RetainerDesigner
Member
- Messages
- 310
- Reaction score
- 2
Sorry about the long rant. Warning: Very long!
But, I figure it is safe to complain about this here, I bet all the ortho techs here "Get it"
I guess I never realized how anal I was about my wire bending until we started to hire people to help me out in the lab. But geez! I can only compromise so much!
We have interviewed 4 people for the wire bending position and only one has turn out with any promise. Which we promptly hired and flew him down from the east coast. One month later as he was really starting to learn my ways, he has to move back due to family problems.
THe first guy we had in hasnt been an ortho tech for 15 years. I knew he would be rusty, but it took him over an hour to bend a hawley with adams clasps. Not only that he didnt even make adams clasps but 4 finger clasps. We didnt call him back.
THe next guy we had in said that he could make 3 retainers from start to finish in an hour. He had 30 + years experience. I was intrigued and thought I could learn something from his experience. I asked him "does that include curing time?" he said he cures his appliances in the pressure pot for 3 minutes and they are done :0 -->at 40 lb of pressure and 220 degrees! WOW. Anyway it didnt take him long to bend wires about 24 minutes ( hawley with adams clasps) but the whole time he was complaining about how big my pliers were! ( I have the usual Great Lakes Pliers)
a. I wonder what size wire he is using
B. How is he using smaller pliers on the bigger wires?
Anyway when he got done, I looked at his work and thought to my self " Are you done"? The labial bow was uneven, they wernt adapted closely over the embrasures his anchor bends were all over the place ( at least have some kind of tidiness with these at least!) some were pointing one direction some were pointing another, a couple of them would be sticking out of the acrylic if you poured up right then.
If he looked at that and told himself that is done im scared what his retainers looked like!
He was expecting $6000 a month! we didnt call him back.
Maybe Im just too anal
The next guy, used to manage the ortho department in a huge lab here in town. He is working in-office right now, but not as a lab tech. He said he was rusty too( can you get rusty?),just give him some time and he will get better. He does a decent job and so I use him as a back up and he comes in and helps after hours if im there and behind on work.
I think he wants a full time job here. but considering he spent a swift 3 hours bending 6 basic retainers I thought he would work out, but then I spent another 1.5 hours Rebending/replacing some of his wires. ARG! At this rate the $23/hr he wants would kill us until he could knock the rust off.
And would he ever? Wouldnt you think if he was rusty he could still recognize an ill-bent wire? If he was good once, dont you think he would spent more time getting the wire right the first time? or is that what his retainers looked like before he was rusty. THey are so tight! he honestly was scraping off the fronts of the teeth shoving the wire down to get it to fit! I asked him to lighten up, I want the wire passive when they go on. but I guess he was taught differently than I was, because the labial bow will still spring off like a grasshopper if you touch them! He is a great guy, a joy to be around but I dont think he will ever "get it" or had "it"
WHich brings me to my next point. THe new doctors we are picking up around here are dumbfounded by how well our retianers fit. "It just pops right in" "I didnt have to spend 30 mins adjusting it" are just a few of the comments. now, I dont consider myself the best in the world just average, so im thinking " What kind of retainers were you getting?" and Exactly how hard is it to make a retainer that fits." I should feel elated about all the good comments, but I just feel sad for our industry. And sad for the previous lab, were they told by the offices that their retainers weren't fitting?, or were they told and didnt care? or (most sad of all) were they told and didnt know how to fix it?
A couple of stories to prove my point:
1) I was told by one of my new accounts of their old lab that used permeant marker to make the zebra stripes! I didn't believe it until they showed me one that they never delivered to the patient. And sure enough there it was, a pink retainer that they had scribbled zebra stripes on with a Sharpe! Unbelievable! It didn't even look good! they weren't even solid black, imagine using a sharpie to try and black out a window and you get the picture.
I guess im just too anal
2) I did a rush case for another new account where a retainer (from their previous lab) had broken in the patients mouth at the wire on the labial bow where it crossed the occlusion. Thats not the bad part. the assistant told me that my new retainer I made ( I had to make a complete new one, because of where the break was at and I couldn't get the old retainer to fit the model) snapped right in. THe patient looked at her and asked "Is that it?" she said was expecting a 30 min appt. like when she got her last retainer.
Really? It was a hawley with 2 ball clasps.
Again Im not tooting my own horn, but really? it was a hawley with 2 ball clasps? How hard is that? If the offices give you a good impression, how can you mess it up?
