Appointments

We would like to explain the goals that we seek to achieve with our appointment system. Orthodontic force systems must be adjusted and monitored periodically. Many office visits will inevitably conflict with work or school. In order to balance the need for regular appointments with the need to minimise missed school and work hours we have designed our office schedule to accomplish the following:

• We want to see each patient at the time of his or her scheduled appointment. Your time is valuable, it should not be wasted sitting in our reception area
• We want to have enough time at each appointment to do the necessary adjustments, plan the next visit and discuss treatment progress

Orthodontic treatment progresses in stages. At some points what is needed is a nudge here and there, requiring a relatively short appointment. At other times, major changes are required, requiring a longer appointment. With this in mind, we schedule longer appointments in school time, and shorter appointments after school time. In this way we do not reserve an entire afternoon for one or two patients, but rather see as many patients as possible with short appointments. One consequence of a schedule arranged in this fashion is that the office is quieter in the middle of the day, and busier in the early morning and late afternoon. This is a common attribute of the modern orthodontic office.

The schedule is carefully crafted and arriving late or missing your appointment can pose a problem. In fairness to other patients we cannot jam a late arrival into the schedule, but more likely will rebook the late arriving patient. Late arrival erodes the time available to examine and treat patients to the standard we consider acceptable. All failed or late appointments should be rescheduled as soon as possible. Since the early and later appointments are booked out several weeks in advance, it will be necessary to reschedule the missed appointment during the middle of the day. Please be considerate as it is often embarrassing for front office staff to refuse to see a patient, and patients and parents find it frustrating.

It is important to realise that unplanned problems with appliances will also disrupt the patient flow and will inconvenience others. If you have a problem with your appliance, always inform the office, and your problem will be attended to outside of the most busy pre- and post- school periods.

If this approach seems inflexible we apologise, but we seek to be fair to everyone.

Dental Hygienists

Many of the routine orthodontic procedures are performed by University trained Dental Hygienists under the supervision of the Orthodontist. This will include the taking of diagnostic records, oral hygiene instruction, as well as the placement of orthodontic archwires etc.. This is a normal event in Orthodontic Offices throughout the world, and has contributed to an improvement in the level of service offered to patients, and to the steady increase in the affordability of Orthodontic Care.

Self Ligating Braces

In recent years self ligating braces have become widely available. Class 1 Orthodontics recommends the use of such products as they increase the interval between your appointments, whilst making the overall treatment quicker and more comfortable. The reduction in the total number of appointments required in the average treatment with braces has significant benefits to the consumer in saving time travelling to and from orthodontist visits, time sitting in reception areas, and less time out of school or work. Appliances such as the Damon System are also easier to keep clean.