Meet Dr Erfan Salloum: Specialist Orthodontist at ISCD Dublin
Last reviewed: August 2026
Choosing an orthodontist, or deciding where to send a complex case, comes down to one clinician’s training, judgement and range. This profile introduces Dr Erfan Salloum, Specialist Orthodontist at the Institute of Specialist and Cosmetic Dentistry (ISCD) in Dublin’s IFSC and the lingual orthodontics lead at the practice. For patients, it sets out who would be planning and carrying out your treatment. For referring dentists, it sets out the qualifications, appliance range and clinical interests behind the cases we accept.
Who is Dr Erfan Salloum?
Dr Erfan Salloum is a Specialist Orthodontist registered with the Dental Council of Ireland, providing orthodontic treatment for children, adolescents and adults, with a particular interest in complex and multidisciplinary cases.
He graduated in dentistry in 2008 and treats across the full range of contemporary appliances: fixed metal and ceramic braces, clear aligners, customised lingual braces, skeletal anchorage using temporary anchorage devices, maxillary expansion, and the orthodontic phases of orthognathic surgery cases. He is the orthodontist at ISCD who treats with lingual appliances.
Orthodontics is one of only two dental specialties recognised on the Dental Council of Ireland’s Register of Dental Specialists, the other being Oral Surgery. Entry to that register requires completion of recognised specialist training, which is what separates a specialist orthodontist from a general dentist who has completed a manufacturer’s aligner course — a distinction we set out in more detail in our guide to choosing the right orthodontic specialist.
What are Dr Salloum’s qualifications and credentials?
Dr Salloum holds a Doctorate in Clinical Orthodontics from University College Cork, a Master’s Degree in Lingual Orthodontics from the University of Padova, and Membership and Fellowship qualifications from all four Royal Surgical Colleges of Ireland, England, Scotland and Glasgow.
His full post-nominals are BDS, PGCert(Orth), DClinDent(Orth), MsLing(Orth), MFD RCSI, MFDS RCPSG, MOrth RCSEd, FFD(Orth) RCSI, MOrth RCSEng, FDS RCSEng, FDS RCPSG.
The Padova Master’s was completed under Professor Dirk Wiechmann, the developer of the WIN customised lingual appliance system. That is a meaningful detail rather than a decorative one: lingual orthodontics is a small enough field internationally that formal training under the clinician who designed the appliance is uncommon, and it is the basis of the lingual service at ISCD.
He also holds European distinctions across the three principal fields of contemporary orthodontics:
- Diplomate of the European Board of Orthodontics (EBO) — comprehensive orthodontics
- Diplomate of the European Board of Aligner Orthodontics (EBAO) — clear aligner orthodontics
- Titular Member of the European Society of Lingual Orthodontics (ESLO)
- Active Member of the World Society of Lingual Orthodontics (WSLO)
He is one of a small number of orthodontists in Ireland holding European distinctions across all three of comprehensive, aligner and lingual orthodontics.
What does Dr Salloum treat that a general dentist does not?
The cases referred to him are those where the appliance choice is not obvious, where the skeletal pattern rather than the teeth is the problem, or where orthodontics is one part of a plan involving other specialists.
In practice that means skeletal discrepancies requiring orthodontic preparation for jaw surgery, severe crowding and impactions, cases needing skeletal anchorage where conventional mechanics would move the wrong teeth, maxillary expansion in growing patients, and adult cases where periodontal support or existing restorative work constrains what can be moved and how quickly.
It also means cases where a general dentist has begun aligner treatment and the result has not tracked as the software predicted. That is a common and entirely retrievable referral, and it is better made early than late.
What does the evidence say about the appliances he uses?
A retrospective cohort of 200 adults assessed with American Board of Orthodontics indices found no significant difference in finished case quality between lingual and labial fixed appliances, though lingual treatment took significantly longer.
