Finding The Right Orthodontic Treatment
Your son or daughter has reached that age when you need to have a talk. You’ve seen the signs coming, but you can’t put it off any longer.
You all need to prepare for orthodontic care.
His or her baby teeth have been gone for a while, and at this point, it’s easy to see the alignment problems that are affecting your child — sorry, your young adult.
At Beaumont Family Dentistry, we first want to make sure the orthodontics that our patients receive is going to be effective. After evaluating your teen’s teeth, we may recommend a specific kind of treatment, or we may explain a couple options that could straighten his or her teeth.
No matter what kind of orthodontics you need, you can take comfort knowing that we help patients throughout Central Kentucky at our three dentist offices in Lexington.
What Is Orthodontics?
Orthodontics is one aspect of dentistry. Dentists who specialize in diagnosing, preventing, and correcting bite problems are called orthodontists. However, it’s important to note that any dentist can provide orthodontic care and treatment.
In our office, we offer a variety of orthodontic treatments. Regardless of your teenagers’ bite issues, we have solutions to fix it.
Some common problems that are treated with orthodontics are:
- Crooked teeth
- Crowded teeth
- Gapped teeth
- Crossbites
- Overbites
- Underbites
It’s not unusual for a patient to have a combination of alignment issues, but no need to worry. Orthodontics can fix them all at the same time.
Traditional Orthodontics
Metal braces are the most widely used form of orthodontic treatment. No matter how severe the problem may be, braces will work.
Traditional braces use metal brackets, which are attached to your child’s teeth, and wires, which connect the brackets together. Some braces also use ligatures (small rubber bands) to assist with pushing and pulling your teen’s teeth into a straighter position.
Some teens are self-conscious about having “metal mouth.” One way we can help with that is with clear ceramic braces. These are similar to traditional braces. The difference is that that brackets are made of a ceramic material that blends in more closely with your son or daughter’s teeth.
Speed Is Key
“Speed” in this case is a relative term.
Traditional braces often take around two years to completely straighten your teen’s teeth. In some cases, it takes longer; others can finish in a little less time.
We know that some patients just want to get the treatment over as soon as possible. If you are one of those patients, you may want to look into Fastbraces®.
They are exactly what their name implies, braces that work faster.
Fastbraces® are different than traditional braces because of the shape of their brackets. All braces use brackets that are attached to your teeth.
Traditional braces used rectangular brackets. This helps them move the crowns of your teeth and the roots of your teeth in separate stages of treatment.
Fastbraces® use a triangular bracket. This allows them to move your crowns and roots simultaneously, which speeds up the process.
In many cases, you can get the same results in about half the time that it would take with traditional braces.
Discretion Is Key
Being a teenager is already difficult, and wearing braces can make some people self-conscious. Those patients may want to try Invisalign, instead.
Invisalign uses clear, plastic aligners rather than brackets and wires. Compared to braces, the aligners are hardly noticeable, and some people may not know that your son or daughter is wearing them.
Invisalign aligners should be worn for at least 22 hours each day. Your teen can take them out for up to two hours per day, which is plenty of time to eat meals and to brush and floss his or her teeth.
With Invisalign, your teen will change aligners every two weeks or so. With each aligner change, his or her teeth will be that much closer to being straight.
This kind of treatment takes about a year, although it could be longer or shorter depending on your teen’s issues and how disciplined he or she is about wearing the aligners.
Talk To Us
Before we start any orthodontic treatment, we first need to examine your teenager’s teeth. Then we can talk to you about what options could work for his or her teeth.
To make an appointment, call the Beaumont Family Dentistry office in Lexington that is closest to you, or follow the link for that office to schedule your visit online.