Over the years I have seen patients who have not come on a regular basis for their orthodontic checkups. As many as 11 months have gone by and the patient is just wandering around with braces on and no one has checked them.  This bad habit can lead to quite a few problems:

If the patient is not the greatest at brushing and taking care of their teeth decalcification can develop
Unhealthy teeth can lead to unhealthy gums…gum disease
Unmonitored orthodontic appliances means no progress is being and lead to longer treatment time

One of the worst times that this habit tends to happen is over the summer when school is out.  Most children go away camp for at least 4-8weeks and then of course the family vacation has been scheduled during this time of the year as well.

The average orthodontic office likes to schedule their patients every 6-8 weeks depending on what is required during treatment time. The office visit itself is from 30 – 45 minutes again depending on the procedure being done.  There are a few appointments during treatment that may take over an hour.

And while 6-8 weeks sounds like a long time, it really isn’t and those weeks fly by really quickly socially when you’re busy with your child’s school scheduled and/or extracurricular activities plus family stuff, if you can fir that in somewhere. Before you know it those weeks have gone by and it is 3, 4, 5, months and those darn braces are still on!

I know what you’re thinking, “that’s too far ahead or a long time from now” or I will scheduled it as soon as I get home.

Missed appointments or regularly unscheduled appointments can add months or years to a patient’s treatment time.   Think of it this way:  Having orthodontic treatment is like a new construction project. It takes consistent and constant work to get the entire building finished.  Everyone has seen those construction projects that just sit for months and it seems like they are never going to be finished, well the same for orthodontic treatment… no work going on, no end to the treatment.   And the bottom line is it’s just not healthy!

So bite the bullet and the next time you are told to schedule the next appointment, even if you end up changing it later at least you have an appointment in the 1^st place.