The “initial consultation” appointment
Your visit is on us! This 20-minute consultation is FREE. No strings, no obligations – this applies to our Epsom and Takapuna clinics.
We will use this time to have a chat to see if orthodontics is right for you. This is a meet-and-greet appointment where you will also see whether we are the team you’d like to work with to get you the results you want. At this initial appointment, we will also give you an idea of how we can help, the estimated treatment time and the financial commitment involved…Still, with no obligation.
There is no single set fee for orthodontic treatment: every person’s face, jaws, bite, and teeth are unique. We customise our treatment to give our patients options and the very best results. For a general idea of treatment fees before seeing us, please see our Cost of Braces section
The “records” and “consultation” appointments
At this appointment, we will proceed to take digital records: photos (extra-oral and intra-oral), a 3D-scan of your teeth, as well as x-ray radiographs of your teeth and jaws. This appointment usually takes 20 to 30 minutes, and we have all the digital facilities on-site at the Takapuna, Epsom and Howick clinics.
From these records, our orthodontists customise a detailed treatment plan for each case, and a follow-up appointment is made. This is the “consultation” appointment. During this visit, every aspect of the proposed treatment plan will be discussed. Importantly, the problems will be highlighted, the risks and limitations of orthodontic treatment explained, and any possible alternative options will also be discussed. An estimate of the overall treatment time as well as all costs specific to the treatment along with payment plans will be provided.
The cost for these two appointments is $520.
At times, significant planning beyond the norm or extensive correspondence with other practitioners will be required. The cost can increase to $820.
The “bond-up” appointment – braces/aligner day!
This visit is where we fit your braces on. The appointment will take approximately 1 hour and you will walk out with some brand new appliances! Please read our braces section to get an idea of what it is like to have braces.
* For Invisalign and Incognito patients, this visit will be used to take 3D scans or high-accuracy models of your teeth to send to the USA for the aligners or custom lingual braces to be made. It usually takes 8 weeks to get the aligners or lingual brackets back.
The 6-8 weekly “adjustment” appointments
Technology has allowed us to use super flexible wires that work for a long time in the mouth. Therefore, our typical adjustment visits are booked every 6, 8 or 10 weeks during the course of the treatment. Don’t forget, if the wires are not adjusted or changed, they do not work…so, make sure you always know when your next adjustment appointment is going to be.
So that we are efficient with your treatment, and that we stick to our estimated overall treatment time, it is very important that you keep to your appointments and look after your braces. Breakages and missed appointments are the main reasons for orthodontic treatment taking longer than predicted.
So, let’s work together at getting you the smile you want! If you need to change an appointment, give us as much notice as possible so that we can rearrange your appointment without impacting our other patients’ appointments.
“Emergency” appointments
Braces are not attached to teeth using Superglue! We use a composite glue that is strong enough to keep the brackets on the teeth (to move the teeth around with the wires), but that is also easy enough to take off the brackets at the end of treatment. This means that eating or biting the wrong things will loosen the brackets or aligner attachments from the teeth.
Accidents do happen though, and so if a bracket or attachment comes off, please use your phone to take a photo of what is loose and email it to us so we can arrange to have it replaced. The cost of replacement is $50 per bracket (individual brace).
The “de-bond” appointment
It’s time to get your appliances de-bonded from your teeth.
It takes under 1 minute to clip your braces or attachments off! However, more time is needed to clean and polish your teeth, take photos, x-ray radiographs and a final 3D-scan of your teeth. Finally, we need to get you fixed wire retainers and removable retainer aligners or plates to hold the teeth in their final position.
Poor compliance with retainer wear means the teeth are guaranteed to move! So, please take retainer wear seriously and please follow our instructions with regards to compliance.
Just like our skin wrinkles and our hair greys with age, teeth move with time. The retainers help restrict this movement and we encourage all our patients who want to minimise the natural drifting of teeth, to wear their retainers at night, long-term.
A simple message here – WEAR YOUR RETAINERS and look after them – night time for a lifetime!
The “retention recall” appointments
Let’s catch up! Orthodontic retention recall appointments are made at 3-, 6-, 12- and 24- months after your braces have been removed. During these appointments, we will catch up and take a look at your teeth, making sure everything is going the way it is supposed to. The fact that you have had orthodontic treatment does not mean your teeth will never ever move again… This is why your retainers are so important to wear.
Any minor changes after your braces are removed are due to the natural process of aging and maturing, both of which happen, regardless if you have had orthodontic treatment in the past or not.