4 Ways We’re Mindful of Your Time During Orthodontic Treatment
What’s the one thing we all want more of in our busy lives?
Time.
Especially for parents, time is always tight. Between the kids’ schedules, your work commitments, working out, making meals, running errands—and hopefully at least a slice of a personal life too!—there’s no time to waste. And now you’re adding ongoing orthodontist appointments for your child to get braces?? How will you make the time??
At Cuozzo Orthodontics in NJ, we keep your time in mind with everything we do. That includes:
1. Ahead of Time
Patient education is a big part of our process. You’ll find a world of information on our website to help you prepare for the first consultation and appointment. Learn what to consider when choosing an orthodontist, how our NJ orthodontist offices work, what to expect during the initial examination and more. Our Frequently Asked Questions page is also a great resource, particularly for questions regarding insurance. Of course, we’re here to answer any questions directly as well. Just ask!
2. In Real Time
When your child begins treatment, we will have the roadmap laid out with scheduled check-ups and reminders. We’re extremely efficient with our appointments, so if everything checks out as we’d expect, you’ll be on your way to your next to-do by the end of your appointment window.
That said, we all know that things don’t always go as planned. During orthodontic treatment, we may find that a brace is broken. It’s neither common nor uncommon; it just happens sometimes—and if it happens to your child, we’ll inform you during the appointment to confirm whether you’d like to stay a little longer or reschedule a follow-up to fix the broken brace. We’ll always honor your time when you have other places to be.
3. In the Meantime
Treatment with braces will typically take about 24 months, give or take based on each patient’s unique circumstances. That amounts to a lot of time in between appointments and, in turn, a lot of time for questions to arise along the way. Our online Patient Portal makes it easy and convenient to track your treatment, appointment history and payment schedule on your time—and again, we’re always available to answer any questions you may have. There may also be a waiting time before treatment if we feel your child’s teeth aren’t yet ready for braces, for example, there are too many baby teeth present. By placing your child in our early observation program rather than applying braces too soon, actual orthodontic treatment will be shorter and there will be less chance of damage to the teeth and roots.
4. Braces off on Time
No child wants to be in braces for longer than necessary. The whole point is to eventually get those braces removed and show off that brand-new smile. Braces do take time and there’s no way to fast-track their effectiveness. However, there are some simple things that you and your child can do to avoid any extra time and, possibly, if we’re lucky, cut some time from the 24-month average. Read our best tips for getting braces off on time.
So, if you could buy anything in the world, what would it be?
When asked this question, Dr. Patrick Cuozzo says…you guessed it…time! As a parent of four children, Dr. Pat learned the importance of time management and uses the same principle to respect patients’ and their parents’ time as well. Learn more about our streamlined approach to orthodontics and schedule an appointment today (or, we should say, when you have time)!