After Your First Appointment

First we look at your teeth and check your progress. If you’re wearing elastics, we’ll check on the job they’re doing. We may want to change the elastics or keep the existing ones in place. We may give you a pep talk on wearing your elastics more. How much you wear them is really important for the best result and faster braces. We’ll also check on your tooth cleaning. Awesome! Keep it up! Or we may encourage some more tooth brushing by the gum line – that’s the most important part to brush.

When we check the alignment of your teeth, we’ll decide if you need a new wire or not. With the braces and wires we use, we don’t have to change the wires as often so that means less tightening of your braces. Steadier pressure on your teeth is definitely more comfortable and moves your teeth better. Sometimes I’ll adjust the shape of the wire to guide a tooth. We’ll make sure you have elastics ready for the next month or two and you’re off!

Some appointments are quick – we may be checking on the eruption of a tooth we’re waiting for or checking on your elastics and the fit of your teeth. Some appointments can be longer when we’re putting on a new brace, or moving a brace. Now – how often do we see you for these regular appointments? Well, it depends on you and what’s happening with your teeth.

Normally appointments are between 4 and 8 weeks apart. We’re always happy to see you if you’re wondering about anything and want us to check it out. A wire popped out or a broken brace – no problem – just give us a call or text. We may not replace a broken brace right away – it depends what makes sense, but we always want you to be comfortable.