Nguyen and colleagues (2026, PubMed 41790284) compared four groups of 50 — lingual and labial, extraction and non-extraction. Mean ABO scores ranged from 15.7 to 17.3 and every case finished at or below the 25-point threshold, with no significant effect of appliance type after adjustment. Treatment duration, however, was significantly longer with lingual appliances (P = 0.003). Because the study is retrospective and observational, the honest reading is that lingual appliances achieve comparable outcomes — not that they are equally fast.
The trade-off patients ask about most is speech. A PROSPERO-registered systematic review of 35 studies and 2,611 adults concluded that lingual appliances have a persistent impact on speech, despite some adaptability (Johal and colleagues, 2025, PubMed 41464384). The same review found that the broader deterioration in oral-health-related quality of life during orthodontic treatment appears temporary. The lingual arm was the smallest in that review at 218 patients, so the precision is limited — but the direction is clear and patients are told it before they commit, not afterwards.
For clear aligners, a systematic review of 8 studies and 706 participants found no statistically significant difference in outcomes against fixed braces for mild to moderate cases, with aligners completing treatment an average of 6.31 months faster, while performing less well for controlling torque, transverse expansion and precise occlusal contacts (Ke and colleagues, 2019). That last clause is why appliance selection is a clinical decision rather than a preference: the cases aligners handle less predictably are exactly the ones a specialist is asked to assess.
Why does the airway and growth interest matter?
Dr Salloum has a particular clinical interest in the relationship between orthodontics, airway health, craniofacial growth and sleep-disordered breathing, and works with ENT surgeons, oral and maxillofacial surgeons, restorative dentists and sleep physicians where a case calls for it.
This matters most in growing patients, where the timing of intervention interacts with facial growth, and in adults where a skeletal pattern has consequences beyond the appearance of the teeth. It is also the clearest illustration of how he works: identify the underlying cause of the orthodontic problem rather than treating its visible expression, and involve the other specialties early where the cause sits outside orthodontics.
Digital treatment planning, intraoral scanning and CBCT imaging are used routinely, which matters for lingual and aligner cases in particular, since both are manufactured from the digital plan.
What happens at a first orthodontic assessment?
A specialist orthodontic assessment is a diagnostic appointment, not a sales appointment. It produces a diagnosis, a set of records and a written plan setting out the options, their trade-offs and a specific fee.
The appointment covers the patient’s own concern in their own words, a clinical examination of the teeth, occlusion, periodontal condition and facial pattern, and the radiographs or scans the case requires. Where the skeletal relationship or an unerupted tooth is central to the problem, CBCT imaging gives the three-dimensional position that a conventional radiograph cannot.
Patients frequently arrive expecting a single recommendation and leave with two or three defensible options at different costs and durations. That is the intended outcome. Where more than one appliance would produce an acceptable result, the choice properly belongs to the patient once the trade-offs have been explained; where only one appliance will produce an acceptable result, saying so plainly is the more useful answer.
How does Dr Salloum work with the other specialists at ISCD?
Multidisciplinary cases are the clearest argument for a specialist institute rather than a single-discipline practice, because the orthodontic phase and the surgical or restorative phase are planned together from the outset.
The recurring combinations are these. Impacted canines, where the orthodontist plans the traction and the oral surgeon exposes the tooth — a case that fails when the exposure is designed without reference to the direction the tooth will be pulled. Orthognathic cases, where the orthodontist prepares and decompensates the arches before jaw surgery and finishes afterwards; ISCD co-ordinates the orthodontic phases of these cases rather than performing the jaw surgery itself. Adult treatment on reduced periodontal support, where the periodontist stabilises the tissues before any force is applied and monitors throughout. And pre-restorative orthodontics, where teeth are positioned to create the space and angulation that crowns, veneers or implants will need.
In each of those, the failure mode is the same: a phase planned in isolation constrains the phase that follows it. Having the disciplines under one roof is what removes that.
What is Dr Salloum’s approach to treatment planning?
