Traditional Braces – Cumming, GA
Reliable Orthodontics for Straighter Smiles
At Serenity Orthodontics, Dr. Podray is a trusted orthodontist in Cumming who is committed to helping patients achieve straighter, more perfectly aligned smiles. Whether it is overcrowding, spaces between teeth, an overbite, underbite, crossbite, or open bite, she and Dr. Lewis can use traditional braces to realign and straighten teeth and produce showstopping smiles. Using metal brackets and wires, this tried-and-true method of orthodontic treatment is certain to leave you feeling more confident and comfortable with your newly aligned teeth. If you’re ready to learn more about traditional braces, contact us today to schedule an appointment.
Why Choose Serenity Orthodontics for Traditional Braces?
- Suitable for children, teens, and adults
- Trusted orthodontist with nearly 10 years of experience
- Insurance and financing accepted
How Do Traditional Braces Work?
Traditional braces use a metal bracket and wire system to shift teeth in the right direction. When preparing for treatment, your orthodontist will bond each bracket to the surface of your teeth before threading an archwire through the brackets. This will allow both components to work together and apply gentle pressure. Over the course of treatment, you will notice your teeth shifting closer to their desired location. However, you will be expected to maintain follow-up appointments with your orthodontist to allow for wire tightening, adjusting, and replacement.
If necessary, our team at Serenity Orthodontics can incorporate elastics, Propel, AcceleDENT, and other orthodontic appliances to help move the process along more quickly and help you achieve faster results.
Who is a Good Candidate?
One of the great aspects of traditional braces is that they are an optimal solution for children, teens, and adults. Literally, anyone can receive orthodontic treatment using metal braces in Cumming. Yet, it is important that you have good general oral health when starting treatment simply because tooth decay, gum disease, or another serious dental health problem can cause problems along the way.
If you are dealing with overcrowded teeth that cannot be easily cleaned, spaces between your teeth that leave you feeling embarrassed by your aesthetics, or a misaligned bite that is causing chronic jaw pain and other similar symptoms, traditional braces may just be the right solution for you.
What to Expect When Getting Traditional Braces
When preparing to move forward with traditional braces, you’ll first need to schedule a consultation with Dr. Podray or Dr. Lewis. It is during this appointment that they will examine your smile as well as capture digital images and impressions. Using all the information collected, they will create a personalized treatment plan that goes over how your teeth will move over time. Once you are satisfied with the plan, the process of placing your metal braces can begin.
We will bond each bracket to the surface of your teeth before threading a wire that is manually bent and shaped by our qualified team of experts. As you progress through treatment, you will be required to keep your follow-up appointments that will include adjusting your wire as needed to ensure your smile moves in the right direction.
It is not uncommon for treatment to take between 1-2 years, but this can vary depending on your individual needs and the severity of your dental problem. Once your braces are removed, it will be necessary for you to wear a retainer. This metal, removable appliance will help to keep your teeth in their new location and prevent them from shifting back into their original position.
You are advised to maintain optimal oral hygiene while wearing braces to prevent tooth decay and gum disease from developing. It is also recommended that you stay away from hard, crunchy, or sticky foods that could damage your oral appliances and cause a delay in your treatment timeline.
Benefits of Traditional Braces
Although there are other types of orthodontic treatments available, the truth is that there is a reason so many orthodontists continue to rely on traditional metal braces for treatment. Not only do they work effectively, but they also provide a host of other great benefits, including:
- Greater versatility in treating both minor and the most complex and severe orthodontic cases.
- They’re customizable so younger patients can make treatment fun and more exciting (i.e., colorful rubber bands and ligatures). Adults can also opt for clear or tooth-colored brackets and wires to make treatment more subtle and discreet.
- They are far more affordable than clear aligners or other similar systems.
- Metal brackets are bonded into place, making it easier to undergo treatment since you don’t need to remember like you would with a clear aligner system.
Understanding the Cost of Traditional Braces
Pinning down the precise cost of dentistry is always a little bit tricky without knowing a patient’s exact situation. This is even more so the case when it comes to orthodontics, where the severity of misalignment can vary enormously.
We’ll be happy to give you an estimate for what traditional braces will cost you when we meet at a consultation, but until then, here are some things you may want to know about the price of orthodontics.
Factors That Affect the Cost of Traditional Braces
When evaluating the cost associated with traditional braces, there are a few things that Dr. Podray, Dr. Lewis, and Dr. Grochowska consider.
