One factor to consider when choosing a time to begin orthodontic treatment is your schedule. How much time do you have to devote to appointments and maintenance?
Sometimes it feels like there aren’t enough hours in the day between dropping the kids off at school, after school activities, running errands, and working full time, finding a time to fit in ortho appointments can be difficult. As father to two active boys and sole owner of Red Leaf Ortho, Dr. T personally understands how busy life can get.
When RLO was in the first stages of planning, Dr. T knew he wanted to consider things from the patient’s perspective and try to do everything he could to make appointments as easy as possible.
Therefore, convenient scheduling became a priority in our office management.
We offer extended hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays until 7pm. We have full 8am – 5pm days Monday through Friday. Hopefully, these hours provide a chance to work around most schedules so work or school doesn’t have to be missed.
We try to consolidate visits when possible with family members who are also receiving treatment or interested in a consultation.
We are set up to allow adults to bring their children along to watch TV, have a snack, and play with toys next to the treatment chair. This way, waiting for childcare isn’t a necessity to make it to your appointment.
We do not charge a rescheduling or no-show fee. We understand that things happen. A head’s up call is appreciated and we can always get things rescheduled to a more convenient day and time for you.
Some very busy tween-adult patients opt for clear aligners such as Invisalign, as once started, visits are usually about 8-12 weeks apart. Due to not having to worry about as many potential issues such as wire pokes or broken brackets, visits can be much more flexible with varying schedules. Also, each appointment is much shorter as no adjustments are needed as with traditional braces.
Approximate appointment times are as follows:
New patient exams are around 1 hour. We give extra time to make sure there is plenty of time to explain everything and answer all questions.
A traditional braces start takes between 1 and 2 hours depending on the beginning process as mapped out by Dr. T.
Traditional braces adjustments take about 20-30 minutes depending on if any brackets have come off.
An urgent visit for issues such as a broken bracket or wire poke varies due to the issue and if it can be consolidated into a full adjustment, so 5-30 minutes.
3D scan for clear aligners like Invisalign takes about 10-15 minutes and giving time for paperwork the appointment will take about 30 minutes total.
A regular aligner pick up appointment takes only about 5 minutes.
Young patients in observation coming for a progress check will take about 15 minutes.
We want to make your experience with RLO to be easy and stress-free. Making appointments as convenient and seamless as possible gives our patients the most freedom to incorporate orthodontic care into their busy schedule.
