Many adults come to their consultation feeling like they’ve left it too late. Some had braces as teenagers and watched their teeth drift after they stopped wearing retainers. Others never had the chance to get treatment growing up, or they’ve lived with a bite that wears their teeth unevenly and want to address it now.

Teeth can move at any age as long as the gums and bone around them are healthy, so age alone doesn’t rule anyone out. What changes in adulthood is the set of factors we plan around, and we walk through each one with you at your consultation.

Your jaws have finished growing. With young patients, we can sometimes guide jaw growth while it’s still happening. For adults, tooth movement works within the jaw size and position that’s already there, and when the jaws themselves are out of balance, treatment may involve working with an oral surgeon (surgical orthodontics). We’ll tell you plainly whether that applies to you.

Gum and bone health carry more weight. Many adults have fillings, crowns, implants, missing teeth, or some history of gum disease. We check gum and bone levels on your X-rays and take a 3D Conebeam scan when a clearer view of the roots and bone would change the plan. If something needs attention first, we coordinate with your family dentist before treatment starts.

Previous treatment matters. Teeth shifting after braces is common, especially when retainers stopped being worn. We look at how much movement there’s been, what it would take to correct it, and how to hold the result afterward.

We offer braces and clear aligners for adults. For most patients, we lay out more than one path and go through the pros and cons of each for your bite, your teeth, and your daily routine.

• Metal braces. Empower self-ligating metal braces stay fixed in place, so there’s nothing to remember to wear between appointments. They are reliable and tried and true appliances for most cases.
• Clear braces. Empower clear braces are tooth-colored, and LightForce brackets are custom 3D-printed to the shape of each patient’s teeth. Both are less noticeable than metal.
• Clear aligners. Angel Aligner and Spark Clear Aligners for full treatment, and FI Align, our in-house program for adults who only need their front teeth aligned. Aligners are easy to manage. They come out to eat, brush and floss. They need to be worn most of the day to work (20+ hours/day). Our clear aligner options page compares all three.

During active treatment, most patients come in every four to eight weeks for braces and eight to 20+ weeks for aligners. Our office is open Tuesday through Friday from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm, plus alternating Saturdays from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. We use digital scanners in place of impression trays, and for many patients we place all of their braces in one appointment with a custom tray we digitally design and 3D print in our office.

Your first appointment is a free consultation, scheduled for 60 minutes. We take photos, X-rays, and a 3D Conebeam scan when it’s needed, then go through what we found and what each realistic option would involve, including how long it’s likely to take and the investment. If you still have questions at the end of the hour, we keep going. This is your decision, and our job is to make sure you have everything you need to be well informed.

The investment depends on the treatment you choose and what your case needs, so we go over the figure for your case at your consultation. We offer flexible payment plans with no interest. Our office is non-assignment, which means you pay our office directly, and we help with the insurance paperwork so you can be reimbursed by your plan. You can view some examples of typical treatment fees on our Financial Information page.

Dr. Peter Luu completed his orthodontic specialty training at the University of Colorado in 2012, is a past President of the British Columbia Society of Orthodontists, and teaches orthodontics part-time as clinical faculty at UBC. He works alongside our team of administrative personnel and Licensed Orthodontic Assistants at our office on Lougheed Highway in Burnaby.