Wedding, job interview, career move — why now is the right moment

The most common sentence our patients say

"I should have started ten years ago."

We hear this sentence several times a week — at the final review, at retainer fittings, sometimes after the third aligner. It's never too late, but it's also never too early.

If you're thinking about correcting your teeth right now, there are two answers: now is always a good moment, because treatment doesn't get easier with each month of waiting. But there are life phases where the therapy fits especially elegantly.

A wedding ahead — why 8–10 months before is the sweet spot

A wedding is one of the most common motives that brings patients to us. Understandable: photos for eternity, a moment where the smile is centre stage.

The math is simple:

• Easy package (10 aligners, ~4 months): start at latest 6 months before the wedding so you smile aligner-free on the big day and the bonded retainer wire behind the front teeth is long routine.
• Sensitive package (20 aligners, ~8 months): start at latest 10 months before.

Plus a buffer for caries treatment or hygiene if needed. Realistically: one year lead time for more extensive corrections.

Pro tip: if you're aiming for the wedding-photo smile, many patients combine the aligner therapy with bleaching at the end. Order: first finish aligners, then bleach. Bleaching works better on already-aligned teeth.

Career move or new position

Maybe you're facing a job change, a promotion, a first board appearance, a wave of interviews. Teeth are an under-estimated factor in such phases — not because others consciously look, but because you care about your impact and negotiate differently with confidence.

An aligner therapy fits in elegantly:

• You're visible at work — aligners are unobtrusive, other methods aren't.
• You speak a lot — adaptation is under a week.
• You eat out — aligners come out before lunch, back in after brushing.

Only practical tip: start best a few weeks before important negotiation phases — so the day-1 days with unfamiliar mouth feel don't land right when you pitch to 30 people.

Parental leave or sabbatical

An often overlooked phase. Anyone out of the job for a few months — parental leave, part-time, sabbatical, study break — has two advantages:

• More routine at home — aligners are easier to wear consistently in a structured daily rhythm (breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner) than in travel stress.
• More visibility at home rather than at work — many find the home environment more relaxed for the first weeks with aligners.

We treat many patients during their parental leave — and they're often the ones with the most reliable wear time.

Studies or apprenticeship

If you're currently studying, in an apprenticeship or in vocational training — and money is tight — two points:

• The 36-month instalment works for young people too, because we don't do a hard credit check. Example: €44 per month for easy, 1 jaw.
• You start now with the result and pay over three years — that spreads the cost across the phase where you're often entering work life and earning more.

In short: those who don't have the cash lump sum still get straight teeth today.

When nothing in particular is "triggering" you

Maybe nothing big is going on right now — no wedding, no new job, no date in the calendar. Then that itself is a good moment, because the therapy runs without pressure. You have time for adaptation, can take treatment at your own pace, no deadline ticking in the background.

Many of our most relaxed treatments were ones where patients started simply for themselves — without an external deadline.

What you could do today

If anything in this post resonated: the simplest first step is a free consultation. 45 minutes. You leave without obligation but with a 3D preview of your possible smile and an honest assessment of cost and duration.

Most of our patients say in hindsight: the hardest step was booking that appointment. Everything else went easier than expected.

What you probably shouldn't do

Wait "until I have time". Aligners are far less effort in daily life than most expect. Anyone waiting years lives years with the thought in their head — and that's heavier than the treatment itself.

Practice Herrengasse 6–8, 1010 Vienna. We look forward to you.