A flawless smile oozes confidence, while a flawed and misaligned one lowers your confidence. Therefore, if you have crooked, gapped, crowded, or misaligned teeth, you must undergo orthodontic treatment to fix the flaws and restore confidence. Agoura Hills Advanced Dentistry provides quality orthodontic services using the latest technology and equipment to restore proper tooth alignment, promote oral hygiene, and prevent severe oral concerns.
Metal Braces Definition
Otherwise called the standard or traditional braces, metal braces are a kind of orthodontic treatment that corrects oral concerns like crooked, crowded, misaligned, and protruding teeth. They are glued to the teeth with a special glue and connected through wires. Once they are attached, you visit the dentist to readjust the cables to apply extra and constant pressure on the teeth to gradually move them towards the desired position to restore a flawless smile. Your orthodontist recommends braces depending on the severity of your malocclusion
If your bite problems are severe, the dentist cannot use clear aligners because these are for mild bite issues. They will recommend metal braces.
Metal braces have been the best orthodontic treatment for crooked or crowded teeth for decades. They are affordable and give orthodontists the freedom to control the movement of teeth to the desired position. With your dentist having high control over the brace, they can adjust the appliances to fix severe malocclusion or bite problems. Besides, they treat a wide range of bite problems; hence, they are suitable for all age groups.
However, despite the effectiveness and affordability of the treatment, many patients do not prefer metal braces as they are noticeable through the mouth, making them conspicuous for people who want to keep the treatment confidential.
The Reason You Need Metal Braces
Maintaining clean teeth when you suffer from bite issues like crowded, crooked, or misaligned teeth becomes extremely challenging, as the brush and floss do not reach certain areas of the teeth and the gums, allowing food debris and plaque to form on the teeth. These enable the growth of harmful bacteria in the mouth, which produce deposits that cause a sticky, thick layer called tartar. The infection by the bacteria can cause gum disease, tooth decay, and, in severe cases, tooth loss. Severe malocclusion can cause speech and bite issues. Protruding teeth interfere with how the upper and lower jaws meet, causing jaw problems as you constantly attempt to adjust the jaw to prevent the teeth from crashing. Jaw misalignment is also linked with throbbing headaches and neck pains.
So, maintaining properly aligned teeth is crucial in observing good oral hygiene and preventing many oral concerns associated with malocclusions. There is a tested and proven orthodontic treatment called metal braces for fixing misalignment problems. If you want to improve your smile and avoid oral issues like decay, gum disease, and tooth loss when you have bite problems, consider using braces. The treatment will restore your teeth and jaw to the desired position, making it easy to brush and floss. That way, you can prevent many dental problems. If you have malocclusions, overcrowded teeth, or crooked teeth, you should know that there is an affordable and effective way to fix the problem, known as standard braces.
Considering the procedure? You want to know if you are eligible. Braces are available for people of all ages and treat many dental problems. Visit your orthodontist for an oral evaluation to establish your candidacy for the treatment.
Causes for Bite Issues
Bite problems are the primary reasons you may require an orthodontic procedure like metal braces. Therefore, before seeking treatment, it is wise to establish the source of your bite problem to prevent recurrence.
One common cause of malocclusion is a small mouth. If the space in your mouth is restricted, you will have overcrowded teeth as the permanent teeth compete for the limited space.
Similarly, you could develop these dental problems because of bad oral habits. Many people with gapped or overcrowded teeth develop these problems because of genetic predisposition. The disease is passed down from the parent to the child. However, for others, these problems develop due to poor oral habits like tongue thrusting in children, where the child constantly pushes the tongue against the front teeth, causing them to protrude and causing open bite issues and, in advanced cases, jawbone misalignment. Habits like thumb sucking can also lead to bite issues.
Also, your bite issues could stem from excess or insufficient teeth in the oral cavity. Permanent teeth can pop in excess in some patients; in others, they may not protrude. This could lead to a situation where one has excessive or fewer teeth, causing bite issues. Additionally, untimely loss of milk teeth or facial trauma can cause tooth loss.
Again, your bite problems could be stemming from a misaligned jawbone. These affect your chewing and speech. Besides, they could lead to additional oral problems like bruxism.
