About Surrey Braces: a treatment guide, not a clinic

What this site is for

The domain has been online since 2010. Between 2016 and 2021 it served as the website of Guildford Orthodontic Centre itself, and in 2021 it became a small collection of articles about braces and Invisalign. In 2026 it was rebuilt around one purpose: explaining what treatment is like before, during and after care, in enough practical detail that a family can plan a school year around it.

The guides are deliberately appliance-neutral and provider-neutral in their advice. What you can eat with braces, how to handle a poking wire, how many hours an aligner needs to be in, and how long a retainer is worn are the same whoever treats you. Where a fact is specific to the recommended clinic (its hours, its retainer protocol, what its first visit includes), the guide says so.

The Treatment Map

Every guide belongs to one of five stages. The stages are a navigation aid, not a rule about how treatment goes; plenty of people arrive at this site at Live It with a bracket in their hand.

How the guides are written and checked

Guides are drafted by the SurreyBraces.com editorial team and assigned to a named clinical reviewer, Dr. Aly Kanani or Dr. Aida Mesbahi, both Certified Specialists in Orthodontics at Guildford Orthodontic Centre. A guide shows its reviewer, and the review status, in the block at the end of the page. Until a reviewer has signed off, the block says so plainly. Load-bearing clinical claims carry references, and where the evidence is weak or mixed the guide says that rather than rounding up. The editorial policy and clinical review policy describe the process in full.

How we think about early treatment and airway

Earlier versions of this page described a "two-phase approach" starting at age five and promised fewer extractions and less surgery. That language has been retired. The current position is simpler. The Canadian Association of Orthodontists and the American Association of Orthodontists suggest a first orthodontic check by about age seven, because some problems (crossbites, severely prominent front teeth, habits affecting growth, teeth erupting in the wrong place) are easier to address while the jaws are growing. Most children checked at seven need no treatment yet; the visit establishes a baseline and a plan to watch. When early treatment is recommended, it should come with a stated goal, an expected duration and an honest note about what it may and may not save later.

A note on airway and sleep. Orthodontists assess growth, jaws, bite, arches and habits. Physicians diagnose medical sleep and airway disorders, and orthodontic treatment is not a treatment for sleep apnea, snoring, mouth breathing or attention difficulties. Where a growth pattern or habit may be relevant to breathing, a good assessment says so and suggests a medical referral rather than promising an outcome. For the national evidence summary, see AirwayOrthodontics.ca.

What this site will not do

• It will not claim that any appliance is faster, painless or perfect. Earlier versions of the site carried a "40% faster" banner; it has been removed because no approved evidence supports it as a general claim.
• It will not describe SurreyBraces.com as a practice with locations. The publication has no locations; the recommended clinic has one, in Guildford.
• It will not publish reviews, testimonials or patient stories that cannot be verified and consented.
• It will not publish fee ranges unless the clinic approves dated figures. Guides explain what drives cost instead.

Who it is written for

Families and adults in Guildford, Fraser Heights, Fleetwood, Surrey City Centre and Whalley, Newton, West Newton, East Newton, Panorama Ridge, Sullivan Heights, Strawberry Hill and Chimney Heights. Readers elsewhere are welcome; the practical guidance travels well.