Adjustment visits

What happens at each visit

The orthodontist checks progress against the plan, then acts on it. Depending on the stage, that means removing the current archwire and placing the next one in the sequence, adding or repositioning attachments, replacing ligatures, activating a spring or a coil, changing the elastic prescription, repairing anything broken, and checking hygiene and gum condition.

Not every visit involves a new wire. Sometimes the correct action is to leave the same wire working for another interval, because the movement it is producing is not finished. A visit where little changes is not a wasted visit; it is a check that the plan is on track.

Why six to ten weeks

Bone remodelling needs time. Reactivating a wire before the tissue has responded does not accelerate anything, and leaving a wire long after it has expressed its shape wastes weeks. The interval is set to the biology of the stage you are in: early alignment tolerates longer gaps, while detailed finishing and space closure are often checked more frequently.

What missing appointments actually costs

More than people expect. A wire that has finished its work sits passively for however long the delay runs, so a missed visit rescheduled six weeks later can add close to that full interval to treatment. Broken brackets left unrepaired are worse: the affected tooth stops receiving force while the ones either side keep moving, and the correction has to be undone before it can be redone.

Treatment length quoted at the start assumes appointments are kept and elastics are worn. Those two variables account for most of the difference between a case that finishes in eighteen months and the same case finishing in twenty-six.

What to raise at your visit

• Any bracket, band or wire that has felt loose, even if it seems fine now.
• A tooth that has become sensitive to cold or to biting.
• Gums that bleed persistently in one area rather than generally.
• Elastics you have not been managing to wear, honestly. The plan can be adapted; it cannot be adapted around information nobody has.
• Upcoming events — photographs, travel, exams, surgery under anaesthetic.