I.  DID YOU HAVE BRACES WHEN YOU WERE A KID?
YES. I HAD BRACES
a.  How long did you have braces?  12 MONTHS
b.  Did you like having braces?

NO, NOT AT FIRST, BUT THEN I STARTED TO APPRECIATE HOW MUCH BETTER MY TEETH LOOKED. I LOVED THE END RESULT!

c.  Did anybody tease you?       NO
d.  Did a lot of kids in your neighborhood, school or family have braces?

NO ONE IN MY FAMILY, A FEW FRIENDS HAD THEM BUT THEY WEREN'T AS COMMON BACK THEN.

e.  Did you grow up in a city, the suburbs, or in a rural area?     NYC.
f.  How did your parents help you with your braces?
PAYING THE BILL (I WALKED TO MY APPOINTMENTS AND LISTENED
TO MY DOCTOR'S DIRECTIONS AT EACH VISIT).
g. What age were you when your braces were taken off?    16.
h.  Did you like your orthodontist? YEP! HE WAS A GREAT GUY.
i.  Did you read any books when you were a kid with characters that had braces?     NO.
j.  Did you see any celebrities with braces when you were a kid?

NO. THE ONLY RECENT CELEBRITY I'VE SEEN WITH BRACES WERE MOLLY RINGWALD AND ONE OF THE SINGERS FROM THE BAND TANI, TONE, TONY.

k.  Did you wear a retainer after your braces were taken off?
NO. I WORE SOMETHING SIMILAR CALLED A POSITIONER.
l.  Did you think it was hard taking care of your braces?
NO. I HAD NO TROUBLE TAKING CARE OF MY TEETH AND MY BRACES.
m. Why did you need braces?

I HAD AN IMPACTED PERMANENT CANINE TOOTH THAT NEEDED TO BE GUIDED INTO POSITION. (I'VE SINCE FOUND OUT THAT THIS IS AN EXTREMELY COMMON PROBLEM IN OUR POPULATION.

n. Do you think braces hurt less now than when you had braces put on?
ABSOLUTELY, DUE TO IMPROVED WIRE ALLOYS AND IMPROVED BRACKETS AND BAND ATTACHMENTS WHICH ARE MUCH SMALLER AND KINDER TO THE MOUTH TISSUES.
o.  Do you talk to your patients differently than your orthodontist talked to you?

YES. WE EXPLAIN MUCH MORE ABOUT EVERY STEP OF TREATMENT AND MY STAFF AND I NEVER TRY TO TALK ABOVE A PATIENT'S LEVEL BUT INSTEAD WE SIMPLIFY SO THEY CAN UNDERSTAND AND ENJOY THE PROCESS.

II.  WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO GO TO DENTAL SCHOOL?
a.  Did you like going to the dentist?
YES. I FORTUNATELY ALWAYS HAD GOOD DENTISTS.
b.  Did anyone encourage you to go to dental school?

NO (PROBABLY BECAUSE I'M A FEMALE AND THERE WEREN'T MANY FEMALE DENTISTS OR ORTHODONTISTS AROUND WHEN I GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL: 1983).

If so, who and what did they tell you?
c.  What school subjects helped you with dental school?
ALL SCIENCE COURSES IN HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE HELPED GREATLY.
d.  Did you think about doing any other jobs?
YES, FOR A WHILE I THOUGHT SERIOUSLY ABOUT BECOMING A ZOOLOGIST.
e.  Did you know that you wanted to be an orthodontist when you started dental school?
YES, WHEN I HAD BRACES ON AS A TEEN MY INTEREST WAS PIQUED.
f.  Did you go to college before you went to dental school?
YES. I DID COLLEGE STUDIES AT NEW YORK UNIVERSITY (BIOLOGY MAJOR).

III  WHAT WAS DENTAL SCHOOL LIKE?
a.  How did you choose the dental school that you went to?