Lastly, bad muscular functional habits like thumb sucking in children or adults can cause malocclusion. Thumb sucking causes the tongue to thrust against the front teeth, applying steady pressure that causes the teeth to protrude, leading to bite problems.
Best Age to Receive Metal Braces Treatment
Bite issues like gapped, overcrowded, or crooked teeth are mostly passed down from parents to children. Nevertheless, some problems stem from poor muscular functional behaviors like thumb sucking, lip wedging, premature tooth loss or trauma, or breathing through the mouth due to allergies or adenoids. These problems manifest between the ages of six and twelve, when the child is losing milk teeth and developing the permanent ones.
So, your child can qualify for orthodontic treatment using metal braces from six to fourteen years old. This is the time the treatment is most effective. Also, the child’s orthodontist can track the growth of teeth and jawbones, identify any problems that arise early, and craft the right treatment to address them.
Children are not the only candidates for braces. Adults can undergo the treatment to fix bite issues. They undergo the same procedure as children, but the treatment could require additional procedures to attain the desired results, as the jawbone is fully developed. In children, the treatment is highly effective, as the jawbone structure is still growing, making it easy for the teeth to shift with little force. So, in adults, the orthodontist can combine braces with treatments like tooth extraction or maxillofacial surgery.
Metal Braces Components
Traditional braces apply steady pressure on the teeth to gradually shift or move them to the desired position to improve tooth functionality and appearance. As the teeth are moved to the right position, the shape of the jawbone structure changes to accommodate the teeth. The components that give braces the strength to apply constant pressure on the teeth, last long, and resist corrosion are:
Metallic Brackets
Brackets refer to the small square devices that attach or are secured to the front of the teeth utilizing a special adhesive or are attached to orthodontic bands. They act as handles to retain the adjusted archwires, enabling the teeth to shift. Brackets in standard braces are made of stainless steel. Chromium is usually added to deter degeneration, and manganese to prevent corrosion.
Modern brackets are available in various colors and shapes, enabling you to pick your preferred option for holding the archwires in place. Besides, they are smaller and can be attached to the rear teeth to reduce visibility.
Orthodontic Bands
Otherwise called orthodontic ligatures or rubber bands, orthodontic rubber bands are elastics wrapped around the teeth to provide anchorage or foundation for the attachment of brackets. They hold the archwires together within the metallic bracket. Rubber bands or elastics are not utilized on all patients; some use brackets only. If they are to be used in your procedure, the dentist will give you a wide range of colors.
Metallic Archwires
The archwires used in standard braces are metallic and made of stainless steel. They attach to the metallic brackets to retain them and apply steady pressure to cause the teeth to move towards the desired position. Archwires are highly flexible and maintain their shape throughout the treatment. Wherever you go for an appointment, the dentist tightens the wires to apply extra pressure on the teeth. The force the wires apply to the teeth depends on the width. If you want the teeth to shift significantly, your dentist will use thick wires as they apply rigorous pressure on the teeth, causing them to shift considerably over a short duration.
Metal Braces Procedure
Standard braces treatment involves three crucial stages: oral examination, active treatment, and adjustments.
- Preparation for Installation
Your orthodontic treatment starts with a thorough dental examination by your dentist. You can notice the bite problems and visit the dentist, or the dentist can identify the symptoms during routine checkups. After determining the problem, your dentist will refer you to an orthodontist. Many malocclusions are discovered during adolescence, and the issues become prominent as the permanent teeth protrude. If your child complains of these bite problems, your dentist could advise you to wait until the first permanent teeth pops to start the treatment.
A child between 6 and 14 years old can install braces. The treatment is highly effective at this stage because the facial bones are still developing, enabling teeth to shift easily. Nevertheless, it should not mean traditional braces are only for teens. Adults can use the treatment to address various oral problems, although additional treatments like maxillofacial surgery or extraction could be necessary to complement the treatment and achieve the desired outcome.
Preparations for the braces procedure entail a detailed dental examination. Your dentist will comprehensively examine your mouth, teeth, and jaws for signs of bite problems.
The dental specialist will also order a panoramic X-ray to establish the biting position of your teeth in all the jaws and whether the teeth are still growing in the jaw. Besides, the dentist can suggest a head x-ray to establish the size of the jawbone, its position, and how it relates to the teeth. The x-ray images are three-dimensional, so they give the orthodontist an accurate picture of the position of the teeth.
