Dr. Fox’s FAQ’s
Dr. Fox's Most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) By His Patients:
Do I need a referral from a general dentist to see you for me or my child?
No! Over 75% of my patients see me without their general dentist even knowing they were coming to see me. 10% of my patients have not seen a dentist in years. Some insurance companies state that you will need a referral from your general dentist for the braces or Invisalign® treatment to be covered, but this is not true.
The first visit is at no charge for me to do a look and see and briefly tell you what I see and the suggestions I recommend. If you don’t have a general dentist, I will help you find one that matches not only with what you need, but characteristics of what I will need to treat you successfully.
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I’ve been to three orthodontists with my 7 year old child with noticeable crooked teeth and her front teeth stick out too far and they all stated nothing was needed and to wait – what should I do?
I run into this at least twice a week from new patients coming to my office for the first time. I too get frustrated when I hear this – it’s just not true for doctors to be telling you this.
My credentials speak for themselves and can be further seen by clicking on: About Dr. Fox. After dental school, most orthodontists go to a two year program and get the minimum credential called a “Certificate in Orthodontics”. This is not the same as being Board Certified.
To become Board Certified, one has to become a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics by passing a series of written tests and then a final viewing of ones before and after photos, x-rays and stone models of teeth. Top orthodontists in the field verify that a doctor knows how to treat different types and different severities of problems of children and adults.
Another credential higher than a certificate is to obtain a Master’s degree in Orthodontics. The point to all of this is that I have obtained all of these credentials and that not all orthodontists are trained equally.
I have found other doctors to tell a patient that nothing is needed rather than to tell the patient they do not know how to treat their child’s problems at age 6. Some will state they don’t believe in early treatment when they themselves have not been trained in it.
I have also found doctors tell me that they feel early treatment is too much hard work for them and they feel they don’t get paid enough to do it by their patients – so, they don’t. Others state they don’t like treating children.
Regardless of what you have been told about your child’s problems, if you see there is something wrong, then see someone qualified like myself as soon as possible to stop worrying about it. I’m not gentle, but truthful in what I will tell you. You will be getting an expert’s opinion. Whatever you end up doing after this will fall into your lap later as whether my opinion was right or not.
90% of patients who see me at age 6 start treatments with me, they complete their treatment and everyone has written a success story that you are welcome to see and read for yourself. For that matter, I can have a mom that felt the same way you do being confused and given wrong opinions and have her talk to you to help you feel better. She will tell you she felt the same and knew in her heart that she was now in the right hands and is now totally happy with the results.
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I’m an executive female and speak to many seminars. I’m 33 years old and do not want to be seen in the old fashioned metal braces. Do you have anything less noticeable?
I totally agree with you – being seen in metal braces when there are other options available today is not the number one choice. But, I have over half of my adult patients elect metal braces since they have dealt with their problem for so long, they want everyone to know they are finally doing something about it.
By the way, metal braces that I use are the smallest on the market and are a fashion statement and are the easiest type of brace to use to move your teeth quickly and the most comfortably.
Newest options other than metal braces are Invisalign® treatment or real braces that are made of a clear ceramic (not plastic). Gold braces exist that are not pure gold braces, but are plated gold. I have seen problems with these in my patients and I don’t recommend gold ones since they turn color or show wear. The wear appears to be from the type of solutions that enter a patient’s mouth as mouthwash, Gatorade sports drink and certain sodas that tend to change the gold finish.
You can read more about Invisalign® treatments in the Invisalign® section of this website and by getting a free report. Real clear braces made of ceramic can handle 100% of all patients.
Clear ceramic braces are used by many sports players including the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and even movie actors. Tom Cruise had clear ceramic braces while his children had braces. He did have them removed and placed back on at different times during shooting a movie.
The clear ceramic braces I use in my practice are the same ones I have used for 20 years made by 3M Unitek. The reason I use these exclusively is that they have very low breakage and they take on the color of a patient’s teeth so they blend in with the natural color of the teeth.
More importantly, Unitek clear braces have a patented feature that when they are removed
at the end of treatment, I squeeze on them a certain way and the brace collapses on itself
without cracking the tooth. That’s why I do charge more for these than metal braces while
other orthodontists are using cheaper clear braces and many are made of plastic and will give them to you for free.
The bottom line – I would use Unitek clear braces on my own teeth if I needed braces!
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I’m 70 years old. Am I too old for braces or Invisalign® treatment?
No! I have recently taken real metal braces off a 90 year old woman who drove from Gainesville, Florida by herself each month to see me.
