WHAT SHOULD I EXPECT DURING MY CONSULTATION?
WHAT SHOULD I EXPECT DURING MY CONSULTATION?
EXPECTATIONS From DIGITAL ORTHODONTICS - Solo Edition by Dr. Bak Nguyen
This will differ from dentist to dentist. But there are three main questions that the patient would like to have answers to: is it possible, how long, and how much? Those are the main goal of any consultation.
More than that, it is also the best opportunity for both parties to see if there can be good chemistry in the future relationship. Please keep in mind that the appliances, the physics, and the mechanisms are just 50% of the treatment. The other 50% is the trust and communication between the patient and his or her attending.
And this goes both ways. The dentist has to evaluate if that patient can be treated. And if they're going to get along for the time of the treatment. As for the patient, he or she will have to evaluate if that dentist can be trusted. It is kind of a matchmaking thing.
The other common question in a consultation is also: is it going to hurt? To that answer, compared to braces, aligners have about 1/10 of the pressure, so minimum pain is felt throughout the treatment.
Now, you want to have the answer to these 4 questions. That said, you also need to understand why. Don't be shy to raise the question and to listen to the answer. This is how you will decide if you can trust that doctor or not.
About the first question, I usually go through what are the movements that needed to be achieved and to what extend. Is it a bone problem or a teeth issue? Those are usually what will dictate if the case is doable or not. As a general rule, bone issues will require surgery and braces. So not possible with aligners alone.
About time, with 17 years of experience, I will refer that mouth with a similar one I did in the past, from there, I can give an approximation of the timeline. Time-wise, the answer is always an average. It's never exact because we're depending on the patient's cooperation and the reaction of the body, one that can never be predicted at 100%.
As attending doctors, we program, follow up, and readjust. That's part of the rules of engagement. It's like dancing with the body, we guide and then, we have to give in too, to eventually, guide again.
About cost, the cost is usually related to the level of difficulty of the treatment, not just how long is it going to take. Please keep in mind that we are molding your bone, easy does not mean fast. And difficult does not mean even longer.
The whole art of modern orthodontics is to guide your body without it responding with an equal and reverse reaction to our guidance. The idea is to be very subtle and gentle and to dance with the body.