Your First Visit

Welcome

Each member of our staff is highly trained to assist in your orthodontic experience. Every time you walk through our doors, you will be greeted with warm smiles and gracious courtesy. Our top priority is to provide you with the highest quality of orthodontic care possible in a friendly, comfortable environment.

Drs. Weiss and Luccarelli make the treatment process easy and convenient and we try very hard to get to know each of our patients personally.

Complimentary Initial Consultation

It would be our pleasure to see you for a complimentary consultation. When you call, our staff will assist you in scheduling an appointment with Dr. Weiss or Dr. Luccarelli. During this visit, we will help you get acquainted with our office and learn about your orthodontic treatment. We understand that each patient's treatment is different, and we promise to give you the personal attention you deserve. Your first visit will consist of an examination and a discussion of our clinical findings. This important visit will address your orthodontic needs, potential treatment options, length of treatment, costs, and the proper time to begin treatment.

Your initial consultation should take about one hour. Dr. Weiss or Dr. Luccarelli will discuss any orthodontic problems they find during the examination, and they will discuss treatment options with you. Financial and insurance details will also be discussed.

The initial consultation is an opportunity for relationship building, and it is our goal that you leave this appointment feeling knowledgeable, comfortable and confident about your upcoming orthodontic experience.

Clinical Exam

Dr. Weiss or Dr. Luccarelli will identify and thoroughly discuss any existing or developing orthodontic problems. It is our goal that you leave this appointment feeling comfortable, confident, and knowledgeable about your future orthodontic experience.

Financial Consultation

During the initial consultation, you can meet with a member of our office staff to discuss the treatment fees and appointment scheduling.

Our staff will be happy to discuss your financial options, including insurance coverage. Dr. Weiss, Dr. Luccarelli and their staff will do everything possible to work within your budget.

Patient Questionnaire

We want to get to know all of our patients from the moment they walk through our doors. After a warm, personal greeting, we will ask you to fill out a new patient questionnaire that will provide us with the information we will need to establish you as one of our patients. The questionnaire is easy to fill out and won't take long. We will be happy to assist you in completing it.

Insurance

Our office will gladly assist you in filing your orthodontic insurance, and can assist you in several ways to maximize your benefit. We make insurance filing a breeze. Please verify with your dental insurance carrier that you have orthodontic coverage and the dollar amount of the coverage. If you do not have orthodontic coverage, we will work with you to develop a financial plan to fit your budget.

First Appointment

Now that you've decided to undergo orthodontic treatment, there are several procedures that are completed during your first few appointments:

Treatment Orientation: A member of our clinical staff will discuss every aspect of your orthodontic treatment process and care, including the types of orthodontic appliances, hygiene, emergencies, etc.
Thorough Clinical Exam: Dr. Weiss or Dr. Luccarelli will review the specific orthodontic treatment with you, and they will go over all aspects of your care.

We make the treatment process easy for the patient and family, and tailor the process for each patient.

Records

During a records appointment, we thoroughly document a patient's occlusion (bite), overall dental condition, and the relationship between their teeth and their skeletal structure. With this information, a complete and comprehensive orthodontic treatment plan will be formulated.

Diagnostic records consist of:

Clinical examination by Dr. Weiss or Dr. Luccarelli
An X-ray of the patient's head (cephalogram)
An X-ray of the patient's jaws and teeth (panorex)
Facial photographs
Intraoral photographs
Impressions of the teeth

These orthodontic records are used to diagnose and plan the orthodontic procedures needed for each individual patient.

To ensure that patients receive the lowest possible exposure to X-ray radiation, we use state-of-the-art X-ray instrumentation and capture images on the highest speed X-ray film available, resulting in the minimum exposure time possible. To further minimize exposure, we also cover each patient with a lead apron.

Cephalogram: The cephalogram details the patient's dental occlusion (bite) and the relationship between the occlusion and their skeletal structure. It is a full skull X-ray of a patient's profile. Overlaying the cephalogram, Dr. Weiss and Dr. Luccarelli will create a cephalometric tracing in which they will make different measurements, both linear and angular, to determine the position of the jaws and teeth. They can then determine the appropriate orthodontic treatment plan that will result in the most attractive and functional facial harmony.
Panoramic X-Rays: The panoramic X-ray is a single X-ray that details all of a patient's teeth and their relationship to each other. You can think of it as the X-ray equivalent of smiling ear to ear. This is an important image that will help the doctors determine the appropriate treatment required.
Facial and Intraoral Photography: With digital photography, we fully document each new patient's pre-treatment facial and intraoral condition. We repeat this procedure at the end of treatment in order to prepare pre-treatment and post-treatment photos.

Impressions For Study Models: Plaster casts from impressions create a lasting record that is not only beneficial in determining and providing the appropriate treatment, but also a tremendous before and after tool that dramatically reminds patients of the progress they've made toward the desired end result.