Dental braces help straighten and align teeth for an enhanced appearance and improved dental health. The most common dental braces are made of metal and link the teeth together with an arch wire. Most recently, lingual braces and clear dental aligners are gaining popularity. Besides cosmetic benefits, braces can also help prevent dental including gum and bone loss, tooth decay, and jaw pain. With an aligned bite and straightened teeth, patients often chew and speak better.
Dental braces work by applying constant tension on the teeth which gradually moves and straightens them out. Dentists first glue the metal brackets onto each tooth and run a wire through them to hold them in place. The wire applies pressure onto each tooth and is tightened and adjusted every 4-8 weeks throughout the treatment. In some cases, orthodontists may recommend 1 to 4 teeth extractions if the mouth is overcrowded. Applying the braces, brackets, and wire can take up to 2 hours. Dentists use silver, gold, ceramic or clear brackets. Patients may experience soreness in the first week of wearing braces and tightening wires. Doctors may also supply wax to apply to the wires if they scrape the inner cheek or gums. Patients sometimes receive rubber bands to clasp on the top and bottom brackets to realign the bite. The rubber bands are usually always worn and should be changed 3-4 times a day.
Flossing and cleaning are vital when wearing braces. Good home care habits help remove any built-up plaque around the brackets and prevent tooth decay. Some foods may be harder to consume when wearing braces. The orthodontist provides a list of braces-friendly foods that you can eat.
While each patient has a different treatment length, the average time for wearing braces is 18 to 22 months. But more complex cases can take 3 years or more.
Braces-removal can take 1 hour and should be relatively painless with some gum inflammation that will subside in a week. Patients need to wear retainers to keep the new bite in place. Retainers should be worn full-time for the first six months to a year. After this period, patients can transition to wearing them at night. Another retainer option is a permanent retainer. This involves metal wires attached to the back of the teeth that need replacing only a few times.
