[captronfla]

Please advise what can be done about professionals taking advantage of my mother. My mom is 81 years old and hasn't had the best looking teeth for many years, discoloration,caps ,crowns etc. She recently went to a dentist to see about a chipped tooth and one crooked tooth. This dentist told her to go next door to see his buddy about doing some perio work first, she had no symptoms of pain,swelling,discomfort etc. After charging her a lot for this work they referred her to another buddy for ortho consult. They decided to put my poor mother in braces for two or three years because the months that went by allowed her once straight teeth to shift towards her crooked tooth and what was one crooked tooth turned into many front teeth moving out of place. If the tooth was secured from the beginning the now mouth full of teeth would have been fine. I think this group of doctors may be in violation of some kind of ethics? A woman in not great health ,and no reason to pursure the perfect smile ,who is 81 years old and can't seem to disagree with so called professionals.And now that she can barely eat solid food because they thought it was a good idea to sell her many thousands of dollars of questionable work. There was no mention of dentures of because then they can't make any more cash. We feel that after the teeth were allowing to move into a very crooked state that this option may have been the best for her and she agrees. Which way do I pursure this?

[jillianleab]

They could have put her in braces because her bite was unstable, not to get her a perfect smile. As far as the ethics go, I'm not sure there's much that can be done if she consented to all the work. Also, why is she unable to eat solid food? If it's because of the pain of the braces, that will pass.

You can always go and consult with other orthos/dentists and perios to see what they say about her case. You can also make an appointment with her existing doctors and ask them to explain the treatment plan to you in detail so you fully understand why they have pursued this course of treatment.