shoulders, and with unexpectedly strong constant outward pressure on them, the four teeth all moved neatly outward together, which meant they no longer met the teeth above in the bite.

Where is this all going to end???

I was full of mistrust and unease, when Dr. X said “They’ve come quite a long way forward, haven’t they?We need to move them a bit further in.”
(What?)
Dr. X was going to force the teeth back with his finger and attach a wire to them…
But…“They’re reluctant to move, aren’t they? What’s going on? These teeth won’t move at all,” said Dr. X, tapping the teeth…
(Huh? If you only apply that level of force, of course they won’t move.)
I started to feel mental anguish.
When I counted it up, my orthodontic treatment was in its 30th month. I’ve had enough…!

Dr. X: “This orthodontic treatment is just forcing the teeth backwards and forwards again. So I’m afraid it will probably take another year to get them in again. My apologies…”

The casual way he said this caused me tears of rage…
I couldn’t go on. I was very disappointed, but I forced him to stop the treatment at that point.
After that I got a second opinion, and I left things for about a month and a half without setting the position of the teeth, during which period the left back tooth that was sticking out moved slightly back inside.The tooth was trying naturally to return to its original position without needing to be forced.
On the other hand, where the tooth had been removed and the space closed up, the gums receded, the gap gradually widened, and the teeth started to twinge. I shouldn’t have had that tooth removed…I really regretted it…

“You couldn’t tell this was going to happen even though you’re a dentist yourself? Orthodontic treatment seems pretty scary…” commented my husband.
No, orthodontic treatment is not scary, but in this case my opinions as a non-orthodontist were interrupted, and Dr. X happened not to listen to them. This experience also sheds light on another problematic issue. Dr. X’s parading of his expert credentials was an old-fashioned paternalistic style of treatment.I have heard that success makes people obstinate, but certainly sometimes the memory of success can stop people from listening.

Times have changed, and dental treatment today involves choices between a variety of methods and techniques, if you don’t keep yourself properly informed and pay attention to each individual person, their symptoms, their situation, and other things, and really do your research before you choose the appropriate method, you are behind the times. 
Furthermore, you can seriously damage your patients, so they are not going to be happy. Patients, including myself, endure pain in the expectation that they will look better afterwards, so they resign themselves to it and soldier on, trusting their dentist.
In future, with precise, gentle and considerate treatment, the patient’s peace of mind, safety and satisfaction must be a matter of 1+1 = 3 (at least). But my orthodontic treatment was definitely 1+1 = -2.
This experience taught me the importance of several things, including how to approach everyday treatments, and what is needed, and what is lacking, for the dental treatment of the future.

I think the very pain and bitterness that I myself experienced has enabled me to put myself in the patient’s position more than I was able to do before. 
As a dentist, I am happy that this serious problem happened to me, because I must definitely avoid it happening to my own patients.
These days orthodontic treatment is possible without removing any teeth except in the most serious cases. Orthodontic treatment without removing any teeth enables you to maintain a well-balanced bite for the following ten or twenty years.
Please as far as possible avoid removing teeth (front teeth and pre-molars) when you have orthodontic treatment. Also, I would like you not to be overly swayed by name value, but to do your research thoroughly, and choose a dentist who will think about the best possible orthodontic approach, and keep control of your bite balance (during orthodontic treatment your teeth are always moving and the bite balance becomes unstable).

Based on this experience, my clinic offers counseling and second opinions on orthodontic treatments. To support patients before orthodontic treatment starts and to enable them to have confidence in their treatment, we offer advice on which methods are best and more effective from the perspectives of both aesthetics (how it looks) and occlusion (the bite function).
Also, in cases of minor wobbliness and where there is no problem with the bone structure, we offer Invisalign mouthpieces and the associated treatment at our own clinic. We introduce patients looking for tongue thrust correction to a reliable and appropriate specialist orthodontic clinic.
We take responsibility for the introductions we make, and support you by attending with you before the treatment, providing any emergency responses needed during treatment, and attending at the end of the treatment. 

The Toranomon Dental Practice
  Hiro Nagasaka  Director D.D.S