We've all had to resist urges in our lives: That urge to blurt out something funny but inappropriate (although I personally have probably failed to resist this urge more than I have succeeded. I blame ADHD). The urge to just drop everything and take a plane to somewhere sunny; the urge to push everyone out of the way and jump to the front of the line. The urge to tell your mother-in-law just where she can put her cat plates. The urge to beat your daughter's orthodontist to a bloody pulp with your cane.
Oh. You've never had that last one? That must just be me.
...yesterday.
As I mentioned before, Grace irretrievable lost her palate expander while we were in DC. I thought they would just make a new one from the old mold, but as several months have passed, they decided to re-cast her mouth and make a totally new one.
She went yesterday to have it fitted. She immediately complained that it hurt, so the orthodontist loosened it. She still said that it hurt, and they were having trouble getting it to fit. Finally, he asked her to point to where the problem lay? She pointed at the very top of her palate. The unit was too high and was digging painfully into the roof of her mouth. The guy basically said that he couldn't adjust that part, but she would "get used to it". I saw Grace's hands go to her eyes in a gesture that is characteristic for her: one in which she quite literally tries to hold back tears (I figure she read that expression in a book and this is her Aspie implementation).
Time to get into mamabear mode:
"You know, I have seen her dislocate a hip and not cry. So if she says it hurts, she isn't being a drama queen. It hurts." Their attitude changed at once and the expander was removed. The assistant said something like "That is good to know, because my daughter is the opposite and will cry at anything". And we had a little discussion about which was worse (we both agreed that "drama queen" is worse, although you usually can pick out a cry of real pain instantly).
In an attempt to troubleshoot (which used to be my profession), I asked the orthodontist to check if he had received the correct unit? I know these things are custom made. I wondered if maybe there had been some mixup and we had mistakenly gotten an expander that had been cast for someone else? He didn't check. He just shook his head and said it was the right one. OK maybe he had checked already (but he could have told me that). I mentioned that the expander did look much "taller" (and a completely different shape) than the old one, but as we didn't have the old one for comparison, it was just my word, which apparently accounted for very little
Then he got out the dental power tool and tried shaving some stuff off the top of the expander. But there was not much to work with, so it didn't help. Finally he admitted defeat and said they would make a new one.
"So you are going to re-cast her mouth?"
"What (as if this was an alien concept)?"
"Well, I can't help but think if a new unit is made from the same mold, that unit will have the same problem, right?" He looked confused as the young assistant nodded vigorously.
So they re-cast her mouth.
And afterwards I took her to the smoothie place to get an overpriced smoothie as a reward for not punching the orthodontist (though I didn't phrase it like that).
I had one too.
Ohhh... is it really too much to ask for that patients (as patient as we're forced to be!!!) be treated with some respect for having a modicum of intellect?!
Lucky for Grace she has a mama like you! When I was around 15 and having my braces removed, I was to return to have the retainer fitted. When I arrived (alone, after school) the orthodontist told me they were going to CUT THROUGH my gums over my second incisors, which were slightly rotated prior to the braces.
At my shock and saying that I had not been informed of such a thing, he told me that I HAD been informed of such last appointment. What I WANTED to say, but was too scared to was that I sure as hell wouldn't have come if I'd known they were going to do THAT!
What did they do? They took a razor blade and, I shit you not, cut right through my gums to the tooth on each side! OMG.
The explantion? There are fibrous bands which hold teeth in place and they would just pull my teeth back to their prior position if they didn't do this.
They did. And a few years later those teeth rotated back to where they were before! (Which, btw, is not at all extreme or unattractive or even difficult to clean!).
Your guy? Sounds like a jerk - like so many arrogant specialists, eh? Like you might not be able to tell if the expander looked noticeably different than the other. Woudln't it be fabulous if you suddenly had the other one to shove in his face and say HA!!! Told you so, jerk!
Sorry, my little fantasy, getting away there... ;)
Posted by: Lisa Moon | September 16, 2009 at 07:57 PM