Traditional Metal Braces | Richmond Virginia Orthodontics

If you suffer from misaligned teeth, you face a crisis of confidence every time you look in the mirror or smile in public. Such a condition can also burden you with health problems that range from gum disease to jaw pain. At Richmond Virginia Orthodontics, we can deal with this issue by offering an advanced take on traditional braces called Invisalign to patients in Midlothian and Richmond.

Traditional Metal Braces

Teeth form the foundation of a smile and appear when you open your mouth to talk or eat. If they are crowded, crooked, gapped, or ill-fitting, the typical fix for a child or an adult would require braces. Traditional braces use stainless steel appliances and wires around teeth to gently move them into the correct position over time.

While extremely effective, metal braces also flash an unnatural silver when you reveal your teeth, which can affect your appearance and the way you think about yourself in public. They may cause temporary pain when they’re first installed, and the metal may irritate or damage the inner cheeks, lips, or tongue. These braces remain permanently on your teeth for about one to three years. When you finish treatment, you’ll need to wear retainers that prevent your teeth from moving back to their previous positions.

Braces demand that you avoid specific sticky or crunchy foods, such as caramels, gum, nuts, apples, carrots, and pizza crust. Cleaning your teeth becomes more challenging because you have to thoroughly ensure that no bits of food remain stuck in your braces to cause tooth decay and reduce oral health. You also have to visit our office every four to six weeks so we can monitor your progress and deal with any potential problems.

Other Types of Traditional Braces

If metal braces aren’t suitable, we can also prescribe other types of traditional braces.

  • Ceramic braces, sometimes called clear braces, use wires and brackets that assume the color of teeth, making the appliance less noticeable. However, because the material is more fragile, it is prone to break more easily than its metal counterpart.
  • Lingual braces, also known as hidden braces or tongue-tie braces, have the same components as traditional metals but have brackets that attach to the back of the teeth, making them invisible from the front of your face.
  • Self-litigating braces, which are made from either metal or ceramic, use spring-loaded mechanisms to hold the wires in place, producing less friction. They don’t take as much time as metal braces to correct tooth problems, are easier to clean, and allow for more time between appointments.
  • Mini braces are 30 percent smaller than traditional braces, making them more comfortable, less likely to cause discomfort, and easier to keep clean. They are less visible when you open your mouth and may speed up treatment times.

Invisalign

To call Invisalign new slightly exaggerates how recent it is because it’s been around long enough to improve the smiles of over 6 million individuals, including 1.4 million teens. This advanced process involves putting a tray of aligners made out of clear and flexible plastic over your teeth to straighten them. Each tray is custom-made for your mouth and is worn for about one-to-two weeks before being replaced by another set.

Advantages of Invisalign

Invisalign addresses many orthodontic issues, including misaligned or crowded teeth, overbites, underbites, and crossbites. Because it is clear, it is practically invisible, having no impact on your smile or your confidence. The thermoplastic material is precisely tailored to the contours of your mouth, eliminating irritation of your gums and the scratching of hard metal on your cheeks.

You can remove Invisalign, which prevents it from affecting the way you brush your teeth, floss, drink, and eat. Food that would easily cause problems with metal braces becomes irrelevant as long as you remove the aligners before eating. In other words, you can continue to enjoy sticky and crunchy favorites in the same way that you did before you received the aligners. Invisalign is easy to clean whenever you take it out of your mouth by gently brushing and rinsing.

After Invisalign is installed, you’ll be visiting our office less frequently than with metal braces, perhaps every 6 to 18 weeks, to check on the progress of treatment. Because there are no metal wires, no additional tightening is needed.

Some Disadvantages

Although Invisalign effectively addresses mild misalignment, it may not be suitable for serious bite issues, such as severely rotated teeth or large gaps between teeth. It can also be more costly than metal and may not be covered by dental insurance. You must be disciplined enough to wear the aligners for the prescribed amount each day. Otherwise, treatment may be less effective and take longer.

Aside from cleaning your teeth regularly, you must also clean the aligners to prevent the build-up of bacteria. When you remove Invisalign, it may get lost or stolen, so keep a close eye on the retainers.

Choosing Invisalign

Choosing Invisalign begins with a visit to Richmond Virginia Orthodontics, where an orthodontist can determine whether this latest process can effectively improve your alignment issues. If it can, we will create your treatment plan, which includes advanced 3D imaging technology to produce a digital scan of your mouth. The scan is used to produce the clear aligners that fit over your teeth.

Patients need to wear aligners for 20 to 22 hours a day before changing them out for a new set every two weeks or so. Treatment takes from 6 to 18 months, after which you will wear a retainer to keep your new teeth positions in place.

Moving Ahead

Invisalign promises a new smile with no one else the wiser about how your transformation is happening. If you’re eager to move ahead with the way you look, please contact us at Richmond Virginia Orthodontics using our appointment form or by calling us at (804) 884-9906. We will schedule your initial consultation at either our Richmond or Midlothian office. Our number one goal is to make you comfortable with whatever treatment you undergo.

Request an Appointment

Fill out the simple form below to get started!