1. Referral
- Private patients are often referred to us by their dentist. Alternatively, if you have concerns about how your teeth look, please just give us a ring and we can arrange a private consultation with one of our specialist orthodontists. Or, you can raise a query through our website by clicking Request An Appointment on our Contacts tab.
- Usually, we can offer a private consultation appointment within just a week or two, but sometimes (due to all the complications with Covid-19) we may take a bit longer than this to respond. Please be patient with us.
- Private treatment is available for adults and also for children who do not qualify for NHS funded treatment, or who would prefer to wear ceramic brackets or clear aligners, which are not available through the NHS.
2. Your first appointment (Consultation)
- You will complete a comprehensive medical history form and we will ask some questions about your teeth and your specific concerns. We will also collect clinical records so the orthodontist can determine how best to treat you.
- The orthodontist will conduct a full dental assessment and take photographs of the inside of your mouth and your face, as well as taking x-rays.
- Impressions will be taken so a set of plaster models can be made of your upper and lower teeth.
3. Your second appointment (Treatment planning)
- The orthodontist will want to see you again about a week after your first appointment when they will have worked out how best to treat you.
- Treatment may involve clear or tooth-coloured ceramic brackets, or you may benefit from having virtually invisible aligners (Invisalign).
- We will ask you to consent to your treatment plan by signing a form detailing this plan.
- If your dentist needs to carry out some dental work prior to the commencement of orthodontic treatment, we will write to them with instructions.
- At your next appointment, your orthodontic appliance will probably be fitted and your treatment will start.
4. Fitting your fixed braces or clear aligners
- For private patients who need fixed braces and are on our Platinum level service, we usually use more aesthetically pleasing clear or tooth-coloured ceramic brackets. Although these can still be seen on your teeth, they are much more discreet than metal brackets.
- Children who don’t qualify for NHS funded treatment can be treated on our Silver level service. Although this is essentially the same as treatment available on the NHS, using silver metal brackets, you will need to pay for this.
- Depending on your treatment plan, fixed braces may be fitted to only one arch or both.
- Brackets are fixed to your teeth using a special dental 'glue' and a wire passed through these. The wire exerts a force onto the bracket to move your teeth.
- For some conditions, clear aligners can be used instead of fixed braces. This involves having a series of aligners, often 12–16 different sets, which are each worn for a few weeks, before moving onto the next set. The aligners are similar to the retainers worn at the end of treatment, except, instead of being designed to stop your teeth from moving, they gradually apply forces to move your teeth to the desired position.
5. Adjusting your fixed braces or checking your aligners
- Your braces need to be adjusted every 6-8 weeks and you will have several appointments throughout the treatment process.
- Sometimes the wire is changed to alter the force acting on your teeth.
- It is very important to brush your teeth thoroughly while wearing braces and you can use special small brushes to clean awkward areas. You should also see your dentist regularly.
- Patients wearing clear aligners will need to see the orthodontist to check the aligners are fitting correctly and working as they should.
- Towards the end of treatment, we will undertake some fine tuning to help produce a perfect smile!
6. Removing your fixed braces
- When your teeth are nicely aligned, we remove the brackets and clean the dental ‘glue’ from your teeth.
- We will give you a retainer to stop your teeth moving back to their old position. This is usually similar to a thin clear gum shield that fits tightly onto your teeth to keep them in place. It is very important to wear your retainer as instructed.
- We take impressions of your teeth so your retainer can be made and also take more photos, so we have a record of the end result and can compare it to the start.
- The active part of your treatment with us has now finished, but we still need to see you a couple more times…
7. Keeping your teeth in line
- Approximately 3-6 months after your braces have been removed, we see you again to check you have been wearing your retainers and all is well.
- Another appointment, six months later, will be your last. We will have got to know each other pretty well and, although we will be sad to see you go, we’ll be delighted you now have a beautiful new smile!
Remember to keep on wearing your retainers – we won’t be seeing you again to check, but you must wear them as instructed (probably at night time only).
We are always happy to see you for new retainers. They will need to be replaced at some point.
