Richard Cure & Leamington Spa Orthodontics DO NOT use LSO, Richard Cure is incompetent and unfit to practise due to his lack of orthodontic ability and is in breach of the law: the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, United kingdom

I first became a patient of Leamington Spa Orthodontics in 2005 when they took dental impressions, made bleaching trays and sold me some bleach of varying strengths. I have also used their dental hygienist and since having clear (ceramic) braces fitted in America, gone there for emergency treatment, eg loose brackets and broken wires.
 
I was diagnosed with MS in 1997 and since 2006 have had a mobility problem in my right leg which doesn't lift or bend when I try to walk. I also have a dropped right foot which makes it very difficult to lift the leg + loss of balance and strength in my legs. This problem has got worse over the last 5 years and it means I can''t walk alone. I also have to use a wheelchair to go distances.
 
In January of this year I called Leamington Spa Orthodontics and asked them if they would give me a quote to remove my braces as my treatment was now finished and it would save me a difficult trip back to Boston USA. I talked to their receptionist Loretta who informed me that the owner, Richard Cure, was no longer prepared to offer me any further treatment, either orthodontic or with their dental hygienist, because of my disability. I asked her if she would just ask him about the removal of the braces, but she said there was no point because she already knew the answer - he had made his position clear after my last visit and instructed his office not to allow me to book any further appointments. Her reason was because I "struggled with the stairs". She told me that I could attend for treatment again "if my leg got better".
 
Richard Cure & LSO are in violation of the law - they are in breach of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995: PART III Discrimination in Other Areas re goods, facilities and services, points 19 & 21 which states that businesses are not allowed to discriminate in relation to provision of their goods, facilities & services and that providers of services have a duty to make adjustments. Leamington Spa Orthodontics have wheelchair access at the back and a downstairs room which they refuse to let me use. Regardless of this, I was prepared - and able albeit with a struggle - to enter via the usual entrance that has an outside step and use their upstairs treatment rooms. I am able to do this with their help, which they have now refused.
 
Richard Cure has tried to defend his decision to refuse me further treatment on the basis that he feels that I never required orthodontic work in the first place. However, neither my request to have the braces removed, nor to make an appointment with LSO's dental hygienist have anything whatsoever to do with Richard Cure's opinion with regard to my need for orthodontic treatment. He is clearly evading the real issue and in fact, one would assume that if he was so opposed to me being fitted with braces, that he would be only too happy to remove them!

In a letter dated 4th February 2011 Richard Cure stated that he was not familiar with my orthodontic appliance and tried to use this as another excuse. However, the evidence from the UK distributor of the GAC Mystique brackets used clearly proves that this is a lie. Moreover, removal of the braces does actually not require any knowledge of or familiarity with the particular make of brackets. There is one tool/appliance for the removal of metal brackets and one for the removal of ceramic brackets, and every orthodontist including Richard Cure carries and can do both. The type of brackets is therefore completely irrelevant.
 
In addition, their ongoing refusal to make me another appointment with their dental hygienist says it all.
 
Furthermore, whenever I made an appointment with the dental hygienist and/or for emergency orthodontic treatment I requested but was repeatedly refused the use of the downstairs room. LSO protest that this room is available to patients with a mobility problem, but I was always told that it was rented out to another company and that the tools/machinery needed could not be transferred from the upstairs rooms. I therefore had no option but to struggle with the stairs which got harder as my mobility problem got worse + they often made me struggle up 2 flights of stairs right up to the top of the building, even though there are treatment rooms on a lower level than this. I also had to use the women's toilet upstairs. I could not go to another dental hygienist elsewhere as I needed one that used a technique that was compatible with braces and wouldn't dislodge them, ie manual v. electric + going elsewhere would require me to go through an expensive registration process with another dentist.
 
When I registered with LSO in 2005 I did not declare the MS diagnosis. My mobility was not an issue and I therefore felt that the diagnosis was irrelevant to the care of my teeth + I also felt that disclosing it was an unnecessary invasion of privacy. I was never asked about my medical history again on subsequent visits + by 2006 the diagnosis was in question and other causes had been suggested such as a slipped disc, heavy metal toxicity and spinal/vertebral misalignments from a bad car accident I had in December 2005.
 
