How long more?

We have come across several patients who were in a hurry to get their braces off.

For us, we believe in doing a good job for the patient, no matter how long it takes. However, there seems to be a mismatch between the patients and us about how perfect the teeth should be before the braces are removed.

Thus, our procedures have evolved to the point where patient can have their braces off once they are satisfied with the results. It does not matter whether we, as clinicians, are satisfied or not. Most importantly, patients must realise that if they are not happy with the end result after the removal of the braces, they must be prepared to have the braces put back on.

One of our patients is a dentist working in a public dental institution. We saw him last week to adjust is orthodontic appliances. At the end of the session, we told him what changes we expected to see by his next visit and we also said that we will try to expedite his treatment. His reply astonished us.

He told us to take our time to complete his orthodontic treatment, which was the total opposite of what our patients expected of us. We probed further and found out that at his workplace, he had seen many cases where the braces were completed very rapidly. He observed that such cases tend to relapse or go back towards their previous conditions very rapidly as well. In some instances, when the patient returned one week later to collect their retainers, the retainers no longer fit due to the replase of the teeth.

We have also seen cases from other clinicians who finished their cases quickly. Some of these patients were not happy with the end result and complained that they were not given the option as to when they should have their braces off. They felt that their treatment was not complete and wanted us to fix the problem, i.e. a second round of braces with the associated time, effort and cost.

So, you have to make the decision as to whether speed or end result is more important to you as it looks as if you cannot have both.