Hamada Orthodontics

Name: Suneeta Ganji
Rating: 1
Review: Unfortunately, I had a traumatic experience with Dr. Hamada and I hope others can learn from my mistakes. I went to see Dr. Hamada when I was in my mid-20s to get a new retainer. I never intended to get braces. I always received compliments on my smile. Dr. Hamada looked at me and said "You need braces" and recommended I shave all of my teeth or get extractions of my second premolars. I remember her exact words: "Your smile will not look that different, but will look better." Over the next two months, I started to convince myself that she was right and I eventually decided to proceed with braces and get the extractions. I didn't want to shave my teeth bc it would create gaps. I told her I was nervous about getting braces at my age and was starting graduate school and her response was "Your nose will be in a book all the time and nobody will notice." She clearly did not care about what was in my best interest. Since completing treatment with her, my once wide smile has narrowed, I have gaps between all of my teeth, including my front two teeth, bc the teeth she extracted created a lot of space in my mouth, My tongue feels trapped and pushes against my front teeth. I have gum recession and bone loss due to the gaps she left between molars causing my teeth to cave in, and the upper and lower teeth don't align. My face has flattened and my cheeks are sunken in. She caused erosion of my upper teeth because they rubbed against the brackets. Dr. Hamada didn't warn me about any of these issues before I made my decision. She may it seem like it was no big deal. I don't understand how she thought I would be better off taking on the risks and long term problems that come with gaps from extractions. I got a second opinion from two other orthodontists and a periodontist. All of them looked at my records and said the exact same thing, unequivocally, that she should Not have extracted my teeth and that I didn't have orthodontic problems. Imagine how that feels to know that three specialists could not find one reason to justify what she did. I was very naive at the time and didn't think an experienced orthodontist could convince you to get treatment you didn't need. If she had any hesitation about the treatment plan, she had many opportunities to correct the course before I got the extractions, but she was silent each time I saw her. It seemed like she thought she could just fix her mistakes without me knowing or just make my smile look ok enough and I would just be fine with that. She never thought about what was in my best interest or how this would affect me. I think Dr. Hamada is the type of provider who doesn't communicate with you if something is going wrong, but you can still sense it at the time. I remember early on after the teeth were removed, I had a feeling like she didn't seem very confident with what she was doing, but I didn't say anything. I'm not a litigious person and I think the most healing thing is to prevent other people from making the same mistakes I did.
Date: 6 months ago