Today we visited KFO in Ramstein Village, Husband and wife team the Ripplinger's. Dr. Burga, the wife, is who assisted us and she was very informative. English is AWESOME, probably better than my English :). http://www.kfo-ramstein.de/engl/index.html
She looked at Hayden first and confirmed, he does have over crowding. However, she believes it is way too soon to begin altering his mouth because he has so much growing to do between now and when the jaw is done developing. She believes to begin stretching and altering could later in life cause BIGGER problems. She explained it all so very well that I have to agree with her medical opinion. He also did not get teeth until much later than most kids, he was over one, and has still to date has only lost 2 baby teeth. She said he is going to be a later bloomer in the dental/ortho world and to give his mouth that time. She said he will need work but to give him until about 14 because his bite is fine it is just more of cosmetic work for him.
Now on to Paige, not that we had any DOUBT, she will be getting a LOT of work and it needs to start immediately!! We go back to agree, or disagree with the game plan and sign all financing papers May 19 :). Unfortunetly, her mouth is going to cost what a small car costs :)...Thankfully though, God has supplied the extra monthly money to cover the 2 years, He is ALWAYS faithful!! She will begin with braces, and OH MY the ever dreaded HEAD GEAR :(....Dr. Burga was however very sweet, and she will only have to wear it from 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. There is another option besides the head gear and she is looking into the cost for us. She said it costs quite a bit more but if this is the better way to go we will eat the cost :)!! She has to have some other hardware added to her jaw, but I will get all that detail on the 19th. She is hoping to have Paige completly done in 2 years but she cannot guarantee. Paige's face was PRICELESS lol....I am just sooo THANKFUL jaw surgery is NOT in her future!!! We got her in right on time and they can do it w/braces, head gear, and a few other appliances....YAAAYYY!!!
Lastly, she asked if she could glance at Kempton, he did not have an appointment......Well thankfully Paige will prepare us for him :)...His jaw is just like mine and Paige's....Atleast we will have about 6 years to financially recover after Paige's work ;)...Hayden once again feels left out; he doesn't have curly hair, he didn't have to get glasses, and now he doesn't get to have braces...POOR HAYDEN...Someday he will be thankful!!!
In closing, I HIGHLY recommend this clinic!! I have had a LOT of ortho work and this lady was on POINT!! Very informative and kind, she sat with us for an hour and was in no RUSH...This will tell you how GOOD she is, she walked in and was looking at Hayden and talking, she glanced over at me and she said she could tell I had my jaw fixed. No details were given, I don't even think I had smiled at her lol (all buisness mode), and she could tell...I began to get a little worried and she said NO NO it is fine I can just look at people and see...She said most models have had work done on their jaws and she can tell by flipping through a magazine, CRAZY!!! I have been to several dentists etc. who had NO IDEA until the xrays come back when the medal clamps etc. show up. She talked to the kids like they were important and not just focusing on Shane and I. She would not agree to do the work on Paige until Paige agreed. I never really took the time to give Paige that option b/c I was in, "Someday you will thank me for this" mode. Dr. Burga was correct by checking with Paige b/c utlimately it is not a LIFE THREATENING problem, and it is Paige's body. Paige needed to be allowed to say YES or NO and I was completly in MOM MODE....Not allowing her the normal boundaries we all so freely enjoy :)!!
On a side note, they do accept tricare, she said they pay up to 1000 or 1500 she couldn't remember for sure. So if you just have minor situation like just braces, it would probably cover 50% of your cost. Again, this is an AMAZING practice and they do not herd you like animals!!! Much luv....I'm........out!!!
7 comments:
Ok, is the Army and Air Force that different or is the fact that my wife works in a dental clinic the catch?
Confused on why you couldn't go to a base dentist and have all of this done for FREE?? :-)
We took her on base, Ramstein, when she was about 9 1/2 or 10 (year or so ago) and they said her teeth and bite were fine ....hahaha..you could clearly look in her mouth and see there was a problem!! (maybe they were too tired to do the free work that day)
We had a family dentist before we left the states who told us when she was 5 her bite was already 100%off and to take her in between 9-12to have it fixed. Even w/out the doc telling me at 5, I knew she would have to go this route b/c she had my mouth.
Sooo needless to say, we got our second opinion. With Hayden, on base, they wanted to do everything this ortho said should NOT be done.
I am not sure if we always get the cracked military docs or what but we seem to always have issues...
So, as you can see I am a little tainted to the military health care system, and YES, I would rather pay for my children to get the right treatment lol...I don't think it has anything to do w/the different branches just possibly different circumstances.
This has just been my EXPERIENCE w/the health care and I KNOW plenty of others who have had much BETTER out come.
Awesome report. What a comfort to find someone who knows what they are talking about and that you can be confident in.
Paige will be so glad she has had braces later on in life...so glad you found a great practice to take her too! We miss you girl!
I see! Too bad you don't live on Vogelweh...Then you could take her to the Pulaski clinic. They're actually pretty good over there and Ria is the OIC's assistant which helps when lookin for a hook up :-).
Yeah too bad, I need connections like that!! We have had so many issues w/Ramstein and Landstuhl that we have pretty much just given up. If it is an emergency we go but for anything else we "suffer" through lol..
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