The bone at 70 years old is not much different than at 20 years old. It comes down to mentally wanting to straighten your teeth – not the physical barriers to doing it. What I mean by this is that some adults are concerned with what their relatives and neighbors will say.
When it comes to making yourself better, there will always be this one person who has something negative to say since they can’t tolerate anyone or anything getting better than them. If it happens to be your best friend, you will need to get a new friend!
The same rules apply to Invisalign® treatment. I have many adults over 60 who elected Invisalign® treatment and with them being virtually invisible, they were very happy during and after their treatment.
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What is your experience with Invisalign® treatment?
I was one of the first in Pinellas County and Tampa to try them. For that matter, I was my own first patient.
Yes, I treated myself and I if I may say so, I did an awesome job!
I do know what it’s like to have Invisalign® treatment, its limitations and its successes. There are some things that it will not do and I feel very well trained enough to be truthful, not gentle, in telling patients the problems they have that Invisalign® treatment will not correct. I want my patients to feel very comfortable that what I tell them they will get will come true. You won’t get a bunch of false promises from me – I’m a straight shooter.
I have treated teenagers, adults in their 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s with Invisalign® treatment. Amazingly, the 80 and 90 year old patients elected metal braces and never choose Invisalign® treatment!
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Are braces or Invisalign® treatment covered by insurance?
Most dental insurance policies, if orthodontics is covered, usually pays a maximum of $1,000. You shouldn’t allow whether insurance coverage or not exists to keep you from a life changing experience in my office with braces or Invisalign® treatment.
The way you must think about this comes from the fact that 90% of patients do not have insurance benefits in their dental insurance policy to cover treatment. It’s a side benefit that their employer purchased or they didn’t.
There is 1 out of a 100 patients who have $2,500 insurance coverage, but again this is very rare.
Invisalign® treatment is the newest type of treatment on the market and if you have coverage, the insurance company doesn’t care what the teeth are moved with, just so they are moved to better positions in the mouth.
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My child sucks their thumb. What age should I first bring them to you?
After the age of 3, damage starts to occur to bones and teeth. I will see a child at this early age, but they must be able to carry on a conversation with me for the educational first step to occur.
I see children past age 3 whenever you can get them into my office to help them with their thumb habit. Waiting for the child to outgrow the habit while they damage their teeth and bone structures is an expensive mistake you will make.
I have treated children as early as age 2, but with the “terrible two’s” attitude if present, I usually will not start Thumbsuck treatment until they mature a little more.
I do see children at age 2 for Binky (pacifier) habits. After the age of 2, the Binky will act no different than a thumb during thumbsucking and cause damage to the teeth and bone structures. There is a very short educational step done with the child. Then, there are very simple techniques I utilize for the child to gradually stop using it.
By the way, I have now treated every age from 2 to 31 for thumbsucking and fingersucking. I have also treated a dental hygienist’s child who was finger and toe sucking! I have treated patients using a Binky from age 2 to 5.
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I’ve heard that if my child has early treatment braces at age 6, that they will just need them all over again at age 12 to correct the same problems. Is that true?
No! Actually, if this occurs, I would ask for a refund or file malpractice. I hear this from at least one new patient a week who comes to see me. The child is in the chair and they state a neighbor told them not to do Phase I (early treatment braces for age 6) since it will have to be all redone later at age 12 anyway.
At your first visit, my staff will show you other patient’s work-ups to prove to you that I customize treatment for each 6 year old child. Then, I map out steps to completing what I want to achieve in Phase I that can’t wait until Phase 2 (teenage braces). The key is having the credentials I have. Other’s will “try” to do this or do that and jot a few notes down versus I spend at least 1.5 hours diagnosing each child as if I were still back in my Orthodontic training.
For example, I haven’t used fixed expanders that require a key to turn the expander and is glued to the roof of the mouth for over 20 years. Research states to stop using them except in jaw surgery cases where the upper mouth is so narrow that an adult will need one right before the roof of the mouth is surgically widened.
I use gentle, slow expanders that are kinder to the bone and Mother Nature. The bottom line - I have never had a patient of mine come to me and state everything done at age 6 now needs to
be redone.
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My general dentist wants to do tooth whitening with a product he has that requires me to wear trays with yucky tasting gel that I swallow during my sleep. Do you have anything that
is better?
My patients are now experiencing the newest technology of Zoom 2 in-office whitening. You’re in my office for about 2.5 hours, but the whitening step itself is about an hour. The remaining time is required for my staff to make before and after photos and to educate you afterwards on how to keep your new smile looking white.
Before the teeth are whitened, cotton and a rubber material is used to seal your gums so that the whitening material doesn’t touch the gums – so in other words, you won’t swallow the chemicals used like you would in other home whitening systems.
