Unless you are a professional hockey player, your teeth are probably a very important part of your life. Whether you’re giving a speech in front of coworkers, hanging with friends and family at a social gathering, or just mucking around town, you want your smile to be as charming as the next person’s. The best way to achieve this is early orthodontic treatment. It’s as simple as calling up your local orthodontic office and scheduling an appointment. If you’re too long in the tooth (pun intended) for early orthodontic treatment, there is still an amazing array of orthodontic options more suitable for the life of an adult.
If you’re getting early orthodontic treatment, your best bet for correcting your smile would probably be to go with traditional or clear braces. Traditional braces are the most common option for youngsters. They are generally more socially acceptable at places like school or on the little league baseball field. Not only that, but children heal a lot faster than adults. This comes in handy since braces tend to cause sores and tiny cuts from the constant contact against the lips and gums. Compared to a lot of the more technologically advanced options, traditional braces are the most inexpensive option. Installing traditional braces involves cementing brackets to each tooth and running a wire through them. The braces simply being there – along with regular appointments with your orthodontic specialist – will not only assist in straightening your teeth and your bite but will also help in correcting your jaw alignment. Clear braces are functionally equivalent to traditional braces, except for the fact that they don’t use metal brackets. Instead, they use composite materials that come in different levels of transparency to make sure that they resemble the color of your teeth as closely as possible. I cannot emphasize enough that, when you go to your local orthodontic office, you need to check with your orthodontist to make sure that traditional braces are right for you.
Let’s get into the orthodontic treatment choices more suitable for the lifestyle of an adult. If you can afford it, lingual braces are a great option for you. They run upwards of $5000 in price, but what you sacrifice monetarily you gain cosmetically. Lingual braces fit on the back of each tooth. Otherwise, they utilize the same technology as traditional braces. Someone would need to attach a video camera to a fly and guide into your mouth if they were going to notice you even had lingual braces! If you decide on lingual braces as your orthodontics option, your orthodontist will take impressions of your teeth and send them to a dental laboratory. Over the next six weeks or so, the lab will create customized brackets for you and send them back to your orthodontist for installation. You’ll have to wear the lingual braces for about 18 to 36 months depending on how overcrowded your teeth are. The great thing about lingual braces is that they’re custom-made, so they will always fit perfectly. Again, check with your local orthodontic office to make sure they offer lingual braces as an orthodontic treatment option if that is what you desire.
Many adults also choose Invisalign as an orthodontic treatment option. They offer Invisalign for kids and Invisalign for teens, but they are definitely more commonly found in the mouths of adults. First of all – as I mentioned before and will mention again – you will have to check with your local orthodontic office to make sure your orthodontic specialist offers Invisalign as an option. Invisalign technology uses clear “trays” that fit over each row of your teeth throughout the course of the day. They are worn for about 20 to 22 hours during the day and are barely noticeable. X-rays, pictures, and impressions are used to create a precise, digital 3-D image of your mouth. Based on the results, your orthodontist will form a personalized orthodontic treatment plan for you. Your orthodontist will actually be able to show you a virtual representation of how your teeth will move when you use Invisalign. The length of treatment for Invisalign is about one year, but it depends on the individual. The BPA-free plastic will decrease the amount of irritation caused to your cheeks and gums, which is one of the things that sets Invisalign apart from all the options involving braces. Every two weeks, you will have to trade out your used trays for new ones.
In the end, you just have to make sure you find the orthodontic treatment option that is best for you or your child. Consult your orthodontic specialist today and get started on the way to a better smile.
