Does your child qualify for NHS orthodontics in Weybridge?

Having well aligned teeth is important not only for appearances but also for how long people’s teeth last and for physical health. Very few people have naturally straight teeth, but not everyone can have orthodontics in Weybridge on the NHS. That said, everyone under the age of 18 can have an assessment on the NHS to see how they stand on the NHS’s index of orthodontic treatment needs.

Orthodontics in WeybridgeIn order to qualify for treatment on the NHS, the orthodontic needs must be more than just an improvement in appearance. There needs to be improvement in dental health too.

Signs that your child needs an improvement to their dental health with orthodontics in Weybridge include:

  • Significant crowding of the teeth
  • Missing teeth
  • Impacted teeth
  • Protruding teeth
  • Problems with the bite that are causing trauma or functional issues.

If your child’s issues are more cosmetic than functional then it’s unlikely they will qualify for NHS treatment. And, even if they do qualify, they may not be able to start treatment straight away as there are long waiting lists and only so much funding to go around.

However, all children who need it can have private orthodontics in Weybridge. Private treatment can usually start straightaway, saving valuable time, especially if there are issues with the jaw that need resolving. After the age of 18, although the teeth can still be moved, the jawbone has set hard and can no longer be changed in shape.

It is important to ask how long the waiting list is and then weigh up whether it is worth the wait, or whether treatment needs to start straight away and therefore should be private. Our orthodontists can advise you on this.

When can child start having treatment?

These days, it is recommended that children start having treatment earlier than in the past, guiding teeth into position rather than waiting until they are all in place and then repositioning them. With advanced imaging technology, we can look inside the jawbone and make accurate diagnoses as to how the teeth will erupt and draw up an early treatment plan. Children can have their teeth straightened by the time they are about to face adolescence.

It’s no longer a Catch 22 situation

Getting braces as an adult has always been a bit of a Catch 22 situation. You need to look good for your job, but having braces means that for a good while you won’t look good. If you have more complex alignment issues with your teeth, you may even be facing a couple of years with braces, and let’s face it, you never see braces down as a must-have item in the wardrobe of the busy professional. Thankfully with Incognito in Weybridge from us at Weybridge Orthodontics, you can get out of the Catch 22 and into a story with a happy ending for you and your teeth.

Incognito in WeybridgeNever seen Incognito in Weybridge?

Well that’s hardly surprising. Incognito is different from other braces designed for more complex treatments. These braces still rely on brackets and wires, which deliver more accurate, predictable movements, but they are hidden away on the inner surfaces of the teeth, next to the tongue, rather than on the fronts of the teeth.

The brackets are different as they have a different surface to deal with. Each bracket with Incognito in Weybridge is custom-made to fit the inner surface of each of your teeth. No 2 brackets are the same.

This means that when you come for your initial consultation, we will have to take some very accurate measurements of your teeth. To do this, we use 3D scanners. These scanners take hundreds of pictures of your teeth, which we then build into a highly accurate 3D image of them on a nearby screen. This is far more accurate than putty impressions.

We send these details to the Incognito laboratory, where your individual brackets are made. This takes longer than other devices, so there is a bit of wait between your initial consultation and your fitting appointment.

Once your Incognito braces are fitted, no one will be able to see them as they are hidden behind your teeth.

If you would like to find out more about Incognito in Weybridge and whether it is right for you, book a consultation with Weybridge Orthodontics. We’re waiting to help you achieve a healthy smile.

Teeth straightening without the embarrassment

One of the main considerations that puts adults off getting their teeth straightened is their image. There’s no getting around the fact that braces are associated with being an adolescent, even though dentistry has moved on a lot in the last couple of decades and there are various kinds of braces that are aimed at adults. For many people, even discreet braces are one step too far when it comes to their appearance; they either need braces that don’t show at all or they decide to live with wonky teeth.

Invisalign in WeybridgeAt Weybridge Orthodontics, we offer various kinds of discreet braces and it’s true that some can be seen. But one brand of straightener is not only pretty much impossible to spot on the teeth, it is also super-convenient when it comes to the things that create hassle for braces wearers, namely eating and cleaning the teeth. No wonder that Invisalign in Weybridge is one of our most popular devices.

