It’s no secret that straight teeth can do wonders for your smile, but good alignment can also protect against other issues, such as tooth decay and soft tissue injuries. Unfortunately, evolution hasn’t been kind on this front — more than half of Americans (53%) have some degree of misalignment, or malocclusion.
The good news is that there are more options than ever when it comes to straightening teeth in both adults and kids, which explains why 4 million people wear braces at any given time in the United States. The even better news is that our team at Willow Glen Dental Specialists offers several options for straightening your family’s teeth.
So, if you’re wondering about which road to take to straighten your teeth, we can help you learn more.
Let’s start with the tried-and-true method of braces. With this technique, we place brackets on each of the teeth and connect them with a wire that gently and gradually pulls the teeth into better positions.
This bracing technique is not only effective, it’s economical, and we now have more options that move past traditional metal. For example, we can use ceramic brackets that are more camouflaged. Or, going in the other direction, we can use brackets with colors, making braces a little more fun.
On top of these, we also offer lingual braces that have the brackets on the insides of your teeth.
If you don’t like the idea of metal braces in your mouth, we can try clear aligners from Invisalign® or ClearCorrect®. These clear aligners are made from special plastics that move your teeth into straighter positions. To keep them moving in the right direction, you receive new aligners every couple of weeks.
Not only are clear aligners more subtle, you can also remove them for eating, cleaning, and special occasions.
We typically use retainers to complete a straightening process. So, after we remove braces from your teeth, we outfit you with a retainer that features one wire that helps keep your teeth from shifting.
If there’s a good deal of straightening to be done, we may turn to orthodontic appliances like headgear. As the name suggests, with this approach we attach a headpiece to your braces that helps guide your teeth and jaw into alignment. Patients typically wear the headgear at night.
If you don’t like the idea of external headgear, we also offer the Forsus Fatigue Resistant device. Instead of the headgear, we attach small springs to your braces that apply a constant force that guides your teeth.
If one of the issues behind your misaligned teeth stems from a palate that’s too small, we can set you up with a palate expander that can widen your upper jaw, allowing more room for your teeth.
As you can see, when it comes to achieving beautifully straight teeth, we have options that cover every need and goal.
To sit down with one of our experts and figure out which teeth-straightening option is best for your circumstances, please contact our office in San Jose, California, by calling 408-478-9081. Or, if you prefer, you can book an appointment with us online.
