Coquitlam · Port Moody · Port Coquitlam · Burke Mountain
Coquitlam Orthodontist: Braces & Invisalign, Explained by the Specialists
Choosing an orthodontist in Coquitlam, explained by two of them. We are the specialists at myORTHODONTIST Coquitlam, and this site is our answer to a fair question: how is a family supposed to compare orthodontic clinics when every website says the same thing? Our answer is to publish the criteria — what the credentials mean, what treatment should cost here, what a proper consultation includes — and invite you to hold every clinic to them. Including ours.
Why we wrote the evaluation criteria down
Orthodontic treatment is a two-year relationship and a five-figure decision, and most families make it after two short consultations and a lot of near-identical marketing. We think the profession owes people something better than adjectives. A parent should be able to check a registration in two minutes, know whether a quote is complete, and tell the difference between a diagnostic appointment and a sales appointment.
So we've written all of that down. It is the standard we hold ourselves to, and we'd rather you compare us against it than against a brochure. Our page on dentists and orthodontists explains how the professions work together; our twelve questions are the ones we'd want our own families to ask.
The three things to verify before you commit
Credentials
Is the orthodontist a registered specialist?
What “Certified Specialist in Orthodontics” means in BC, and how to check the register in two minutes.
Money
Is the quote complete?
Real Coquitlam price ranges, what the fee must include, and how families actually pay.
The visit
Was it a diagnosis or a pitch?
What a thorough consultation contains — records first, options with trade-offs, no same-day pressure.
What's actually wrong, and what fixes it
Most people arrive with a word — overbite, crowding, a canine that never came down — and a recommendation they'd like to understand before they accept it. Our conditions section takes each common diagnosis and explains the options side by side, who they suit, when timing matters more than the appliance, and the moments when a second opinion is simply good sense. The page on impacted canines is the strongest argument we know for the age-seven check; the page on crowding is where the extraction question gets an honest airing.
By age, and by neighbourhood
Ages 5–11
Early orthodontics
What the age-7 check is for, what genuinely warrants Phase 1, and when waiting wins.
Ages 12–18
Teen orthodontics
Making the call with your teenager, not for them.
Adults
Adult orthodontics
Relapse fixes, discreet options, and the honest caveats.
Service area
Port Moody
Options, travel time, and the criteria that don't change at the city line.
Service area
Port Coquitlam
Ten minutes up Lougheed — and the easiest place to comparison-shop.
Service area
Burke Mountain
A neighbourhood full of seven-year-olds, and one date to calendar.
Our part of the bargain
Two certified specialists — Dr. Alireza Haerian Ardekani and Dr. Aly Kanani — with registrations you can look up. Free consultations, including free monitoring visits for children who should be watched rather than treated. Every option we offer compared honestly, including the cheaper one. Written fees that include retainers. And close teamwork with your family dentist, who remains the quarterback of your oral health throughout. How we practise →
How this site is different from a clinic website
A clinic website exists to persuade you. This one exists to make you harder to persuade — by anyone, including us. Every page is built around a question a family actually asks in the chair, answered the way we'd answer it if the family were our own: what the words mean, what the options are, what each one costs and includes, when timing matters more than technique, and when a second opinion is simply sensible. We've put our own numbers on the cost pages, our own answers on the questions page, and our own philosophy on the growth pages, labelled as ours. If you finish reading and choose another orthodontist in Coquitlam, we'd consider the site to have worked.
Three sections do most of the work. Choosing an orthodontist is for comparing clinics. Conditions is for understanding a diagnosis. Costs and coverage is for the money. Parents of young children should start with early orthodontics, because that's where our strongest convictions live.
Where we stand on the questions that divide orthodontists
On early treatment: we believe in guiding jaw growth when the pattern is skeletal, and we say no to appliances for children whose jaws are developing well. On aligners versus braces: we fit both, so the case decides. On TMJ: sometimes the bite is the problem, often it isn't, and we won't promise more than the diagnosis supports. On jaw surgery: it's the honest answer for some adults and the avoidable answer for many children seen early. On retainers: nights, forever, and included in the fee. You'll find each of these argued, not just asserted, on its own page.
