Can I ask my ortho how much longer I have left?

[SkyIsTheLimit]

I have an appointment coming up next week. I've been in Suresmile braces for four months. Is it rude to ask how long I have left and if my teeth are moving fast or on schedule? Is it rude to ask for a treatment time estimate and progress report?

[Sunny]

Definitely not rude ... you can ask any time how you're progressing and expect an answer. Remember that progress can change between one appointment and the next, that make this treatment time need recalculating ... but you can ask as often as you want.

Remember that fast doesn't mean good, in fact it can mean that you'll have problems with the roots of your teeth and/or retaining the final position. Movement during the alignment phase usually seems to happen fast ... and this is in the early months of treatment. The reason for this, is that it's easy to see, whereas most of the movement is not visual, but can often be found when you're flossing ... like teeth being closer together or further apart, or when you're chewing ... like your bite changing.

Good luck!

[MCOMarkhamOrthodontist]

It's not rude to ask how your treatment progress is going. It's your treatment and you deserve to stay informed about all aspects. However, 4 months into the majority of treatments is not that much time to determine anything, so don't be surprised if your orthodontist isn't really able to give you much of answer. Teeth tend to align relatively rapidly these days with modern archwires. The detailing of your occlusion and closing any spaces may be what takes the majority of the treatment. Generally he/she will let you know as it is getting closer to the time of your debond.

[SkyIsTheLimit]

When can they tell that you're closer to the debond? 2-3 months in advance? As always, thank you guys for your replies

[Sunny]

Most ortho's will have a reasonably idea of how long your type of treatment will take ... and also when you're getting closer to the end. The thing to remember is that your teeth can make unexpected movements ... these may be positive or negative to your end results and may shorten or lengthen the process.

My treatment was supposed to be around three years. During the third year my ortho had to change my treatment plan, due to a few of my teeth not moving as expected. This was the second change, the first due to an impacted canine refusing to move. These couple of changes have meant my treatment time has totally blown out. Frustrating, but I've been told again it will be early next year ... so it's not far away now!