Tried and trusted around the world since the late 1990s, Invisalign in Weybridge is based upon the idea of turning mouth guards into straighteners. It is made of super-thin, see-through plastic, and looks like a gum shield. The aligners hug the teeth so well that, once they are in place over the teeth, they become very hard to see indeed.

If you decided to use Invisalign in Weybridge to straighten your teeth, you will receive a series of clear aligners. You wear them in order, each for 7-10 days. During this time, they will go from feeling like they don’t fit to being comfortable. When they are well-fitting, it means the carefully designed bumps inside them have pressed on your teeth sufficiently for the bone to dissolve and rebuild itself around your teeth to get rid of the pressure. You then move onto the next aligners in the series.

You remove the aligners to eat and drink; you clean your teeth and then put them back in again. Each aligner must be worn for 20-22 hours a day to maintain the pressure needed to move your teeth. On average, it takes a year to realign someone’s teeth. How long will Invisalign in Weybridge take for you? Come in and find out.

Treatment with orthodontics in Weybridge: what to expect

When you come to Weybridge Orthodontics for orthodontics in Weybridge, you are making a wise choice. We are the only practice dedicated to straightening teeth in Surrey that has 6 surgeries. We have a team of 5 orthodontists on hand to help you on the way to straighter teeth. They are backed up by 2 orthodontic therapists and a dental nurse, a head nurse and 2 dental hygienists. Between them, they have treated more than 21,000 people in Surrey.

Orthodontics in WeybridgeYour first appointment

During your first appointment for orthodontics in Weybridge, you can expect to start off by meeting our receptionists, who will be able to give you any guidance required in filling in the various forms we need in order to be able to attend to any medical or other needs you have.

Once your forms are completed, you can move onto your clinical assessment. This is carried out by one of our orthodontists, or orthodontic therapists. They will carry out a detailed examination of your face, jaws and teeth. We will also take x-rays, impressions and photographs of your teeth. We keep these for our records, but they also help in determining whether you have any underlying problems, such as with your bite, and to create the right treatment plan for you.

You will be encouraged to ask as many questions as you like throughout your visit.

Our orthodontists may need more time to look at your x-rays and photos before deciding on the most suitable treatment for you. If this is the case, we will ask you to come back for another appointment to discuss treatment.

The braces systems

One of our treatment co-ordinators will show you the differences between the various braces systems we have on offer. They will also be able to tell you all about the different payment plans we have. You can find out if you qualify for NHS funding, and, if you do, how this treatment differs from private treatment.

You don’t have to make your mind up about anything straight away. Go home and have a good think about it all before deciding how you wish to proceed.

The James Bond of braces

He wears smart suits, drinks martinis and fights crime worldwide. But do you know what else makes James Bond so timelessly cool? It’s the gadgets. That pen or belt-buckle that magically turns into a lethal weapon; it’s the power that comes from expertly hiding fantastic technology, so 007 can get on with doing what he does best. When it comes to teeth straightening, we think Incognito in Weybridge really is the James Bond of braces. It’s traditional technology with an ingenious upgrade. It’s more than discreet, it’s completely hidden. And it lets you get on with doing what you do best without having to worry about conspicuous braces ruining your look.

Incognito in WeybridgeNeedless to say, we’re big fans of Incognito in Weybridge at Weybridge Orthodontics. The reason stems largely from the transformative effects we’ve seen these braces have on our patients lives, particularly those with more severe alignment issues with their teeth, who have often resigned themselves to either a lifetime of wonky teeth or the embarrassment of sporting the train track look during their treatment. We are always delighted to let them know that there is another way.

What’s the story with Incognito in Weybridge?

We haven’t quite got the panache of Q when it comes to unveiling technological innovations but let us lay out just what makes Incognito in Weybridge so different from other discreet teeth-straightening devices:

  • Incognito uses brackets and wires but rather than being fixed to the fronts of the teeth they are attached to the back surfaces of the teeth
  • Incognito can handle mild, moderate and severe misalignment issues owing to the fact that it uses traditional bracket and wire technology, which is designed to resolve more complex dental problems
  • Incognito is a highly customised teeth-straightening treatment as each bracket is specially designed to fit an individual tooth.

Interested?

If you think Incognito in Weybridge could be the teeth-straightening treatment you need, get in touch with our friendly team. We’ll book you in for a consultation with one of our braces dentists and find out exactly what you need. If Incognito is the best option, we’ll get you started on your treatment journey towards straighter, healthier teeth.