Also, the dental expert will ask you to bite on a soft material for a while to obtain a dental cast or plaster model to evaluate your occlusion and identify problems.
If the problem is tooth overcrowding, the dentist will extract some teeth to create room for others to fit comfortably. Cleaning becomes easy with proper tooth spacing in the mouth, enabling you to maintain proper dental health. An additional procedure you could require to complement the braces is surgery, depending on the severity of your orthodontic concern.
After the evaluation, your dentist will craft a tailored treatment plan to address your bite issue using braces.
- Active Treatment
The next step of the procedure after dental examination is active treatment, which lasts up to 36 months. The treatment starts with bonding the metallic brackets on the front surface of the teeth. However, the dentist polishes the tooth before bonding the brackets to ensure proper bonding. After polishing, the dental expert uses a conditioner on the front tooth surface for half a minute to prepare these surfaces for bonding.
The conditioner is washed off, and the surface is air-dried before an adhesive primer is applied to enhance the bonding.
A special cement or bonding material is then applied to the back of the small metallic bracket and placed on the tooth surface at a predetermined position. Once the bracket attaches to the tooth surface, the dentist wipes away the excess cement and utilizes UV light to harden the cement. The dentist repeats this on all the teeth.
After the brackets are in place, the dentist removes the retractor and passes the archwire through them until they reach the molars, where an electronic tube is welded to offer anchorage. The dentist uses the molars to support the wires because these have multiple roots, providing stable support. The brackets firmly retain the wires and adjust occasionally to apply more pressure on the teeth and shift them to the desired position.
No matter the pressure the dentist exerts on the archwires, the brackets ensure they pull simultaneously and are secured by the tube placed on the molars. When the dentist exerts pressure on the wires, they tighten and put pressure on the teeth, gradually pushing them to their rightful position, taking up to 36 months.
Placement of braces takes approximately 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the time it takes the dentist to position the various components of the braces to the desired position.
- Braces Adjustment
After the braces are attached, you will undergo regular adjustments as the elastic bands holding the archwires in place loosen with time, reducing the stretch your teeth need to shift. Without regular adjustments, the wires will not exert the steady pressure required for the teeth to change position.
In the adjustment appointment, the dentist reviews the treatment progress by checking the distance the teeth have moved. If the shifting is unexpected, the dentist can change the treatment plan to ensure the outcome is obtained within the expected timeline.
It takes at least three weeks for teeth to shift. The duration varies depending on several factors, so your dental expert will schedule an adjustment between three and ten weeks.
The dentist removes the orthodontic bands retaining the wires in the adjustment appointment. They then remove the cables to brush and floss the teeth. Besides, they check the treatment progress and suggest new rubber bands and metallic archwires. The new components help with the continued gradual shifting of teeth.
After the adjustment, the wires become tight, and you could experience soreness, but this should disappear within six hours of the appointment. The tightness of the wires on the teeth causes soreness. Luckily, you can relieve the pain through over-the-counter painkillers.
Maintaining Braces
Once braces are installed, you should observe good oral hygiene and steer clear of particular foods, especially the sticky ones, because they stick under the braces, increasing the risk of treatment failure.
Braces Removal
After the teeth shift to the rightful position, you will return to the dentist for removal. However, you must return for another appointment after two weeks to place removable or fixed retainers. These orthodontic devices are used during the retention stage or after the removal of braces to stabilize the teeth in the new position and prevent them from shifting back to where they were before commencing treatment.
You should wear the retainer full-time in the first six weeks. After this period, you can wear the device only at night. You will wear the devices for the duration the dentist recommends or indefinitely if you wish to.
The success of the orthodontic treatment depends a lot on you. Therefore, to achieve results, you must adhere to the orthodontist’s instructions during and after treatment, especially when wearing retainers.
Find a Reputable Orthodontic Service Near Me
One popular way to restore your tooth functionality and smile’s beauty after an orthodontic problem is with metal braces. These are effective and affordable treatments, but you must find the right orthodontist or orthodontic service for a successful procedure. At Agoura Hills Advanced Dentistry, we have invested in modern tools and braces components to ensure a successful treatment. Call us today at 818-878-7300 for a no-obligation consultation or to learn more about metal braces and their alternatives.