Then, a special light is used to activate the whitening gel placed on the tooth that allows your teeth to improve in about an hour rather than 2 weeks. My office delivers the top quality service in that I even give you a free touch up kit that you use anytime in the future that you think your teeth are getting the slightest hint of changing color.
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My lower front teeth are pretty crooked. Do I have to get teeth extracted to make space
to uncrowd them?
Every patient is different. It depends on the amount of crowding, the size of the teeth, the positions of the crowded teeth in relation to the bone they’re in and how narrow or wide the mouth is. If someone has a narrow mouth, even an adult, I can expand it or make it wider to avoid extractions.
There are many orthodontists around that either take out teeth in most all patients and others that don’t take out teeth no matter what. I treat patients 3-dimensionally. I study their face, lips, teeth and bones on the computer and in person. My computers even have the ability to allow me to move your teeth around to see what kind of result I can obtain for you.
This allows me to be sure if the teeth will all fit or not. I have never had a patient that I could
not close all their spaces from where teeth were extracted. For that matter, I have never had a patient after treatment state to me that their teeth were too far out or too far in towards
their tongue.
If teeth are extracted, they are usually the ones between the back teeth and the canines (eye teeth). Very rarely do I have one lower front tooth extracted. By the way, I don’t extract teeth, your general dentist or better yet – an oral surgeon can extract one or more for you. I do not have any needles or “Novocain” in my office and it’s not needed for the procedures I do.
The best answer to your question is for me to take a look. If you need to have one or more teeth extracted, I can look at your first visit and tell you. I can tell right away if extractions are needed on 30% of patients seen on their first visit and the other 70% of patients usually require me to study them and make measurements of their teeth sizes to see if all their teeth will fit.
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I had my wisdom teeth (3rd molars) extracted a year ago and is it possible to use that space where they were to uncrowd my crooked front teeth?
Not usually! That space is too far back to use to uncrowd the teeth that are located in the front of the mouth. I would have to move one tooth towards the back of the mouth at a time starting with the back teeth and work my way forward to the front of the mouth taking years to do this.
Most wisdom teeth were extracted because there was no room for them either. So, to take other teeth and move them into “the edge” of the back of the mouth where the wisdom teeth were located is not a wise decision.
If the mouth can’t be widened and teeth will not all fit requiring extractions, extractions are usually done towards where the problem is. For instance, if severe crowding exists in the front lower mouth, extractions of a tooth behind each canine (eye tooth) may be needed.
I spend a lot of time studying a patient to make sure that teeth extractions don’t have to occur, but if they do, I also spend a lot of time with different teeth being extracted on my computers to see which will not leave spaces or hurt the lip profile. Yes, taking the wrong teeth out can cause treatment to run longer and cause the lips to fall back towards the tongue giving a sunken-in look.
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Do you use headgear that makes a child look like they are in the old days dressed up for a NASA space trip?
No! The editor of the Journal of Clinical Orthodontics stated they should not be used any longer and this was over 18 years ago when he stated this.
There are many appliances available today that work inside the mouth, rather than being noticeable to others on the head, neck or face.
I was trained in headgears along with other devices that are used inside the mouth. I found children didn’t wear them and the ones that did, only obtained a 25% successful result, but only after a year of more of wearing the headgear.
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My general dentist told me that my child needs the lower jaw to grow more forward since
this is causing my child’s teeth to stick out to far. She then told me that she knew an orthodontist that would use these shock absorbers looking things called a “Herbst”.
Do you use those since I heard they hurt, they’re hard to clean around and when they
break it scares children?
I have been trained in using the Herbst. That device is now 20 years old. There are many other devices available today that I feel are more comfortable and appear to get better results.
The Herbst is hard for the child to brush and floss around and even more difficult for your general dentist to clean around at your child’s check-ups. When they break, they can be quite scary to the child. I have had children crying from other orthodontist offices come to see me for an emergency stating they don’t like the Herbst.
The other problem I see with the Herbst is that when it is placed there is a side effect of the lower front teeth tipping forward that makes it look like the lower jaw grew forward when it didn’t leaving the side profile of the child still with a weak chin.
Devices I use are small, not painful, easy to brush and floss around and easy for your dentist office to do your child’s cleaning every 6 months. For that matter, most of the time, the jaw growth is done in 6 months or less rather than a year or more.
I welcome you at your first visit to arrange to talk to a patient of mine who just finished wearing one of my jaw growth devices to assure you that you will be making the right decision to get treatment in my office for your age 6 child!
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