Gone are the days when braces were nothing more than large, unsightly steel brackets that covered a child’s teeth and often led to him or her earning the nickname “metal mouth.” Orthodontists can help you prevent this.
Gone are the days when braces were nothing more than large,
unsightly steel brackets that covered a child’s teeth and often led to him or her earning the nickname “metal mouth.” Today, an orthodontist can fit any patient from children to adults with braces that will not only correct their teeth, but can also be less noticeable or not visible at all.
Getting braces can be an embarrassing proposition. Children and adults alike are more interested in correcting their smiles than ever, and neither are particularly excited about the hit their appearance will take in the meantime.
Nowadays, however, an orthodontist has more options than ever before for making the correction of your smile as inconspicuous as possible.
As recently as a decade ago, there was one option for correcting one’s overbite or crooked teeth and, very simply, it involved a mouth full of metal. Standard models are made of stainless steel that were attached to each individual tooth and connected with a wire that slowly manipulated the teeth over time.
There is no hiding them either, as they covered nearly the entire tooth and filled an individual’s mouth. If you were unlucky enough to need this type of treatment to correct your chompers, you simply had to grin and bear it.
Today’s orthodontist doesn’t have to be quite so cruel to your good looks. Over the past several years a number of more discreet forms of the brace have been developed. This has led to orthodontics expanding beyond its usual clientele of young children, as adults have become more comfortable with the prospects of correcting their teeth.
Clear braces are a popular alternative that are made of plastic or a ceramic material that blend in with the natural color of the tooth, making them less noticeable. The wiring and ties that connect each one are also colored white to make them indistinguishable from even a modest distance.
Even more popular are lingual braces that attach to the back of the teeth and are unable to be seen by others. They attach and operate the same way as their traditional counterparts without any of the cosmetic disadvantages.
For those who aren’t opposed to the idea of showing off a mouth full of steel when they smile, gold-plated braces are also made and offer a unique look that suits the tastes of many better than the traditional silver appearance. These are also utilized for patients allergic to nickel.
A newer product on the market is the aligner, which can be available through an orthodontist for modest cases of tooth correction. These slide over the tooth almost as a cover and slowly guide them into alignment over time. The downside is that they must be removed to eat and the individual must brush his or her teeth after each meal prior to putting them back in.
Whatever your thoughts may be about perfecting your smile, nobody can lay out your options and provide you with the pros and cons of each one better than your orthodontist. It’s his or her job to make sure your experience with braces leaves you smiling.