Questions Coquitlam families ask before their first visit
Do I need a referral from my dentist to see an orthodontist in Coquitlam?
No. In BC you can book a specialist consultation directly, and ours is free. Your dentist remains the quarterback of your oral health and we coordinate with them throughout; many of our patients arrive by referral, and many book directly. More on referrals.
What age should my child first see an orthodontist?
Around seven. Most children need nothing yet and leave with a free recall date; a minority benefit from guiding growth while it's still possible. Why seven.
How much do braces cost in Coquitlam?
At our practice, comprehensive braces typically run $6,000–$8,500 and Invisalign $4,500–$8,500, in writing, with retainers included. The cost guides.
Is Invisalign better than braces?
Neither is better; each suits different cases. We fit both and price both, so the case — not the inventory — decides. How we decide.
Are you the only good orthodontist in Coquitlam?
No, and we don't claim to be. The Tri-Cities have several credible specialist practices. This site gives you the criteria to compare us with any of them fairly — starting with twelve questions.
A closer look: what a family learns from the first hour
The most useful thing a first consultation produces isn't a quote. It's a sentence you didn't have before: "the upper jaw is narrow and that's why the teeth are crowded," or "the lower jaw sits back and that's why the front teeth stick out," or "the jaws are fine and this is just teeth, which we can straighten any time." Once a family has that sentence, everything else — appliance, timing, cost — follows logically, and any clinic's recommendation can be tested against it. That's why we insist on records before opinions, and why we show you the X-rays rather than describing them. We'd like every Coquitlam family to leave a consultation — ours or anyone's — able to say that sentence about their own child.
What the next two years look like, honestly
For a comprehensive case: a ninety-minute bonding or fitting visit, then fifteen to twenty appointments of fifteen to twenty-five minutes each, roughly every six to eight weeks, mostly after school or on Saturdays. A sore week at the start and a tender few days after each visit. Some food rules with braces, a wear-time rule with aligners. A few calls about a poking wire or a lost tray, answered the same day. A debond appointment that everyone remembers. Then retainers, nightly, for good, with checks through the first year. It's a real commitment of a family's time, which is why we say the clinic you choose should be one you'd be happy to visit twenty times — and why we've built our hours, location and parking around exactly that.
Misconceptions we correct most often
“Straight teeth are the goal.”
A stable, functional bite is the goal; straight teeth are usually a consequence. Plans that chase alignment alone often relapse or wear.
“Orthodontics is for teenagers.”
A quarter of our patients are adults, and the highest-leverage work is often done at nine, before the teeth are straightened at all.
“All clinics offer the same thing.”
They offer similar appliances and different judgement. The judgement is what you're choosing.
What Coquitlam families search for, answered
“Best orthodontist in Coquitlam” — is there an answer?
Not a single one. There are several credible specialist practices in the Tri-Cities, and the best for your family depends on the case, the philosophy and the logistics. What this site gives you is the criteria to compare them fairly — the credential check, the consultation audit, the quote comparison — so that “best” becomes a decision you made rather than a search result you trusted.
“Orthodontist near me that takes my insurance” — how does that work?
Almost every specialist practice, ours included, accepts every plan, because orthodontic benefits are paid to you or direct-billed on your behalf rather than negotiated with the clinic. The question isn't whether a clinic takes your insurance; it's how much your plan pays and whether the clinic direct-bills so you only pay your share. We do.
“Free orthodontic consultation Coquitlam” — is it genuinely free?
At our practice, yes: the examination, the records including X-rays, and a written plan, with no obligation and no follow-up pressure. Most Tri-Cities specialists offer the same. If a clinic charges for the first visit, that's worth noting.
Put the criteria to work
Bring this site's checklist to our consultation. We'll pass it.
A first visit with us is free and takes about an hour: records, an examination by a certified specialist, every option explained with its trade-offs, and a written fee that includes your retainers. If the honest answer is "not yet" — for a seven-year-old, that's the usual answer — you'll hear it, and we'll see you again when the timing is right.
1158 The High Street, Unit 106
Coquitlam, BC V3B 0C6
(604) 949-0654
Coquitlam Centre · underground parking off Atlantic Ave