What to Know When You’re Considering Braces

Children, teens, and adults wear braces. The time in life that you choose to straighten your teeth may vary, but you have plenty of options. Whether you want braces for a confidence boost or you need them to treat jaw misalignment or headaches, you can find an option that works with your budget, lifestyle, and health needs.

Metal: These traditional braces let you achieve the alignment your teeth need and lastingly change your smile. You need to wear rubber bands with them to help the teeth hold the position. These come in various sizes and colors. To achieve a festive look, you can match the rubber bands to the team colors of your favorite sports team.

Ceramic: These white ceramic braces use the same essential style as metal braces but blend with the color of your teeth. This makes them harder to notice and simpler to integrate into your current look.

Lingual brackets: You can go the stealth route and have the dentist put on the back of your teeth. These brackets face your tongue and only you will know you wear them. The dentist threads wire through the brackets that pull your teeth into alignment.

Clear aligners: The well-known brand Invisalign provides just one of the choices among the plastic aligners you can find at https://www.coortho.com/. These types of braces slide over your teeth and re-align them. As your teeth move, you receive new aligners. Each set is custom-fitted and custom-made. They cost less and provide a more stealthy way to straighten teeth, but they can take longer.

Not every option works for each situation. You need to talk to your dentist and undergo a dental exam before you can start with any of these options. Although you can mail order plastic aligners, these do it yourself kits are not a good option. You could waste your money and do harm to your jaw and teeth rather than helping the situation. Even though you can order them yourself, clear aligners you receive through your dentist’s office work best. The dental staff measures your mouth, takes a cast of your teeth, and takes X-rays of them. Plastic options do not work with severe misalignments. Those situations require metal or lingual braces.

Prepare yourself for a long hall if you waited until adulthood to get fitted with braces. The best ages for braces range from 10 to 15 years old. Teeth move more slowly as we age, so it will take an adult with braces longer for the teeth to realign.