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Following the news that Smile Direct Club has shut down, Emma Laing discusses the truth behind the business, from non-disclosure agreements to illegal treatment. When I had the TV on a few months ago while making dinner, I was stopped in my tracks by a glossy advert promising me beautiful straight teeth at a very…
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Exploring the history of orthodontics, Emma Laing discusses its major evolution over the past 25 years and how her workflow has adapted to these changes. Dentistry is celebrating 25 years. For me, this is poignant as this year marks 25 years since I started dental school at the University of Bristol. So, it is also…
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Emma Laing discusses the difficulties she is having sending materials abroad and the delays she is experiencing getting materials back post Brexit. A change of scene It is holiday season and I feel very lucky this month to actually leave the UK for a break in France to see my family. I was entirely reticent…
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With international travel so unpredictable, Emma Laing explores the fallout of this on her patient diary and how time management has become more important than ever. Wimbledon starts this week. So as per British summer tradition we have torrential rain; a frustrating period when we are restricted from travel readily but all in need of…
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Emma Laing considers the latest GDC guidance on direct-to-consumer orthodontics and what it means for dentistry. In my column last month, I discussed direct-to-consumer braces. We’ve seen the 2021 ‘Zoom boom’ demand for Orthodontics, coupled with a shift to online purchasing for just about everything since the pandemic. Yet this worrying trend to purchasing clinical…
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Emma Laing discusses the direct-to-consumer orthodontic boom and encourages clinicians to highlight possible dangers to patients. We are in so much of a better position now; the vaccination programme is flying, shops are open and we have finally had some vitamin D. We’re all now sitting outside cafes and enjoying this recent beautiful chilly sunshine.…
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As patients look to restart ‘normal’ life, Emma Laing explores what they’ve missed and the ortho treatments that can resume. There are a lot of positives we can take home at the moment. The ‘road map’ targets to date have been achieved, vaccines are rolling out at a staggering rate, and the UK for once…
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With lockdown slowly lifting, the days getting longer and patients heading back to dental practices, Emma Laing feels there’s reason to stay positive. But with a recession and rising unemployment rates, will the optimism last? Spring is most certainly in the air. After what has seemed the longest and toughest winter for many years, it…
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Emma Laing reflects on how this lockdown is impacting her flow of patients into the practice and the effect it is having on everybody’s mental health. Reflecting on lockdown The French novelist Jean-Baptiste Karr wrote in 1849 the epigram: ‘Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose’. This translates as: ‘The more it changes, the…
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Emma Laing explains how the current lockdowns are creating some unique patient requests and treatment options. The winter ‘normality’ I am writing this on the day that I was meant to be at Lapland UK with my kids. In August my four-year old son reminded me it wasn’t long until Christmas, and persuaded me there…
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As we enter the final quarter of 2020, Emma Laing explains how she is taking control of her business model and remaining optimistic about the future. It’s that week of the year where the clocks change, children are on half term, we carve pumpkins, the nights draw in and we start seeing fireworks. Late autumn…
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With tighter COVID restrictions on the horizon, Emma Laing explores how she will keep her orthodontic patients ticking over. Where we are now? I write this after watching the news strongly indicating that a second lockdown is coming to England in the near future. Whether or not this happens I feel there is certainly an…
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With predictions of a second COVID-19 wave, Emma Laing explains how she’s preparing and prioritising her orthodontic treatments. All hands on deck For me, July was a period of adaptation to this new way of work. Dealing with patients’ pressing concerns and treatment after the pandemic took precedence. I was immersed in protocols and procedures.…
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Emma Laing talks about what life in orthodontics has been like since she’s returned to the practice and started seeing patients. Life back at work Last month when I was writing, it was just ahead of me resuming clinical work after the pandemic. It’s great to be back and, in a way, it’s been energising…
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In her first monthly column for Dentistry Online, Emma Laing explains how the COVID-19 lockdown will change orthodontics for the better. Welcome to my new monthly column that I am delighted to have been asked to deliver. Like many orthodontists I closely follow the dental news on Dentistry Online and its associated publications. I am…
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Emma Laing describes a case where she treated a skeletal class II division one malocclusion with a small retrusive mandible and chin. Introduction The majority of patients I see for treatment have malocclusions we can treat well within the realms of conventional orthodontics, whether with fixed appliances or aligners. A few patients will however have…
