Philosophy
Dr. Ramsay’s treatment philosophy is simple, time-proven and effective; early space maintainers where appropriate and certain extractions when necessary. We aim to get your teeth in good shape as fast as can be responsibly done. The American Association of Orthodontists advises that children be seen by an orthodontist around age 7-8 years or when the permanent teeth are coming into the mouth. Dr. Ramsay believes that it is not always wise to wait until your bite gets as bad as it can before beginning corrective orthodontic treatment.
- In potential crowding we save space when baby molars fall out to avoid extracting permanent teeth later, where possible.
- We eliminate thumb, tongue or toe sucking early (age 7-8)
- We move back upper molars with springs, on the teeth instead of headgear on the neck, when possible. (Why? Because headgear sucks).
- We extract certain teeth only when necessary to provide room to correct the others – yes we do – wouldn't you? We advise wearing all extracted teeth around your neck as a good luck charm.
- We always plan with an eye on long-term success and stability (so you will be able to smile at your grandchildren with confidence).
- We do not advise waiting until your cold becomes pneumonia, as prevention is still better than cure and the cure usually costs more than the prevention – especially when it comes to teeth!
- Purple Cow…If you were driving through St. Thomas and saw a purple cow grazing what would you do? You would stop the car, grab your cell phone, jump out, take a photo or ten, call your aunt, your sister and your mother, text everyone else and invite them to St. Thomas to see for themselves. Why? Because a purple cow is UNIQUE. That's why we sometimes wear purple cow polo shirts. So now you know. So Big Deal! (NO, we do not work at Pine Hill Dairy!)
Policies
Appointments
Our office hours are Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., (Yes we do start that early!)
To schedule an appointment, you may call our office at (246) 427-3651. If you are a new patient, please visit our First Visit Page to find out more about your first upcoming trip through our orthodontic world.
Spoon Feeding
- Automatic telephone appointment reminders by telephone around dinner time
- All-inclusive tooth and braces-cleaning kits complete with red dye to stain plaque/stale food.
- Detailed explanation of your case and the treatment plan (for as long and as often as you want)
- Chairside video games
- Wii, PlayStation3 and internet in new games lounge
- Ice water on tap
- Waterfall and fish pool – no diving, swimming or fishing allowed without a permit
- In case of severe crowding, we provide extra chairs or extract every other tooth – whichever seems more appropriate
- In cases of impending obesity, or to cure talking in class, we wire the top to the bottom – at no additional charge
- We guarantee to laugh at your jokes, too
Traffic
We don’t do traffic, so get out of your pyjamas at some ungodly hour, brush your braces and get here by 6:30 am. Traffic jams also slow tooth movement – just kidding!
Zero Waiting
We don’t do waiting either. Just arrive on time and walk right through – well almost – and you’ll get to leave before the moon rises. Arrive late and risk being stored in the X-ray dark room overnight.
Patient Education
This really means being savvy about braces and how they work for you. It means appreciating what can and what can’t be done (yet). It means being enabled to make informed choices and it means being warned against biting the hand that tightens you. As one reassuring midwife used to say to mums in labour: “Joy through pain, dear, joy through pain.”
Impacted Wisdom Teeth
Hitherto it has been customary to recommend the removal of impacted wisdom teeth following orthodontic treatment, in order to minimize the chance of relapse crowding of the lower front teeth.
Dr. R provides the nuts while Maria provides the bolts of patient education - just hope you don't get screwed up in the process! We do this with the help of dynamic computer graphics which show teeth actually moving into place. If that doesn't blow your mind you probably don't have one.
With effect from January 1st, 2012, this recommendation has been discontinued at our office in compliance with recent guidelines issued by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence of the United Kingdom, to the effect that surgical removal of impacted third molars (wisdom teeth) should be limited to patients with pathology (disease) of these teeth.