Who’s who in an orthodontic clinic

What can you expect from members of the team at The London Lingual Orthodontic Clinic? In two words, a lot! Dr Asif Chatoo explains the different roles in an orthodontic practice and provides a Who’s Who of the LLOC team.

The orthodontist

Dr Asif Chatoo is the founder of the clinic. He is the lead clinician as well as the manager. It’s important to note that he is a specialist in his field and so it is always Dr Chatoo who is responsible for patient care as well as the training of his team members.

All patients start with an in-depth consultation with Dr Chatoo to discuss their needs and wishes. This will include scans of the inside of your mouth so that Dr Chatoo can demonstrate how your teeth will move and discuss the fine details with you. This will be followed by a report from Dr Chatoo which sets out the discussions you have had with him as well as the options for treatment.

Treatment is initiated after Dr Chatoo has placed the brackets and braces – or provided you with your aligner trays! As your journey unfolds, you will find other members of the team become familiar to you.

The receptionist

Maria Lopez Leon joined the team a year ago and holds everything together ‘front of house.’ She is most likely to be found answering the phone, messaging appointment reminders, typing up reports, letters and invoices and dealing with administrative matters. Thanks to Maria, the reception area is tidy and organised and daily papers and monthly magazines laid out for patients to enjoy and water and coffee available. On the front desk, she is supported by other members of the team, so she can take breaks during the day, but essentially Maria is your first port of call!

The treatment co-ordinator

This is a role for someone who understands orthodontics in fine detail and is also sympathetic to the concerns of patients. Renata is the friendly treatment co-ordinator and ever ready to explain treatment options as well as her own experience of being in braces.

When she first joined the practice, Renata worked as an orthodontic nurse. From time to time she can still step in and carry out that role. However, she is mostly at the front desk and at the ready to greet new patients wanting a free introductory consultation to learn more about treatments at the clinic.

The orthodontic nurse

The LLOC team have two orthodontic nurses on staff, Yasmin Siris and Austeje Norkute. If you have visited the practice, you will see they are always busy. At the chairside they are indispensable to Dr Chatoo, passing him whatever he needs in order to keep appointments swift and seamless.

Between appointments they prepare the surgery, carrying out cross infection control, which ensures everything you touch or which touches you is sterile. This involves wiping everything down, bringing in newly sterilised equipment and placing new coverings on all parts of the dental chair, which need to be moved or touched. It is the orthodontic nurses who carry out the ‘records’ appointment after which treatment is initiated.

When they are not busy looking after patients, the orthodontic nurses are preparing for appointments by lining up brackets and wires in readiness for appointments, ordering supplies and keeping all the equipment flowing through the sterilisation room. At the end of treatment, it is the orthodontic nurse who will explain how to care for your braces and how to adapt them to your diet.

The hygienist

Keeping your teeth and gums in tip-top condition while you are having orthodontic treatment is extremely important. Whether you wear braces or aligners, they can become food traps leading to a build-up of plaque on your teeth which risks weakening tooth enamel.

Very few orthodontic practices have a hygienist, the London Lingual Orthodontic Clinic is one of the exceptions. This is because Dr Chatoo believes so strongly in optimum hygiene for his patients. He makes it possible for patients to have a joint appointment where he will take off a patient’s wires so they can see the hygienist, Gosia Pol, then after their hygiene appointment they can go back to Dr Chatoo and have new wires placed.

The cosmetic dentist

At the end of orthodontic treatment, patients sometimes have small concerns about their teeth which they want to improve. Training in cosmetic dentistry allows dentists to improve the shape and colour of teeth. Dr Sandra Garcia Martin has undertaken extensive training in cosmetic dentistry and is available to patients who want some aesthetic fine-tuning to their smile.

Summary

Everyone at the clinic has a defined role but all support each other too. Only Dr Chatoo can carry out the diagnosis and treatment planning but otherwise, the whole team share in the routine everyday tasks and play a part inpatient care, which is of supreme importance to the life of the London Lingual Orthodontic Clinic.