BEST PUBLIC DENTAL SCHOOL IN NEW YORK STATE - BEST REPUTATION AND RESEARCH FACILITIES

b.  Which dental school did you go to?
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO SCHOOL OF DENTAL MEDICINE
c.  How many years did you go to dental school?     4 YEARS.
d.  What kind of subjects did you study?

HUMAN GROSS ANATOMY, BIOCHEMISTRY, HISTOLOGY, MICROBIOLOGY, DENTAL ANATOMY, PHARMACOLOGY, HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY, EMBRYOLOGY, GENETICS, ENDODONTICS, PROSTHODONTICS, ORAL AND MAXILLOFACIAL SURGERY, OPERATIVE DENTISTRY, ORAL MEDICINE, PERIODONTICS, ORTHODONTICS, etc...

e.  Did you work on models?
MODELS MADE OF PLASTIC TEETH WERE OUR PRACTICE PATIENTS
DURING FRESHMAN AND SOPHOMORE YEARS.
f.  Did you work on people or animals at your dental school?

I NEVER WORKED ON ANIMALS, I JUST WAS CAREFULLY SUPERVISED IN WORK WITH REAL PATIENTS STARTING IN THE SECOND HALF OF OUR SOPHOMORE YEAR.

g.  Did you learn about how faces change when people get older?
I LEARNED MORE ABOUT THIS DURING ORTHODONTIC RESIDENCY.
h.  Did you use computers to learn about how teeth change?
NO, NOT EXTENSIVELY - COMPUTER USE IN ACADEMICS WAS NOT AS COMMONPLACE AS IT IS NOW (MY ORTHO TRAINING YEARS WERE 1990-1994 - THAT'S LIGHT YEARS AWAY WHEN YOU CONSIDER HOW MUCH COMPUTER USE HAS EXPLODED SINCE THEN).
i.  What did you like most about dental school?
WORKING WITH MY PATIENTS.
j.  Did you learn about how to explain what you are doing to your patients?
NOT REALLY, ALTHOUGH BY KNOWING WHAT WE WERE DOING IT WAS NOT DIFFICULT AS LONG AS WE DID NOT USE TECHNICAL TERMS TO EXPLAIN THINGS TO THEM.
k.  Did you study other parts of the body or just the mouth?

WE LEARNED ABOUT THE WHOLE BODY IN OUR FIRST TWO YEARS OF DENTAL SCHOOL IN ORDER TO BE WELL EQUIPPED TO IDENTIFY AND DEAL WITH VARIOUS ILLNESSES OUR PATIENTS CAN SOMETIMES PRESENT WITH. THEN IN THE SECOND TWO YEARS WE CONCENTRATED HEAVILY ON THE HEAD AND NECK AND MOST ESPECIALLY THE MOUTH.

l.  Did you learn about working on people of all ages?        ABSOLUTELY.
m.  Did you enjoy dental school?

DENTAL SCHOOL WAS INCREDIBLY HARD AND DEMANDING 4 YEARS OF MY LIFE. I DID VERY WELL BUT IT WAS A LOT OF HARD WORK WHICH IN THE END SERVES ME WELL EVERYDAY.

IV.  WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO SPECIALIZE IN ORTHODONTICS?
a.  Was there an orthodontic part of dental school?

A VERY SMALL CLASS DEALT WITH ORTHODONTICS. IN GENERAL YOU LEARN VERY LITTLE ABOUT ORTHODONTICS WHEN YOU'RE IN DENTAL SCHOOL.

b.  Did you think about working mostly with kids and teenagers?
YES, AND THAT IS ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS I WANTED TO
BECOME AN ORTHODONTIST!
c.  Did you want to work on helping people look better?

