Orthodontic treatment is a sequence, not an event: a diagnostic first visit, records, a bonding appointment, months of adjustments, the day the braces come off, and a retention phase that — truthfully — never quite ends. Every treatment page on this site opens with this timeline and lights the stage you're reading about.
The shape of it
A first visit is an examination and a conversation, free of charge, that ends with a real answer about whether treatment is warranted and when. If it is, records follow — photographs, a scan, and the radiographs we need to see roots and unerupted teeth — and a written plan comes back with a sequence, an estimated duration and a fee. Bonding takes about ninety minutes. Adjustments run every six to eight weeks for anywhere from twelve to thirty months depending on the case. Debond day is the shortest appointment and the one everyone remembers. Then retainers, nightly, indefinitely.
Anyone who quotes you a treatment length before seeing radiographs is estimating. We'll give you a range at the consultation and a firm plan once the records are in.
A closer look at each stage
Consult. Free; about an hour; records taken before any recommendation; every option priced side by side. For a seven-year-old, forty minutes and usually a recall date. Records. Photographs, a scan, a panoramic X-ray, a profile X-ray for bite cases and children — the raw material of a plan that's designed rather than guessed. Bond. Ninety painless minutes, then a soft-food week. Adjust. The long middle: a visit every six to eight weeks, alignment first, bite work with elastics in the second half, detailing at the end. Debond. An hour, no pain, the mirror moment, retainers scanned. Retain. Nightly, indefinitely, included in the fee, checked through the first year — the stage that never quite ends, and the one that makes everything before it permanent.
How the stages differ for aligners
Same six nodes, different hardware. "Bond" becomes delivery day — attachments placed, first trays fitted. "Adjust" becomes tray changes at home every one to two weeks with a check every six to ten, and one refinement scan partway. Debond becomes attachment removal. Retention is identical. The wire timeline on every page lights the same node either way, because the journey is the same journey.
Frequently asked questions about the treatment process
How many appointments does braces treatment involve?
About twenty over a comprehensive case: bond day, twelve to sixteen adjustments, a repair or two, debond, and retention checks.
How long is each appointment?
Adjustments fifteen to twenty-five minutes; aligner checks ten; bond day ninety; debond an hour.
Can I pause treatment?
Safely for a few months on a passive wire — for a semester away, say. Not safely with a broken one. Tell us the dates.
What if I move mid-treatment?
Records transfer to an orthodontist near your new home; the fee is prorated. It's routine.
Do I keep seeing my dentist?
Yes — cleanings every six months, more important with brackets. We coordinate.
Misconceptions we correct most often
“Treatment ends at debond.”
Debond ends the active phase. Retention is the phase that makes it permanent, and it doesn't end.
“Adjustments tighten the braces.”
They change or re-tension the wire so it keeps delivering light force. Tightening would slow movement, not speed it.
“A longer treatment means something went wrong.”
Usually it means a complex case, missed elastics or breakages. The fee doesn't change; the plan finishes.
What Coquitlam families search for, answered
“What to expect when getting braces”
Ninety painless minutes, a sore week, a six-to-eight-week rhythm, and a debond day you'll remember. Bond day and the first week.
“Braces timeline month by month”
Alignment by month four, the working middle to twelve, bite correction and detailing after. Month by month.
“How do braces work?”
Light continuous force makes bone remodel around the roots — about a millimetre a month. The science.
A closer look: the consultation, minute by minute
Ten minutes of listening — why you came, what you noticed, what you'd want. Fifteen minutes of records: photographs, a scan, a panoramic X-ray, a profile X-ray for bite cases and children. Ten minutes of examination: teeth, bite, jaw joints, an airway screen. Twenty minutes with the images on the screen: what we see, whether it's the teeth or the jaws, what happens if nothing is done, and every option with its downside, priced. Then your questions, for as long as you have them. You leave with a written plan or a recall date and no pressure. For a seven-year-old, the same shape in forty minutes, usually ending with a sticker.
What families tell us afterwards
That the sore week was shorter than they feared. That adjustments were quicker than they expected. That the middle months felt slow and then suddenly weren't. That the elastics were the hard part. That debond day was a family event. And that the retainer routine, once it became a habit, was two minutes a night for a result they'd have paid for twice. None of that is marketing; it's the shape of most treatments, and we'd rather you knew it going in.
Before you go
Read bond day and the first week for the start, month by month for the middle, and retainers for the part that never ends. Then book — the first node is free.