Turning daydreams into reality

How often have you been lying on your bed daydreaming about ways to make things in your life more effective? ‘If only I could….’. That’s what one student in the USA was doing back in the 1990s, lying on his bed in his room at Stanford University, wishing he could have had his teeth straightened with braces that snapped on over his teeth like his retainer instead of those uncomfortable bracket and wire braces that made eating so tricky. Then he went out and found the right people to help and invented Invisalign. In Weybridge, Invisalign is now one of our patients’ favourite ways to get their teeth straightened at Weybridge Orthodontics.

Invisalign in WeybridgeAnd you can see why. Zia Chistki and Kelsey Wirth were right when they thought that this style of braces would be a winner. Now, around the world, more than 4 million people have been successfully treated with Invisalign. In Weybridge, you can get a free consultation with us to find out if Invisalign is the right treatment for your alignment issues.

If it is, we will go ahead and make a detailed assessment of your teeth, including taking hundreds of measurements to build up a pinpoint accurate, 3D image of your teeth, which we can then manipulate to show you how your teeth will need to move to reach alignment.

That information goes off to the manufacturers, where they 3D-print 80,000 aligners a day. You will receive a series of aligners that, over the course of a year on average, will straighten your teeth a tiny amount with each aligner. Each aligner takes 7-10 days to do its share of the straightening and you will know when it is time to put in a new one because it will stop feeling uncomfortable and will start to feel like it fits really well.

After your teeth have reached their final destination, treatment with Invisalign in Weybridge means having to wear a retainer for a while to keep your teeth in place while the bone around them hardens. Some patients like to celebrate the end of treatment by getting their teeth whitened.

Upgrade your smile with adult orthodontics in Weybridge

Ever wondered what is the difference between orthodontics for children and orthodontics for adults? As their names already suggest, the former is designed for children, whereas the latter is intended for adults. However, metal braces – which are very popular among children – can also be used by adults. Unfortunately, they are not discreet.

Orthodontics in WeybridgeAt Weybridge Orthodontics, we want to encourage adults to have their teeth straightened and for this reason, we offer adult orthodontics in Weybridge. Incognito and Invisalign are two innovative and popular teeth straightening methods that have been developed to tackle alignment issues prevalent among adults.

Is Invisalign truly invisible?

Invisalign was developed in the 1990s and has become very popular in recent years. A clever type of orthodontics in Weybridge, Invisalign uses invisible aligners that push rather than pull teeth into their correct alignment. Invisalign aligners are made of a very durable plastic material which can sustain all the forces required to help the teeth move. And if you are considering this orthodontic option for your teeth, you will be delighted to find out that Invisalign aligners can be removed whether you wish to eat or brush your teeth. Invisalign has introduced a laid-back attitude to teeth straightening. However, this treatment required a high degree of responsibility and for this reason, it is not an ideal option for children – Invisalign aligners should remain in the patient’s mouth for 20-22 hours per day in order to work as they should.

Subtle teeth straightening with Incognito

Incognito refers to a specific type of lingual braces, which have been trademarked. Just like other types of lingual braces, Incognito orthodontics in Weybridge are attached to the back of the teeth, one by one. Unlike metal braces, Incognito braces are customised to provide more effective treatment. They can treat a wide range of dental problems – from moderately misaligned teeth and bite problems to heavily twisted and rotated teeth. Incognito braces are permanently attached to the teeth and are connected by an archwire, which is equally invisible, helping the teeth move gradually into their correct position over a specific amount of time (12-24 months).

A great solution for tricky teeth

Have you noticed how fewer and fewer people have wonky teeth these days? How are yours? Have you heard about all the great new ways there are to get teeth straightened? Have you also heard that so many of the more discreet ways seem to be designed for people with only mild to moderate misalignment concerns? Great for them, but not so good for you if you’re on the more complex end of the misalignment spectrum.

Incognito in WeybridgeIf you’d like to get your teeth straightened by can’t face the months and months in brackets and wires that seem to be your only option, we have a nifty solution for you. Come and investigate Incognito in Weybridge.

If you have complex alignment issues, you are going to need more than an aligner or a very simple clear bracket and wire brace can handle. Clear aligners can’t, for example, pull down a tooth that has not descended properly, and the more simple bracket and wire devices are designed to work on the front few teeth only.