MOST DEFINITELY!!! IT IS A GREAT GIFT TO DO WHAT I DO EVERYDAY! I KNOW FROM MY PATIENTS APPRECIATIVE SMILES, WORDS AND HUGS THAT I AM HELPING THEM ENJOY THEIR LIVES MORE FULLY.

d.  Did you like to look at people's teeth and think about how braces would change their face?
ONLY IN SECRET. I WOULD NEVER SUGGEST TO A STRANGER IN THE
STREET THAT THEY NEED BRACES (THAT WOULD BE RUDE).
e.  Did anyone tease you when you decided to be an orthodontist?
NO, NOT AT ALL. THEY THOUGHT IT WOULD BE VERY COOL!

V.  WHAT WAS ORTHODONTIC SCHOOL LIKE?
a.  Where did you go to orthodontic school?
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL
b. What did you like about orthodontic school?
FINALLY STUDYING IN MY CHOSEN FIELD AND WORKING ON PATIENTS
c.  How many years did you go to orthodontic school?    THREE YEARS
d.  What percent of your fellow students had braces as a kid?
PROBABLY 60%
e.  Did you work on models or people?

FROM THE START WE WORKED ON PATIENTS UNDER CAREFUL INSTRUCTION AND ONE ON ONE SESSIONS WITH OUR TEACHERS AND THE PATIENTS.

f.  Did you work on the same people for a long time?
OVER THE THREE YEARS I TREATED MANY PATIENTS FROM START
TO COMPLETION OF THEIR TREATMENT
g.  Did the school teach about how people are supposed to look?
YES, AND THEY TAUGHT US SOME OF THE PSYCHOLOGICAL
CHALLENGES OF WORKING WITH PATIENTS OF VARIOUS AGE GROUPS
h.  Did you use computers to study orthodontics?
YES, AS NOTED ABOVE (e)

VI.  WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE AN ORTHODONTIST?
a.  How long have you been an orthodontist?   5 YEARS
b.  Do you have to be strong to be an orthodontist?
NO, IT'S ALL TECHNIQUE, NOT BRUTE FORCE (I'M NOT A VERY BIG
LADY, SO BRUTE FORCE WOULDN'T HELP ME)
c.  Do you get tired of working on people's mouths?
NO. WHEN I DO IT'S TIME TO RETIRE
d.  What percentage of your patients are kids, teenagers and adults?
KIDS UNDER 13 = 25%     TEENS = 45%     ADULTS = 30%
What percentage are female and what percentage are male?
FEMALE = 65%     MALE = 35%
e.  Have you ever seen someone have an allergic reaction to their braces?

YES, I HAD ONE PATIENT HAVE AN ALLERGIC REACTION. ABOUT 6 PATIENTS KNEW THEY MIGHT HAVE A SENSITIVITY TO NICKEL AND SO WE AVOIDED PROBLEMS BY USING ALL TITANIUM APPLIANCES RATHER THAN STEEL.

If so, did they know it was because of their braces?   What does an allergic reaction look like?

AN ALLERGIC REACTION TO BRACES CAN PRESENT AS SEVERE SWELLING IN THE MOUTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE SORES WHERE THE BRACES ARE TOUCHING THE INSIDE OF THE CHEEKS AND LIPS. (IT LOOKS LIKE THE SKIN IS ALL TRYING TO PEEL OFF) IT IS QUICKLY REVERSED WITH THE REMOVAL OF THE BRACES - CLEARS UP WITHIN A FEW DAYS.

f.  Is it difficult to explain to kids what's wrong with their bite and what needs to be done?
NO. YOU JUST HAVE TO USE EASY TO UNDERSTAND TERMS
g.  Are kids easier to work with than teenagers?
YES, MOST OFTEN BECAUSE THEY ARE MORE EAGER COOPERATORS
h.  If there is a problem with braces, can kids explain the problem to you?
ALMOST ALWAYS (IT'S THEIR PARENTS THAT SOMETIMES GET
MORE FLUSTERED AND CAN'T EXPLAIN)
i.  Do you put the braces on all at once or do you put them on a little at a time?

