Traditional Braces – Cinco Ranch, TX
Easily Correct Misalignment
For over 100 years, braces have been the go-to way to correct seriously misaligned teeth. A lot has changed about them since way back then, but one thing has remained the same—their ability to give people beautiful smiles!
If you’re interested in easily correcting misalignment in Cinco Ranch, Dr. Q and the rest of the team at Rejuvenate Dentistry are here to help you. Give us a call today and we’ll schedule you for a consultation!
Why Choose Rejuvenate Dentistry For Traditional Braces?
- Modern Dental Office Outfitted With the Latest Dental Technology
- Virtual Smile Design Technology That Can Let You Preview Your Smile
- Dental Insurance Accepted and Flexible Financing Available
How Do Traditional Braces Work?
Misalignment doesn’t just affect how you look; crowding and gaps can affect how well you can chew up your food and make it harder to keep your teeth clean.
Braces work to address these issues by attaching brackets to the teeth, then using a tight archwire to pull these brackets into their proper position, aligning your smile. You’ll need to see Dr. Q every few weeks to have the archwire tightened, and in 12-28 months, you’ll have the perfectly straight smile of your dreams!
What Orthodontic Issues Can Braces Fix?
The first step in your orthodontic journey will be a conversation with Dr. Q to determine whether traditional braces are right for you. There are quite a few things that they can be used to deal with. For example:
Bite Misalignment
Overbites, underbites, and crossbites can all cause serious problems for your long-term oral health. In addition to making eating and talking more difficult, malocclusion can lead to chronic jaw pain.
Braces can be outfitted with small hooks that can connect the lower and upper jaw with a rubber band, pulling them into the correct position over time.
Crowded & Crooked Teeth
As was mentioned previously, crowded teeth can turn dental hygiene into a nightmare. When your teeth overlap, things like flossing regularly become much more difficult, leading to an increased chance of developing gum disease.
Braces can move the teeth into alignment with each other. In some cases, Dr. Q may even remove a small sliver of your enamel to allow teeth to move more easily past each other.
Gapped Teeth
While gapped teeth don’t present that many health concerns, they can be something that can seriously affect someone’s appearance. In the case of large gaps, it’s also possible for the teeth to move around to fill the void, making misalignment worse. Thankfully, braces can easily pull gapped teeth together.
Caring for Your Braces
People are often more nervous about maintaining their braces than they need to be—everyone on our team will be happy to make protecting your braces as easy as possible. Here are just a few things to keep in mind for the duration of your orthodontic treatment.
You’ll have to get used to flossing around brackets and wires. Thankfully, floss threaders and interdental brushes can make this task much easier. You’ll also have to brush your teeth well; if you don’t, you could wind up with unsightly white spots where your brackets were.
You may also have to start avoiding certain foods, like tortilla chips and gummy candy, that could potentially cause you to snap a wire. Finally, you should make sure to keep your follow-up appointments with Dr. Q so that he can check on the condition of your braces.
Traditional Braces FAQs
Braces are one of the dental procedures that people are most familiar with—everyone knows someone who’s had them in the past, and they’ve probably heard stories about what it was like.
However, not everything that you hear about braces is true, and some of them can even cause a considerable amount of confusion. To clear things up, here are answers to some of the questions we get often about braces.
Can I Get Traditional Braces on Just My Top or Bottom Teeth?
If one row of your teeth is more misaligned than another, you may want to get braces on just your top or bottom teeth. While this may be possible in some rare circumstances, it usually isn’t recommended.
When you straighten out crooked teeth, this naturally causes them to move forward in the mouth. On the contrary, aligning gapped teeth will cause them to move backward. If you straighten one row of teeth without the other, the straightened teeth will probably move away from the other ones, meaning that they won’t meet properly.
Developing an underbite or overbite will lead to serious problems with your ability to chew, and can even cause chronic jaw pain. To avoid that risk, it’s typically recommended that you correct both your upper and lower teeth at the same time.
What Can You Not Eat with Traditional Braces?
You’re probably at least somewhat familiar with the fact that braces can come with several dietary restrictions. This is typically done to avoid either serious tooth decay or the possibility of accidentally popping off a bracket.
For the first few days you wear them, it’s typically necessary to adopt a soft food diet while your teeth get used to the orthodontic appliance. After that, however, there are just a few select foods that you’d want to avoid.
You should typically avoid anything hard, chewy, or that could get stuck in your brackets. For example:
- Chips
- Sticky candy, like caramel or chocolate
- Hard cookies
- Tortilla chips or taco shells
- Hard bread
- Popcorn
- Nuts or seeds
You should also avoid chewing on anything that isn’t food: pens, nails, and ice are all a bad idea to chew on.
Am I Too Old to Get Braces?
Lots of people associate braces with a very particular time in their lives, but the truth is that age doesn’t matter when it comes to getting braces. If you’re unhappy with the alignment of your smile, you can use braces no matter how old you are.
However, as an adult your teeth are going to be more strongly held in place, meaning that it’ll take a little bit more time and effort to move them. As a result, braces will take longer to work. You’ll also need to deal with any outstanding oral health problems, like gum disease or tooth decay, before starting treatment.
Finally, it’s worth pointing out that dental plans will typically cover orthodontic care for kids, but may not do the same for adults. If you want orthodontic care, we can talk with you about our financing options that can make braces more affordable.
How Long Do Traditional Braces Take?
Everyone’s smile is different, and there are plenty of factors that can affect how long your braces will take overall. Typically, braces take anywhere between one and three years to completely straighten out your smile. We’ll be able to give you a more specific timeline when we meet you in person.
There are a few considerations we’ll have to make when trying to figure out how long your treatment will take. As you now know, age is one of them. The severity of your misalignment will also play a role, as will how well you take care of your teeth for the duration of treatment.