i might lose my bottom teeth!

[beardedfrog]

califonia

I posted this this morning and now i can't find it. what happened? ahhh!

here we go again: i have had braces on my bottom teeth for 5 years. my orthodonist always said they were stubborn but now i think he just didn't know what he was doing. about 6mths ago he retired (giving me about 3 days notice) and his brother took over the business. at my first appointment, this new ortho put in a new wire. he didn't talk to me, xray my teeth, or anything... just a new wire. this new wire moved my bottom front teeth up, subsantially, freaking me out and making my teeth very mobile! quickly though (remember my first ortho, his brother, had tried for 5 years!!!), they staighted out and my teeth finally looked like they were finished. at my last visit, one of my ortho's helpers causually asked me from across the room if i were going to get a gum graft. what???? i hadn't heard of that before. i asked my ortho and he didn't seem too concerned about it. thankfully, i had a dentist appointment the next week, so asked my dentist. to make a long story short: my dentist took xrays and discovered my front teeth have NO BONE around them at all.. that means the only thing holding them in are my gums. he said i could lose them. through my tears, i asked if i could sue my ortho, and my dentist replied that i'd have a case. i'm very angry!!!!! livid!
in a couple weeks i have an appointment with a pariodonist to see what can be done to save my teeth.
i think both ortho's blew it. any advice out there?????
thanks

 

[ecmst12]

Sounds unlikely, but consult a medical/dental malpractice attorney in your area.

 

[VeronicaLodge]

i dont see how this is the fault of the ortho at all, just soemthing faulty in your mouth make up. for the record, i have had braces and a gum graft on my lower teeth, and the braces had nothing to do with the need for the graft, just part of life i guess. i survived it and my teeth are fine.

 

[barry1817]

dental

califonia

I posted this this morning and now i can't find it. what happened? ahhh!

here we go again: i have had braces on my bottom teeth for 5 years. my orthodonist always said they were stubborn but now i think he just didn't know what he was doing. about 6mths ago he retired (giving me about 3 days notice) and his brother took over the business. at my first appointment, this new ortho put in a new wire. he didn't talk to me, xray my teeth, or anything... just a new wire. this new wire moved my bottom front teeth up, subsantially, freaking me out and making my teeth very mobile! quickly though (remember my first ortho, his brother, had tried for 5 years!!!), they staighted out and my teeth finally looked like they were finished. at my last visit, one of my ortho's helpers causually asked me from across the room if i were going to get a gum graft. what???? i hadn't heard of that before. i asked my ortho and he didn't seem too concerned about it. thankfully, i had a dentist appointment the next week, so asked my dentist. to make a long story short: my dentist took xrays and discovered my front teeth have NO BONE around them at all.. that means the only thing holding them in are my gums. he said i could lose them. through my tears, i asked if i could sue my ortho, and my dentist replied that i'd have a case. i'm very angry!!!!! livid!
in a couple weeks i have an appointment with a pariodonist to see what can be done to save my teeth.
i think both ortho's blew it. any advice out there?????
thanks

You want to make sure that you have the x-rays before the teeth were moved, as you already have the x-rays after the fact. You may find out that when moving teeth there is a speed which breaks down bone, and allows new growth to fill in where the tooth moved from. If the speed was too quick, one can lose bone support and this seems to be what you have stated--thus the need for the before and after x-rays.

Now you get into a second issue, if the ortho treated you without proper x-rays, there could be a negligence situation.

Finally, depending on your oral health, what was happening with periodic check ups and periodontal evaluations. Patients in ortho treatment usually should be watched more closely for problems that could arise.

Feel free to contact me directly should you have specific questions.

[email protected]

 

[las365]

i asked if i could sue my ortho, and my dentist replied that i'd have a case.

Unless your dentist is also a malpractice lawyer, he probably doesn't really know whether you have a viable case. He seems to have an opinion that the treatment you received was below the standard of care, and that may be a favorable indicator for you.

You'll need to find out what your prognosis is, establish what caused the problem, get treatment, get your records, and see a med/dental malpractice attorney for a consultation.

It's interesting to see the different ideas people got from the original post. I thought the complaint was that the orthodontist didn't warn OP about her gum disease.

 

[barry1817]

losing bottom teeth

When you have a dentist/professional stating that you have a case, that is a very strong indication for a lawyer that a case exists. Most malpractice cases need a profession to make a statement that a problem existed.

Having this dentist want to testify to that fact is another issue.

If I tell you that you have a case, but won't back up my comment to you, then it is almost the same as if I didn't say it. Make sure the dentist that says you have a case will document it for your attorney.

[email protected]