Why Braces? Why an Orthodontist?

Currently you can look everywhere and it seems everyone is wanting to straighten your teeth with braces, Invisalign or the latest fast or super-quick gadget. Before deciding how to straighten your teeth we recommend understanding your own personal orthodontic problem and understanding all advantages and disadvantages of the appliances used to solve your problems. Orthodontics is one of the areas in dentistry recognized by the American Dental Association as a SPECIALTY for the treatment of aligning both jaws and teeth. Orthodontists Dr. Del Toro and Dr. Kimes received additional formal training after dental school learning not only how to straighten teeth but also how the face, jaws, and teeth come together to create your "bite" and SMILE. It is actually rather easy to "straighten" teeth with braces but it is difficult to help maintain straight teeth without properly understanding how the teeth and jaws inter-relate. An orthodontist is specifically trained to accomplish both goals.

For most people, a beautiful smile is the most obvious benefit of orthodontics. A thorough orthodontic treatment plan from an Orthodontist can improve the health of your teeth and gums, and it can also dramatically improve your personal appearance and self-esteem.

How Orthodontic Treatment Works

Orthodontic appliances can be made of metal, ceramic, or plastic. They may be removable or they may be brackets bonded to the teeth. By placing a constant, gentle force in a carefully controlled direction, braces slowly move teeth to a corrected position. This is a great time to wear braces! Gone are the days when a metal band with a bracket was placed around each tooth. While you can choose brackets that are clear or metallic color, our office has selected to primarily to use Damon Braces since we feel in benefits our patients the most. There have also been many advances in the wires used in braces that also allow teeth to move more efficiently and potentially with less discomfort to patients.

Duration of Treatment

Treatment time typically ranges from one to three years, depending on the growth of the patient's mouth and face, the development of the adult set of teeth, and the severity of the problem. Quite often Dr. Del Toro and Dr. Kimes will encourage young patients to wait until quite a few adult teeth have come into the mouth. This will shorten the overall treatment time children have to wear braces. There are many offices that will attempt multiple phases of treatment (PhaseI and PhaseII) but Dr. Del Toro and Dr. Kimes do not always agree that every patient benefits from this type of treatment plan because it can result in an overall longer time in braces and quite often at a higher overall cost to parents. It is clear that although you can straighten the teeth in an 8 or 9 year old child, the results of treatment may not last as that child grows into puberty and the remaining adult teeth start growing into the mouth. Quite often you will need to re-straighten all the teeth once a child becomes a teenager. In addition, multiple phases of treatment require the children to maintain ideal oral hygiene over longer periods of times. If oral hygiene is not ideal, teeth and gums can be harmed. Obviously, there are severe problems that do need to be addressed at a younger age so having an early evaluation is important.