Deeply regret trusting Dr. Yousefian. Deeply…read more
This seemingly canned response does not fit our experience.
Since the results of the take home sleep study from this office differ substantially from an in lab study, we proceeded with an in lab sleep study. Ph 2 recommended treatment was MAPES & DAME.
When expansion began, Dr. Yousefian gave an option of a large or small gap. We replied that we would prefer the small gap but whatever Dr. thought would be best for her case. During upper expansion, one of her front teeth visibly dropped. We immediately sent photos to Dr. Y. He replied via text that it was "not a sign of asymmetric expansion, and we need to finish expansion." After expansion, Dr. Y again told us during an office visit that it was "perfect non surgical expansion, perfect."
I remained concerned because our child's face appeared asymmetric. I emailed photos showing exactly what I was seeing, including photos taken from above, the same view Dr. Y had previously shown me when explaining another asymmetric case, where one cheekbone expanded more prominently than the other. It appeared to be the same type of asymmetry I was seeing.
The response we received was that "our case is going forward fine." Dr. Y then immediately sent another text stating, "unless you stop this, we are going to stop participating in the treatment. Please consider this as my warning!"
I called the office and requested to talk to Dr. Y about our concerns. I was told there were other patients waiting to speak with him and that I would be placed on a wait list. Given that the expansion had already occurred and the bone was consolidating, I was not comfortable simply waiting while we had an unresolved concern about facial asymmetry.
We therefore sought independent opinions from other providers, providing the CBCT's and the same photos I sent to Dr. Yousefian. Those providers reviewed the CBCTs and photos and told us that significant asymmetric expansion had occurred.
It was almost a month before we were able to have a Zoom w/Dr. Y and his surgeon. During that Zoom, I intentionally did not disclose the outside assessments as we wanted to hear their assessment. Dr. Y denied seeing asymmetry and described himself as an "expert" in asymmetries. He also stated that he charged $1,000 per hour for his opinion and that our Zoom meeting was a "waste of $1000, as we didn't learn anything new." We found this response to be deeply concerning, particularly because we had requested the meeting specifically to address this.
Both doctors wanted us to bring our child back so they could manually measure the nares and told us if we were unhappy, we could see a plastic surgeon who could cut the nares to address the issue, even though they did not see asymmetry. We were also in disbelief that we had to specifically then ask them to review the before and after CBCT's to assess skeletally what had occurred.
We then emailed Dr. Yousefian a copy of a superimposition that included measurements since he was unable to do one, and asked whether the expansion was asymmetric. We were informed that answering that would be a $530 fee, collected in advance.
We sincerely wish our experience had "the same clinical protocol" described in the office's response. As noted, we were initially offered a choice, and Dr. Y ultimately chose and proceeded with the small gap approach. When another complication arose, Dr. Y stated that he had "never done it this way before." Hearing that during treatment was extremely concerning to us because we had not been informed beforehand that this particular approach was something new, nor were we given any opportunity to consider that before consenting to treatment.
The treatment approach we prefer for our children is simple: keep their teeth, and keep those teeth safely within the supporting bone. As parents, it was extremely upsetting when other dental professionals who reviewed the records of our children subsequently expressed concerns about treatment, including one assessment that "teeth were moved outside the boundaries of bone availability."
As we stated in the letter informing this office that we would not be returning, being treated with honesty and respect is most important to us.
We encourage others considering this type of treatment to obtain multiple independent consultations from other providers, ask specifically about potential risks and complications. Based on our experience, we also encourage patients considering treatment that involves forward movement of the front teeth to ask their providers specifically about the available supporting bone even with SFOT, how risks are monitored and when imaging is appropriate.
Please google the AGGA appliance, a dental device with forward movement of front teeth. Also reach out to past patients online to hear their personal experience with this treatment before deciding.
Please see our separate Google review on another child.