USUALLY ALL AT ONCE SO THE PATIENT ONLY GOES THROUGH THE INITIAL FEW DAYS OF DISCOMFORT ONCE. SOMETIMES WE CANNOT PUT THEM ALL IN AT ONCE IN THE PATIENT'S BITE WON'T ALLOW FOR IT.

m.  How often do you take x-rays?

ALWAYS BEFORE RENDERING TREATMENT AND THEN EVERY TWELVE MONTHS DURING TREATMENT IN THE USUAL CASE. SOME PATIENTS MAY NEED X-RAYS MORE OFTEN LIKE ONCE EVERY 6 MONTHS.

n.  What happens when kids loose a tooth when their braces are on?

IF IT'S A BABY TOOTH NO PROBLEM. IF A TOOTH IS LOST OR INJURED DUE TO AN ACCIDENT, THE BRACES CAN HELP SPLINT THE TOOTH BACK INTO PLACE WHILE THE DEEPER TISSUES (LIKE BONE) HEAL AROUND THE ROOT.

o.  Do people call you for emergencies a lot?
NOT A LOT. MAYBE TWO TIMES PER WEEK.
p.  What are some of the emergencies people have with their braces?

THEY USUALLY EAT SOMETHING TOO HARD FOR THEIR BRACES TO HANDLE AND THEY POP OFF A BRACKET OR LOOSEN A WIRE. A REALLY BIG PROBLEM IS KIDS CHEWING ON PENS OR PENCILS THAT ALWAYS BENDS OR BREAKS SOMETHING.

q.  Do you get to know the patients pretty well?
VERY WELL! IT'S LIKE THEY GROW UP WITH US.
 Do they e-mail you?
NO, THEY DON'T E-MAIL ME BECAUSE MY E-MAIL ACCOUNT IS
MOSTLY USED BY MY FAMILY
r. Which specialists do you work with?
ORAL SURGEONS, PERIODONTISTS, PEDIATRIC DENTISTS,
PROSTHODONTISTS, ENDODONTISTS, AND PEDIATRICIANS
s.  What can kids do if their lips get hurt by the braces?

COVER THE AREA OF THE BRACES WITH WAX, PUT ORABASE MEDICINE ON THE CUT AND RINSE WITH WARM SALT WATER 3 TIMES PER DAY TO KEEP IT CLEAN.

t.  Do you recommend any special machines for cleaning teeth and braces?

THE W ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSHES THAT ARE QUITE HELPFUL ARE SONICARE AND THE ORAL-B BRAUN. A WATERPIK CAN ALSO BE A GREAT AID.

u.  We heard that soda is bad for braces.  Is that true?

YES. THE COMBINATION OF SUGAR AND ACID IS A DISASTER ESPECIALLY IF THE PATIENT IS A POOR BRUSHER.

v.  What are some of the things kids tell you they are afraid of with their braces?

NOT A LOT! A CUTE ONE I HEAR EVERY SO OFTEN IS THE FEAR OF GETTING STUCK WHILE KISSING SOMEONE IF THEY ALSO HAVE BRACES.

w.  I heard that there are guards to put on if you play a wind instrument or play sports. Are these guards a good idea?     Are they hard to use?      Are they expensive?

YES. THEY ARE CALLED MORGAN LIP BUMPERS. ANOTHER BRAND IS KISSABLE KOVERS. YOUR ORTHODONTIST SHOULD HAVE SOME IN THE OFFICE TO GIVE YOU IF YOU NEED THEM. THEY ARE VERY HELPFUL FOR MUSICIANS (WE GIVE THEM OUT TO OUR PATIENTS AT NO EXTRA FEE).

x.  Do you look at celebrities and think about whether they had braces?     YES
Have you ever worked on someone who was or became a celebrity?     NO
z.  Which part of getting braces do kids like the least?
THE SEPARATORS OR SPACERS AT THE BEGINNING
 
 

Return to Home Page