Who should straighten
your teeth?
Here is the honest answer.

Every orthodontist is a dentist first. After dental school an orthodontist completes about three more years of full-time university training and registers as a specialist. A dentist looks after your overall oral health: check-ups, cleaning, fillings, gum health. A specialist orthodontist does one thing all day: diagnosing and correcting the position of teeth and jaws.

Because the result depends on the diagnosis, not the appliance. A dentist can legally fit braces or aligners, and for a simple cosmetic case that can work well. For anything involving the bite, jaw growth, complex movements, teeth stuck under the gum or a plan that is hard to undo, the specialist's extra training is what you are paying for. A specialist also knows what to do when a case does not go to plan.

Keep seeing your dentist for regular check-ups. For a first orthodontic check we recommend a specialist around age seven, when the first adult teeth are through. Most children need nothing done yet, but it is the best time to catch the few problems that are simpler to guide early, such as crossbites, very crowded teeth, thumb sucking habits and jaw growth differences.

Front teeth that stick out, a lower jaw that sits ahead of or well behind the top teeth, teeth that do not meet when biting, crowding or big gaps, adult teeth coming through in the wrong place, baby teeth lost very early or very late, mouth breathing, thumb or finger sucking past age five, and jaw clicking or shifting. Any one of these is worth a free check.

Dentists check teeth and gums at every visit and will often notice that teeth are crowded or a bite is off, but a full orthodontic assessment is a specialist examination: photographs, a panoramic and side-profile x-ray, a 3D scan of the teeth, and a diagnosis of how the teeth, jaws and face fit together. At Milk that is the $390 New Patient Consultation, done by the specialist.

A dental check-up looks at the health of each tooth and the gums. An orthodontic assessment looks at how the teeth and jaws fit together, how they are growing, and whether straightening or bite correction would help now or later. It ends with a written plan and an exact quote rather than a clean and a filling.

Bite problems (overbite, underbite, crossbite, open bite, deep bite), jaw growth differences in children, impacted or missing teeth that need space made or closed, severe crowding needing expansion or extractions, and cases that need coordination with an oral surgeon. Dentists refer these to a specialist.

Around age seven for a first look, because jaw growth can still be guided while a child is growing. Most treatment for teenagers starts between 11 and 14 once the adult teeth are through. Adults can be assessed at any age; it is never too late.

Your dentist stays your dentist throughout and keeps doing check-ups and cleans. We write to them at the start and end of treatment and whenever something needs their input, such as a filling before braces go on or a crown afterwards. For jaw surgery cases we plan jointly with an oral and maxillofacial surgeon.

No. In New Zealand you can book directly with a specialist orthodontist. Many of our patients come on a friend's recommendation or straight from a Google search. If you have a dentist we are happy to keep them in the loop.

Not always. The biggest driver of cost is how complex the case is and how long it takes, not the sign on the door. At Milk fees are all-inclusive and quoted in writing: simple cosmetic treatment from $7,900 and comprehensive specialist treatment from $9,900, most cases around $10,400, with interest-free plans around $60 to $76 a week.