His stated philosophy is to identify and treat the underlying cause of the orthodontic problem while optimising facial aesthetics, function and long-term stability, combining biological principles with digital planning.
Two practical consequences follow. The first is that the face, not only the teeth, sets the target — which is why a case that could be resolved quickly by extracting and retracting is sometimes better served by expansion or by surgery, depending on what it does to the profile. The second is that stability is treated as part of the result rather than as an afterthought: retention is planned at the outset and discussed before treatment begins, because relapse is the most common long-term disappointment in orthodontics and the least often anticipated at the consent stage.
What does treatment with Dr Salloum cost?
A specialist orthodontic assessment at ISCD is €150. Published orthodontic fees are fixed metal or ceramic braces at €1,250 to €3,500 per arch, Invisalign at €2,500 to €3,500 per case, and interceptive treatment for children from €600.
Lingual appliances are quoted individually rather than carried on the published price list, because each appliance is custom-manufactured to the patient’s own tooth anatomy and the laboratory element varies with the number of teeth involved and the complexity of the movement.
We do not discount orthodontic treatment and we do not offer free consultations. The assessment is a clinical appointment with a registered specialist — records, diagnosis and a written plan — and it is charged as one. A fuller breakdown is set out in our guide to Invisalign costs in Dublin.
How do dentists refer a patient to Dr Salloum?
ISCD accepts direct orthodontic referrals from general dental practitioners, and the referring practice keeps the patient for their routine and restorative care throughout.
A referral is most useful with recent radiographs, a note of the patient’s chief concern in their own words, the medical history, and any restorative intentions for the case — particularly where crowns, veneers or implants are planned, since the orthodontic finish has to deliver the space and angulation those restorations need. Where a case is jointly managed with oral surgery or periodontics, that co-ordination happens within ISCD rather than across separate practices; the wider team is set out in our specialist team profile.
Patients may also arrange a consultation directly, without a referral.
Frequently asked questions about Dr Erfan Salloum
Is Dr Erfan Salloum a registered specialist orthodontist?
Yes. Dr Salloum is a Specialist Orthodontist registered with the Dental Council of Ireland. Orthodontics is one of only two dental specialties recognised on the Council’s Register of Dental Specialists, alongside Oral Surgery.
What are Dr Salloum’s qualifications?
A Doctorate in Clinical Orthodontics (DClinDent) from University College Cork, a Master’s Degree in Lingual Orthodontics from the University of Padova, and Membership and Fellowship qualifications from all four Royal Surgical Colleges of Ireland, England, Scotland and Glasgow. He is a Diplomate of both the European Board of Orthodontics and the European Board of Aligner Orthodontics.
Does Dr Salloum treat with lingual braces?
Yes. He is the orthodontist at ISCD who provides customised lingual appliances, and he holds a Master’s Degree in Lingual Orthodontics from the University of Padova, completed under Professor Dirk Wiechmann, developer of the WIN lingual system.
Does Dr Salloum see children as well as adults?
Yes. He treats children, adolescents and adults, including interceptive treatment in growing patients and maxillary expansion where the upper arch is narrow.
Do I need a referral to see Dr Salloum?
No. ISCD welcomes referrals from general dental practitioners and other specialists, and patients are also welcome to arrange a consultation directly. Bringing any recent radiographs from your own dentist is helpful.
Arrange a specialist orthodontic consultation in Dublin
Dr Erfan Salloum consults at ISCD in Dublin 1. You can read more about the practice’s specialist orthodontics service, the lingual braces he leads, and Invisalign treatment at the clinic. The full clinical team is introduced on our our story page.
Institute of Specialist and Cosmetic Dentistry
4 NCI, Lower Mayor Street, IFSC, Dublin 1, D01 R7W7
Telephone: (01) 504 2065
Email: info@iscd.ie
Web: Specialist orthodontics at ISCD
Further reading: Invisalign vs braces compared · adult braces beyond metal brackets · braces for teenagers