My ortho's office is set up in a circle, so all the patients are in the same area and he just moves around the circle. It's not a bad set-up, but it doesn't allow for much privacy.
During my last adjustment, I was in the chair for over an hour while the OD assistant wired me up. In the meantime, I overheard two interesting things.
There were two teenage boys in there at the same time. One had a significant overbite, the other one, an underbite. They were both surgery cases. The kid with the overbite has the same surgeon as me, and he's not too far away from surgery. He's for the surgery, and so are his parents. My ortho was explaining that he has 20 times more surgery patients than any other ortho in the area. My surgeon says he's the best.
The other guy was about 17. He was telling the ortho that he's refusing to wear rubberbands because they cause too much pain. He's refusing the surgery because his dad says he is a wuss for even needing braces. (His dad hasn't been to the dentist in 35 years, and apparently, his teeth are "fine" and he has an underbite too). My ortho did his best to explain that the surgery was important for functional reasons, that he was putting the future health of his teeth in jeopardy, etc. The guy was basically saying he wants his braces off now even though he has a year to go. He doesn't want his wisdom teeth out. yada yada. I think the kid is going to win out this time, but I wonder if he won't be sorry down the road.
As much as I sometimes wish that I had this taken care of when I was younger, I am so grateful to be doing this as an adult, as someone who can make my own decisions about my well-being. I totally get that parents need to watch out for their kids. But if they're going to refuse their kid the opportunity to have a needed surgery because they think it makes him look weak, I wish they'd just butt out.
Maybe I read too much into these things because my step-mom was so overbearing. Maybe I don't get it completely because I'm not a parent. But, boy I am glad I am doing this on my own terms.
Poor kid. It's one thing to have no support from parents, but to have negative support is so damaging! I agree w/you, I am happy to be doing this as an adult on my own terms. When do you think you'll be ready for surgery?
ReplyDeleteAgreed! I don't think I could have handled this in my teenaged years. I doubt I would have done all that I needed to do for things to turn out successful. I think surgery MUST be done on your own terms, not someone elses.
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