Incognito in Weybridge

This device can deal with any amount of complex straightening and it does it without anyone knowing you are wearing it. How? By being fixed to the tongue side of the teeth rather than the cheek side. Incognito in Weybridge is what is known as a lingual (tongue side) brace. It still has brackets, but each one is custom-made to go onto the backs on each individual tooth. Each tooth is measured very accurately with a scanner to get the exact dimensions and these are sent off to the manufacturer. Because each bracket is individually made, it takes about 3 weeks to get your braces made. That means there’s quite a long wait between your consultation and coming in to get your braces fitted, but it will be worth it.

Of course, it will take a few days to adjust to wearing Incognito in Weybridge and you may well have to make some brave food choices to keep your device in one piece, but at the end of treatment, it will have so been worth it.

Join us on an Invisalign journey

When you decide to get your teeth straightened, you are making a big commitment. Teeth straightening takes a long time, there is no quick way to get the teeth to change position inside the jawbone. So, if you are going to get your teeth straightened, you want to make sure it’s in a way that you can cope with for the next chunk of your life. One way many of our patients here at Weybridge Orthodontics are choosing is with Invisalign in Weybridge.

Invisalign in WeybridgeWhy so popular?

In Weybridge, Invisalign is proving to be the straightening method of choice for teens and adults alike, and there are 2 good reasons for this.

See-through

Firstly, Invisalign does not obscure the teeth with uncomfortable brackets and wires. Instead, there are pressure points inside smooth, clear plastic mouth guard-like aligners. These go on over the teeth and do not rub against the inside of the cheek. Plus, because they are made of very thin plastic, people are going to have to peer quite hard at you to spot you are wearing them.

This means that you can continue with your daily business, or going to school, without becoming the unwelcome focus of anyone’s attention. All they will see is your teeth somehow becoming magically straighter, millimetre by millimetre over a matter of about a year on average.

Easy eating and cleaning

The other big advantage of choosing Invisalign in Weybridge is that the aligners are removable. You pop them out and store them in their carry-case when you need to eat or drink anything that is not simple water. Then brush your teeth before putting your aligners back in. This is so that the aligners do not become stained and therefore are rendered visible against your teeth.

The hygiene routine is much simpler and quicker than with traditional braces, and yet you will also find yourself cutting out snacks and coffees because you don’t want to have to go through all that cleaning every hour.

You must wear your aligners for 20-22 hours a day to stay on schedule with Invisalign in Weybridge, but don’t worry, with aligners this hard to spot, wearing them couldn’t be less hassle.

Does your child need orthodontics in Weybridge?

What do you want for your children’s teeth? Let’s take a guess. Let’s assume that you want them to be strong and healthy, free from decay and gum disease and last for as long as possible once they reach adulthood. Let’s assume that, given one wish for your children and their teeth, it would be that they never lose any of them. Seems like a tall order, perhaps, but there are some things that you can do to make this wish come true and one of those is invest in orthodontics in Weybridge.

Orthodontics in WeybridgeTreatment with orthodontics in Weybridge happens earlier

Here at Weybridge Orthodontics, we like to see children for an orthodontics evaluation when they are about 7 years old. By this time, their adult teeth are just starting to come through and during an evaluation, we will be able to predict how well the rest of them will align. If we think there is going to be a problem, then we can do something about it while the teeth are coming through. This is earlier than in the past, when children would come for orthodontics in Weybridge once most of their adult teeth were in place.

Treating children earlier, say from the age of 9, means that we can guide the teeth into the correct positions rather than moving them once they have already arrived and settled into their homes.

The other big bonus about your children having orthodontics in Weybridge earlier in life is that the treatment can be done and dusted by the time they hit puberty and appalling self-consciousness sets in. With their teeth already straightened, you can spare them months of anxiety about being stared at, every adolescent’s nightmare.

Discreet braces

Also, depending on the severity of your children’s alignment issues, we may be able to treat them with smaller, more discreet braces that take over their mouths like an invading army.

Discreet braces include those by Six Month Smiles, which treat mild to moderate misalignments on the front 6-8 teeth. So if you have left it a bit late, your teenager can still get their teeth straightened without dying of embarrassment every day for months on end.