4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Alis girls]

I would seriously think about changing and going somewhere else. you need someone who can empathise with kids and young people whatever their needs. I work in a posh area where they spend big bucks on holidays and quibble over prices of injections. I tell them shop around no skin off my nose. My bosses wouldn't be happy. When did we stop caring?

[soapdragon]

Having discussed with OH I have decided to formally complain to the Dentalign head office with copies to other relevant bodies. Thinking about it we were just swept along....still don't know why ES needed the brace whether medical or cosmetic (if its cosmetic it can come off at the next appt!)

 

We were not given any leaflets or paperwork until we arrived for the fitting appt - surely these should all be handed out at the initial consultation esp the one explaining the risks...no risks were mentioned prior to yesterday? When I told the orthodontist that I was unhappy about the various leaflets, paperwork etc only having been handed to me when ES was in the chair awaiting fitting he said that he would have been happy to answer any quereis beforehand. When I said that I could not query something that I did'nt know about he seemed nonplussed! I felt very pressured to then sign the actual consent form. There is an issue here about informed consent and information....I don't like to make a fuss about things but feel that I have failed ES - the look on his poor face when it transpired that it was top and bottom braces not just top was awful

[Alis girls]

No Soapdragon you didn't fail your son they did. Do not blame yourself. I have read many of your posts and it is quite evident to me that you are a caring mum and you bend over backwards to make sure your son is treated fairly. If it is cosmetic then I would do the same. If not he like many youngsters will get used to it. When I had braces many years back I was one of few with train tracks. I can empathise as did it again a few years back but with invisible ones. As I say my YS will be having one this year. Please don't beat yourself up. Btw did your dentist refer him ? Did he not explain it all to you? Our dentist was very good and the orthodontics team were too. We are seeing dental hospital at end of this month. Take care and hugs to you and son. X

[soapdragon]

Thanks for your kind words, Alis girls.

 

Its always hard when, as parent's, we have to make descisions on behalf of our offspring and I feel such a fool for 'going with the flow' and not questioning things more - normally I am a bit of a stroppy old bat but when professionals tell you that something needs to be done you tend to trust implicitly. Yes, the dentist referred him; again I should have questioned exactly why having only really been told that his mouth was over crowded .

[Egluntyne]

I've had braces on my teggies for about 6 weeks now. I'm ever so slightly older than your youngster.

 

I found it bearably uncomfortable for about 10 days, resorting to ibuprofen about half a dozen times in the first week.

 

Has he got an electric toothbrush? I found it quite soothing to use when things were a bit sore.

 

The best thing in the universe to use instead of wax strips is Plugz silicone earplugs. Available from Amazon. Cheap as chips. I saw a YouTube video about it and gave it a try. It really works. You tear a tiny bit off, and place over the offending bracket. Dry silicon and damp finger works best. Best thing is that they are clear and u"Ooops, word censored!"trusive.

[soapdragon]

Re; the wax stuff that you put on when it rubs....probably a silly question but doen't it come off when the teeth/brace are cleaned anyway?

 

ES says he has a couple of sore patches but I have supplied some Bonjela (nearly made huge mistake and gave him tube of Bazuka-about the same size and colour and not, you must admit, disimilar in name! )

 

I have bought some Wheatabix for brekkie tomorrow as his usual Bear Facts cereal wouldn't go soggy enough....still on pasta for all other meals

[gavclojak]

yes it will fall off, I would try searching for these on amazon

"Orthodontic Relief Wax Unscented Colourful Boxes"

They are really good, very cheap and peel off before you brush x

[soapdragon]

Only £4...bargain of the week! Big thanks!

[soapdragon]

Well, I decided to fill in the online feedback form for the practice group and set out my frustrations about the lack of timely information and general dissatisfaction about how the whole thing had been handled. A week later I got an e mail 'Hi Alison attached is a copy of a letter sent out to you in the post today'......except it wasn't! What they e mailed was a staff sickness form and what appeared to be an order to a company in Germany for an orthodontic device for a patient. Both contained confidential information and names and addresses which allowed the staff member and patient to be clearly identified.

 

About 15 minutes later I received another e mail 'Hi Mrs Franklin, please discard initial attachments which were sent in error . Letter attached'...which it was but both pages had been scanned upside down so ES had to save them to something ( ) and then turned them round before I could read them!

 

I have just replied saying that I am glad more robust proceedures are in place now but I am shocked at the cavalier attitude regarding patient and staff confidentiality and I felt the salutations on the e mails inappropriate under the circumstances!

 

Grrrr

[Grandmashazzie]

I may be old fashioned, even the Hi Mrs Franklin as an intro set my teeth on edge. I would much prefer a more formal approach when addressing a complaint.

[gavclojak]

Oh my goodness, all the hairs On the back of my neck have gone up!! I would actually email the practice manager and ask her who her IG (information governance) lead is and then write an email/letter to the IG lead stating what has happened. This is a serious breach of policy and the practice should have a meeting about this and how to stop it happening again!!

Not good, not good at all!!

[soapdragon]

Ummm, the correspondence was from the practice manager and the sickness form was hers too (but not the order for the brace from Germany!)! Her response to my saying I wasn't happy about their breach of confidentiality was to say that it was human error!

[gavclojak]

Goes from bad to worse

Anything involving patient information should only be emailed using a secure NHS email and only sent to a recipient with a secure NHS email otherwise it should be posted or hand delivered.

Good job it wasnt one of my team!!

[Alis girls]

How'd your little chap doing Soapdragon? My YS went to dental hospital last week . He's got to have a baby tooth out and a chain and train tracks to pull the humongous canine tooth into place. Got to fit all this round GCSES. Oh what joy. He's not impressed. I am just hoping it will be off before uni. I am not looking forward to it one bit.

[soapdragon]

Thanks for asking, AG. He seems much better now - getting used to it but finds it a faff to keep clean. However I tell him that the cleaner he keeps it the better his teeth will be and so hope that works! We have a followup in another few weeks (8 week gap between fitting and that) so will see if there is any movement so far! Eating restrictions are not as bad as he had thought - just a case of being sensible and careful.

 

Hope your lad is OK...the first few days are definately the worst so a good idea to have the Calpol handy (or is he too old for that now ) It did take about a week to settle down and now Nat is left with quite a lisp!

[Alis girls]

Adult paracetamol now he's 15. Still my baby though. Glad to hear little Soapdragon is ok. Will keep you updated.