Mr Cure is not only unfit to practise due to his discriminatory attitude towards me which breaches the law, specifically the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, but he is also a totally incompetent orthodontist. When I first presented to LSO in 2005 my 2 top front teeth were very big; they were also too low as were the teeth either side of them + one of these teeth was much higher than the other, ie they were all out of proportion to each other and I had a very gummy smile. In addition, my 2 top canines were way too high + my bottom teeth were overcrowded, causing some of these to have twisted considerably. My bite was so wrong that my top R/H front tooth was becoming transparent at the bottom and had lost 2 layers of its enamel!
 
I desired an aesthetic improvement in that I wanted my 2 top front teeth made smaller + the 4 top front ones pushed up and the 2 top canines pulled down so that the teeth were proportionately sized, straight and even, and I no longer had a gummy smile. I also wanted my lower teeth to have the curve they used to (I understand that as you get older, your jaw contracts which often causes the lower teeth to crowd.) Richard Cure denied that this would ever be possible. However, IN ACTUAL FACT, NOT ONLY DID I GET THE AESTHETIC RESULT I DESIRED AND A HUGE COSMETIC IMPROVEMENT, BUT IT WAS A NECESSARY & INTEGRAL PART OF THE ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT! In order to achieve the correct orthodontic result and make room for the required changes, my 2 top front teeth were slenderised and the ones next to them evened up both size and position wise. 

The 2 top canines were pulled down and the bottom 4 front teeth were also slenderised to make room so that the overcrowding could be rectified without the need to extract a tooth which would have been considerably more drastic. As I understand it, orthodontics is all about the smile line and the position of the teeth in relation to the lips, ie the edges of each should touch when you smile without gum showing; this is certainly what Arch Orthodontics who treated me in Boston maintain and provided. It is also about rectifying overcrowding such as I had. Cosmetic and aesthetic improvements are an integral part of this as when the teeth are improved orthodontically, they also look better as a result. In addition, my bite is now perfect, preventing further uneven wear and tear to the teeth.
 
Last year I had to go to Portland Oregon for 3 months for treatment for my mobility problem that was unavailable in the UK and I attended North Portland Orthodontics there for intermediate orthodontic treatment to save me flying back and forth to Boston. AO forwarded them copies of all my dental records and Dr Jennifer Crowe, who treated me there, confirms the huge improvement that orthodontic treatment made to my teeth. I quote from one of her recent e-mails to me dated 19th July.... "I think the outcome is positive and your orthodontists have greatly improved your bite and the appearance of your teeth."
 
Richard Cure's constant assertion throughout his submission that orthodontic treatment was not only unnecessary in my case, but could potentially make my teeth worse, is total incompetence and nothing less than insanity. There is not a single person, orthodontically trained or otherwise, who would or could deny the huge improvement that orthodontic treatment has made to my teeth. Interestingly enough, LSO is the only orthodontist who has ever said that orthodontic treatment was unnecessary. In actual fact, I originally planned to have veneers, but was informed by 2 dentists in Coventry in 2005 that orthodontic treatment was a far better option for my teeth and could improve them immensely.
 
Richard Cure is therefore unfit to practise due to his lack of orthodontic ability, as well as his discrimination against me and refusal to provide emergency treatment (removal of the brackets) and dental hygienist services to me on the basis of my disability. DO NOT USE THIS ORTHODONTIST!
 
TO SUM UP:
Richard Cure suddenly withdrew the emergency orthodontic treatment and dental hygienist services he had offered me, and the reason I was given for this by his receptionist Loretta was that it was because of my disability which "had been mentioned and was an issue". I was told that he wanted nothing further to do with me or my case because of it.
 
Removal of the braces was a half hour emergency orthodontic procedure no different to the one he had already provided when he replaced broken wires and brackets in February 2009. He lied about not being familiar with the brackets used (obviously an excuse) and clearly has had experience of removing these before, although as already stated, the make of brackets is irrelevant to the ability to remove them.
 
If he is so adamant about the lack of need for orthodontic treatment in my case and his disapproval of it, then why did he offer me emergency treatment in the first place - and then why suddenly change his mind and refuse it?
 
He continues to refuse me dental hygienist services and the use of the downstairs room.
 
In addition, his constant and emphatic assertion that orthodontic treatment was not only unnecessary in my case but could even make matters worse, + his statement that I could not get the aesthetic result I desired was not only contrary to what he told me in 2005 before the onset of my mobility problem, but is another lie + total incompetence and utter insanity on his part. The before and after photos of my teeth speak for themselves, as does Dr Crowe's comment.
 
CONSUMERS - there are way better and more competent orthodontists around, I urge you to GO ELSEWHERE!!