As you’re getting your child ready to go to school, they flash you a smile. You always love looking at their little face, but something jumps out at you this time…their teeth. They’re noticeably crowded and crooked, and you’re almost certain that they’re going to need braces. After dropping them off, you go to the internet to search for a children’s orthodontist in Westerville. There are more than enough to choose from, but you really don’t know how to figure out which one might be best for your child. Fortunately, you can learn a lot about an orthodontist without having to read pages and pages on their websites. All you need to do is look at their smile gallery, which features before and after pictures of patients they have treated in the past. Just by scrolling through the pictures, you’ll find the answers to 3 important questions when it comes to picking the right doctor for your child. What are they? Learn about them below!
1. Do the smiles past the “eye test”?
Children typically get braces for both health and aesthetic reasons, because having a smile that helps your child feel good about themselves is almost just as important as having a strong and functional one. As you’re looking through a practice’s smile gallery, ask yourself, “Do I like the way the smiles look in the after photos?” If you do, then you know the orthodontist can provide the kind of results you want. If you don’t, then you know to move on.
2. Have they treated smiles like my child’s?
When you’re scrolling through the pictures, can you find a smile that looks like your child’s? One that has the same kind of spacing or crowding? If so, how was the orthodontist able to change it? Do you like the results? This will let you know for certain that A. the orthodontist has experience treating patients with teeth similar to your child’s, and B. you’ll see that they were able to give them a beautiful smile in the end, which is certainly encouraging for both you and your little one!
3. Do they have enough experience?
This question is answered not so much by the quality of the photos in the smile gallery, but the amount. Does the smile gallery only have 2 or 3 sets of photos, or dozens? The more you see, the more experience the orthodontist likely has, letting you know they’ll be more than capable of helping your child.
What To Remember
As you can see, you can learn so much about an orthodontist from their smile gallery without even having to read the rest of their website! If you like what you see and get the answers you want to the questions above, then it’s time to schedule a consultation with that particular orthodontist. From there, it’s only a matter of time before your child flashes a beautifully straight smile at you before each school day.
About the Author
Dr. Jeffrey Shirck is an orthodontist in Westerville who graduated with honors from the Ohio State University College of Dentistry. Today, he and his team at Shirck Orthodontics provide a wide range of smile-transforming services for patients of all ages. To take a look at some of his past work, you can check out his Super Smiles Gallery. If you’re interested in getting your child started with braces, then he invites you to schedule a FREE consultation through his website.