How long does orthodontic treatment take?
Patients always ask me, ” How long will it take?” It seems we’re all keeping to a tight schedule with our work and private lives, even more so these days with our smartphones sounding reminders of our appointments!
Parents need to coordinate their child’s treatment schedule around school and sporting commitments and if this is for you, naturally there is your work and home obligations to consider.
So how do we provide parents and patients with some inkling of an idea of time commitment when every orthodontic treatment is unique to the individual?
24 Years of Experience and Tailored Orthodontic Packages
Since 1990, we’ve been helping our patients resolve orthodontic problems like:
- Mild crowding and spacing
- Bite, jaw bone and facial structure issues
- Severe crowding
- Severe displaced teeth
Estimating Time for Orthodontic Treatments
The goal of orthodontic work is to improve your teeth’s function, your personal health and appearance. We have specific orthodontic packages that have defined methods and sets of procedures that allow our team to closely estimate our time together. You can learn more about the treatments here.
Orthodontic Treatment Time Planner
For planning purposes this chart will help you better understand time commitments when choosing an orthodontic procedure.
| ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT TIME PLANNER* | Active
Phase |
Adjustment
Visits |
Retention
Phase |
Retention
Adjustment Visits |
| Children/Minor Correction | 6 months | Every
6 weeks |
2 years | Every 3- 6 months |
| Average Correction | 18 months | Every
4 weeks |
2 years | Every 3-4 months |
| Severe Correction | 24 months | Every
3 weeks |
2 years | Every 3 months |
* Planning purposes only. Every patient’s plan is unique to his or her situation.
5 Reasons Why Orthodontic Treatment Plans Vary
- Patient goals – Adults typically may have specific goals like straightening of their front teeth and leaving the remaining teeth as-is.
- Patient age – A young patient still growing allows us to select treatment options that potentially would not be available to adults. Adults might require surgery or extractions whereas a young patient may not.
- Severity of the problem – Complexity usually equate to a longer time frame to correct the problem(s).
- Adult Patient needs additional treatments – you might need periodontal treatment for gum problems or prosthodontics treatment for missing teeth.
- Child Patient needs additional treatments – occasionally your child might need teeth removed, or surgery to the jaw. There might be a better alternative to braces.
Tony Weir Orthodontics has a section on our website – Patient Information . We want you to be as informed as possible. Please contact a team member at either of our locations – Greenslopes and Corinda if you have further questions.