Unsure how to feel about this. Medical consent.

[Stopsnowing]

I recently took ds for an orthodontist appointment. The orthodontist said how the braces would be fitted and asked ds to sign a consent form. Then he asked me to sign the same consent form but got irritated when I read it first. The consent form said something along the lines of being advised of long list of potential negative outcomes and well as being advised of potential to not have treatment. The orthodontist had not provided this advice and ds had not read the consent form before signing it. So I read out the relevant bits and the orthodontist got annoyed and said “he has already signed it” and I said “sure but he didn’t read it.”
we are due to go back tomorrow and ds has just told me that when I was not looking the orthodontist made a funny face and mouthed at him “are you ok?”

I think the orthodontist dislikes me because I wanted to make sure ds understood what he signed and mouthing at.ds was very strange.

How old is ds ?

I know you were trying to be thorough but you'd gone for an orthodontists appointment as long as he explained the process it seems a bit ott To br reading all the small print.

Ortho was being a total wanker and very unprofessional.

Ds is 14. I was just reading what I was signing and saw it included info on the downside of treatment or not having treatment. None of that was mentioned by the orthodontist although the consent form said by signing we confirmed it had and ds really doesn’t want braces so I wanted to make sure he understood the full picture.

Agree.
Don't think there's anything wrong with what you did.
And I'd be really pissed off at the orthodontist if I were you

If you are paying directly for this treatment, I would probably change the orthodontist unless your son trusts and likes him.
YANBU to want to do a consent properly.

No one should ever try and put you off reading terms and conditions and the only time pulling a face at your son would be remotely reasonable was if your son was really nervous and the thing you were reading out was something really basic, I'm thinking something like "you will still need to clean your teeth", kind of level and the orthodontist was trying to calm him down (albeit not in a great way). I don't suppose you have the option of seeing someone else and I don't imagine your son will want you to make a formal complaint about the person who can inflict pain on him but you are right to find the whole thing strange. I'd reassure your son that he might be different to the people you are used to but all he needs to be good at is teeth.

Do you sign important documents without reading them?

Thanks. This is an nhs appointment and it was a year long wait to get it so changing orthodontist isn’t really an option. Not the first odd thing he has done. The first was when he told ds to try and pull out a baby tooth by himself and it that didn’t work to get “dad” to have a try. Ds doesn’t have a dad.
I am always amazed at how people expect you to sign forms without reading them… and get annoyed when you do.

The General Dental Council has professional standards; the 3rd one is 'Obtain Valid Consent'
standards.gdc-uk.org/Assets/pdf/Standards%20for%20the%20Dental%20Team.pdf

In a nutshell:
You must:
3.1 Obtain valid consent before starting treatment,
explaining all the relevant options and the possible costs.
3.2 Make sure that patients (or their representatives)
understand the decisions they are being asked to make.
3.3 Make sure that the patient’s consent remains valid
at each stage of investigation or treatment.

To be honest I'd trust your gut feeling. I ended up having to block an orthodontist as he kept ringing me trying to get me to commit to treatment for DS. I'd had an off feeling about him from the get go and when I read the reviews about his practice they only confirmed my fears.
We were able to be referred elsewhere, huge difference in their approach, so much more professional and reassuring.

I’d make a formal complaint to the practice and switch to one of their other orthodontists. Remember that this is someone you will have to see regularly for however long treatment takes. We saw DDs every 4/5 weeks for a year so having someone that she or I didn’t get on with would have made things very difficult

OP I am a HCP and also the mum to a DD who is undergoing orthodontic treatment at present (surgery this week). I actually find this behaviour very alarming and completely unprofessional. In your shoes I would make a formal complaint and ask to be reassigned to a different orthodontist. This isn’t just about the specific interaction (although that would be bad enough) it is the contempt in attitude towards an essential part of the consent and safety process.

Sorry, don’t know why that underlined!

Oh dear
he sounds awful

bet he's had a number of complaints against him.

The General Dental Council is a joke. I was assaulted by an orthodontist, lasting injury caused and they concluded that he didn't have to ask for my consent for what he did to me (consent had been refused multiple times). They took everything he said for granted despite him changing his story and contradicting himself, and when I asked for their reasoning they ignored me. I can't believe that this organisation is supposed to regulate dentists, they just cover up for their own.

The orthodontists I've encountered were some of the most arrogant and seriously lacking in empathy individuals that I've met so I'm not at all surprised that this happened to OP.