Orthodontic treatment can be a rewarding step in many individuals’ lives. However, do you really need to wear dental braces for almost three years?
This article covers all the time-related questions you may have about using braces to turn your crooked teeth into a perfectly straight smile.
You have to wear braces between six months and three years.
Different types of braces have different treatment duration.
Your treatment plan may require several appointments, which you must attend to make sure your braces are working.
Invisible aligner trays, or clear braces, can straighten your teeth in 6-18 months.
An orthodontist can offer accelerated orthodontics to help cut the duration of treatment in half.
Braces are an orthodontic treatment that takes about one or two hours to put on, depending on the severity of the misalignment.
You may have to wear braces between six months and three years, depending on the type of dental braces and how misaligned your teeth are. The factors that may affect the braces treatment time are described below:
If a patient’s teeth have severe alignment issues, treatment with braces alongside jaw alignment may significantly increase treatment time.
Other severe issues may require tooth extraction, which digital impressions and facial photographs can help an orthodontist identify.
An orthodontist will likely recommend getting treatment as early as possible. Misalignment issues treated in children can mean they need to wear braces for a much shorter time compared to adults.
The type of braces you choose can also affect treatment time.
Traditional braces involve rubber bands and metal wiring and can take up to three years.
Other treatment options that may take this long include:
Clear aligners usually take between six months and a year to move your teeth into the desired position. Although mail-order clear braces are not approved by the American Dental Association, they can be more time and cost-effective for minor adjustment requirements.
It’s also worthwhile to note that Byte aligners are FDA-approved, and well reviewed by users. These clear aligners work in months, with the added advantage that they are barely visible.
Using headgear can apply more pressure on your dental braces to move your teeth into the correct position.
An orthodontist may also recommend palate expanders for children, and along with headgear, they can significantly shorten average treatment times.
Sticking to your orthodontist’s instructions is essential for successful treatment. Taking good care of your teeth, brushing and flossing regularly, and attending each appointment at the orthodontist can help improve treatment and decrease the necessary treatment time.
As soon as you start to wear braces, they start pulling your teeth into the right position.
The average treatment times vary according to each patient but range between six months and three years.
A small gap can take between six and nine months to close. More than one gap may take between one to two years to close completely. These spacing issues are often simpler to rectify in patients.
Clear aligners like Invisalign and AlignerCo may also be used instead, depending on the advice of your orthodontist. They can speed up treatment and help close gaps even faster.
The minimum amount of time typically required to wear braces is six months for a minor adjustment.
Using a combination of orthodontist-installed dental braces, accelerated orthodontics, or clear aligners can help patients significantly shorten treatment time.
To move your teeth without damaging them, options like traditional metal braces apply a very gentle force to help pull your teeth into the right position.
Treatment instructions may require several follow-up visits with your orthodontist to adjust the dental wire to pull your teeth a little more in the right direction each time.
This relatively complex process is why you may need to wear braces for up to three years.
Clear aligners can help reduce treatment times and are much more comfortable to wear. To learn more about clear aligners, check out our AlignerCo review and Byte Aligners review.
To help decrease your treatment time, you can try the following methods:
Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions on how long it takes for braces to work.
Whether lingual, metal, or ceramic braces, each type of orthodontic treatment has its own treatment duration.
Getting your teeth straightened is a gradual process that needs time to be done correctly. As long as you follow your dentist’s instructions, you’ll get the perfect smile as quickly as possible.