I guess i'm just too anal!
Thanks for letting me rant, I feel better now
But, I figure it is safe to complain about this here, I bet all the ortho techs here "Get it"
I guess I never realized how anal I was about my wire bending until we started to hire people to help me out in the lab. But geez! I can only compromise so much!
We have interviewed 4 people for the wire bending position and only one has turn out with any promise. Which we promptly hired and flew him down from the east coast. One month later as he was really starting to learn my ways, he has to move back due to family problems.
THe first guy we had in hasnt been an ortho tech for 15 years. I knew he would be rusty, but it took him over an hour to bend a hawley with adams clasps. Not only that he didnt even make adams clasps but 4 finger clasps. We didnt call him back.
THe next guy we had in said that he could make 3 retainers from start to finish in an hour. He had 30 + years experience. I was intrigued and thought I could learn something from his experience. I asked him "does that include curing time?" he said he cures his appliances in the pressure pot for 3 minutes and they are done :0 -->at 40 lb of pressure and 220 degrees! WOW. Anyway it didnt take him long to bend wires about 24 minutes ( hawley with adams clasps) but the whole time he was complaining about how big my pliers were! ( I have the usual Great Lakes Pliers
) a. I wonder what size wire he is using
B. How is he using smaller pliers on the bigger wires?
Anyway when he got done, I looked at his work and thought to my self " Are you done"? The labial bow was uneven, they wernt adapted closely over the embrasures his anchor bends were all over the place ( at least have some kind of tidiness with these at least!) some were pointing one direction some were pointing another, a couple of them would be sticking out of the acrylic if you poured up right then.
If he looked at that and told himself that is done im scared what his retainers looked like!
He was expecting $6000 a month! we didnt call him back.
Maybe Im just too anal
The next guy, used to manage the ortho department in a huge lab here in town. He is working in-office right now, but not as a lab tech. He said he was rusty too( can you get rusty?),just give him some time and he will get better. He does a decent job and so I use him as a back up and he comes in and helps after hours if im there and behind on work.
I think he wants a full time job here. but considering he spent a swift 3 hours bending 6 basic retainers I thought he would work out, but then I spent another 1.5 hours Rebending/replacing some of his wires. ARG! At this rate the $23/hr he wants would kill us until he could knock the rust off.
And would he ever? Wouldnt you think if he was rusty he could still recognize an ill-bent wire? If he was good once, dont you think he would spent more time getting the wire right the first time? or is that what his retainers looked like before he was rusty. THey are so tight! he honestly was scraping off the fronts of the teeth shoving the wire down to get it to fit! I asked him to lighten up, I want the wire passive when they go on. but I guess he was taught differently than I was, because the labial bow will still spring off like a grasshopper if you touch them! He is a great guy, a joy to be around but I dont think he will ever "get it" or had "it"
WHich brings me to my next point. THe new doctors we are picking up around here are dumbfounded by how well our retianers fit. "It just pops right in" "I didnt have to spend 30 mins adjusting it" are just a few of the comments. now, I dont consider myself the best in the world just average, so im thinking " What kind of retainers were you getting?" and Exactly how hard is it to make a retainer that fits." I should feel elated about all the good comments, but I just feel sad for our industry. And sad for the previous lab, were they told by the offices that their retainers weren't fitting?, or were they told and didnt care? or (most sad of all) were they told and didnt know how to fix it?
A couple of stories to prove my point:
1) I was told by one of my new accounts of their old lab that used permeant marker to make the zebra stripes! I didn't believe it until they showed me one that they never delivered to the patient. And sure enough there it was, a pink retainer that they had scribbled zebra stripes on with a Sharpe! Unbelievable! It didn't even look good! they weren't even solid black, imagine using a sharpie to try and black out a window and you get the picture.
I guess im just too anal
2) I did a rush case for another new account where a retainer (from their previous lab) had broken in the patients mouth at the wire on the labial bow where it crossed the occlusion. Thats not the bad part. the assistant told me that my new retainer I made ( I had to make a complete new one, because of where the break was at and I couldn't get the old retainer to fit the model) snapped right in. THe patient looked at her and asked "Is that it?" she said was expecting a 30 min appt. like when she got her last retainer.
Really? It was a hawley with 2 ball clasps.
Again Im not tooting my own horn, but really? it was a hawley with 2 ball clasps? How hard is that? If the offices give you a good impression, how can you mess it up?
I guess i'm just too anal!
Thanks for letting me rant, I feel better now
,
