the facts about dental braces

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Understanding & Maintaining

Dental Braces

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What are Dental Braces? (1 of 3)

Braces are devices used in orthodontics that align and straighten teeth.

Braces are also commonly referred to as orthodontic braces and dental braces.

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Braces help to position teeth with regard to a person's bite, while also working to improve dental health.

What are Dental Braces? (2 of 3)

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Braces straighten teeth by putting steady pressure on your teeth, while staying in place for a certain a mount of time. (About 24 months)

What are Dental Braces? (3 of 3)

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The Arch Wire is a thin metal wire that runs from bracket to bracket putting pressure on your teeth.

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Basic Components Braces? (1 of 4)

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Ligatures. With traditional braces, the brackets need a way to stay connected. Ligatures (as shown here) are used to “tie” each bracket to the arch wire.

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Basic Components Braces? (2 of 4)

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Brackets can be metal or ceramic and are the most important component of braces. A single bracket is attached to every tooth.

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Basic Components Braces? (3 of 4)

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Elastics are tiny, colored bands that hold each bracket to the arch wire. Elastics are also known as “o-rings” and need to be changed at frequent intervals.

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Basic Components Braces? (4 of 4)

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Braces apply continuous pressure to straighten out your teeth

Pressure from braces loosens the tissue surrounding misaligned teeth which are then stretched into the loosened socket

Once the tooth starts moving into the loosened socket the bone of the tooth will fill around it and solidifying the new position of the tooth

How Dental Braces Work?

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Braces are typically very effective and produce excellent results.

Most health insurance cover all or part of the cost of braces.

Braces last a long time and hard to break, requiring less maintenance.

There are a large variety of braces, from invisible to gold-plated.

Advantages of Dental Braces

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It’s common for patients develop mouth sores because of the brackets. (Easily solved with dental wax and typically goes away after a few days.)

There are a few more expensive alternatives that work faster or are more discrete. Alternatives include: Invisalign, Clarity braces, SmartClip braces and Veneers.

Disadvantages of Braces? (1 of 2)

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Metal brace can be easily to spot and some patients dislike the “metal mouth” look.

Due to eating and drinking, the ligatures can change color (especially the white ones).

The first days after treatment new braces can be uncomfortable.

Disadvantages of Braces? (2 of 2)

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Here are a few tips to help get you started…

1. Estimate the cost of braces in your area with our Dental Cost Calculator

2. Find a local dentist in our Dental Directory of over 90,000 dentists

3. Get Financing for the entire cost of your new braces

Thiking about getting in Braces?