The largest factor comes down to the overall length of the procedure. The longer it takes to straighten your teeth, the more your orthodontic treatment is likely to cost. For that reason, mild to moderate misalignment will be less expensive to repair.
Braces are the perfect option for people of any age, but if you’re older, as adult teeth take longer to move. Finally, if you don’t follow orthodontist instructions properly, you’ll extend both the length and the cost of your orthodontic treatment.
Professional Braces vs. “DIY” Braces
Recently, people looking to save a buck on orthodontics have taken matters into their own hands, crafting “diy” braces without an orthodontist’s supervision. This has always been a little bit of a problem, with some people jamming a combination of superglue, paperclips, and earring backs into their mouth to try and simulate braces.
However, the advent of 3D printing has emboldened even more people to try to straighten their smiles with homemade orthodontics.
While you’ll undoubtedly pay less upfront, the fact is that you don’t really have access to the same imaging technology or expertise as a trained orthodontist. If you try and align your teeth by eyeballing it, you’re likely to do more harm than good. If anything, you’re more likely to give yourself a serious infection by tinkering with your teeth, which will wind up costing you more in the long run.
Does Dental Insurance Cover Braces?
Dental insurance sometimes covers orthodontics, and even then only under certain circumstances. For one, traditional braces are more likely to be covered than clear aligners. Your claim is also more likely to be accepted if there’s a medical reason you need orthodontics, like bite problems or jaw pain.
When dental plans do decide to pay for braces, they usually cover about 50% of the treatment. Thankfully, we’re also happy to accept FSA payments, which can make up for the difference. We’ll work with you to ensure that you can get the most out of your insurance coverage and to make the process as easy as possible.
Options for Making Braces Affordable
Even if you don’t have insurance, or if you’ve already hit your yearly maximum, we’ll still do whatever we can to make braces affordable for you. We’re proud to offer interest-free financing options to help you to break the cost of orthodontics into budget-friendly payments.
No matter your economic situation, we want to do what we can to help you straighten out your smile. Come to our office for a consultation and we’ll be happy to talk with you about your financial options, and how we can make your orthodontic care more affordable.
Traditional Braces FAQs
By now, maybe you think braces in Cumming are a good idea. Perhaps you’re even considering them for your own smile! Still, odds are you want to know more about these brackets and wires. Having such facts, after all, lets you feel confident in treatment. Well, we at Serenity Orthodontics can help: here are the answers to some oft-asked questions about traditional braces. By reviewing them, you’ll see how our orthodontic work can “straighten out” your smile. Otherwise, please call us for other concerns.
Why Do My Teeth Feel Loose with Braces?
True enough, it can seem worrying if your teeth feel loose while wearing braces. However, there really isn’t anything to fear; looseness is a sign of effective treatment.
You see, braces work by applying force via their brackets and wires. This process loosens the ligaments holding your teeth, letting it move your pearly whites into place. As a result, it’s common to feel as if your chompers are loose or “floating” during care.
Thankfully, the sensation fades after your braces are removed. At that point, your jaw will start to resolidify the tooth ligaments. The feeling of looseness stops once that solidification is done.
Can Traditional Braces Fix TMJ?
Generally, yes – metal braces can often fix TMJ disorder (or simply ‘TMJ’). Whether they can treat your own, though, will depend on your situation.
Braces could help if your TMJ stems from orthodontic issues. For instance, perhaps your upper and lower jaws aren’t well-aligned. Similarly, maybe you have crooked teeth that exert more pressure on one side of your jaw. In either scenario, braces would align your teeth and jaw and thus alleviate unpleasant TMJ symptoms.
Can I Chew Gum with Traditional Braces?
Ultimately, you shouldn’t chew gum while wearing braces. Qualified dentists discourage the habit due to how it endangers your treatment.
Remember, chewing gum is inherently sticky; it clings to teeth once in your mouth. As a result, the stuff could easily bend the wires of your braces. Your chompers would then shift in unexpected directions without your even realizing it. Should that happen, you’d face treatment delays or need replacement braces.
Of course, you can go back to chewing gum once your braces are removed. Not only will the treatment risks be gone, but the practice could relieve any lingering post-treatment pain.
Can You Drink Coffee with Traditional Braces?
In most cases, you can drink coffee with traditional braces. You should just be careful when doing so to avoid adverse side effects.
If you don’t already know, coffee is a notorious stain agent. It can discolor teeth and the brackets of braces when you ingest too much. Should your teeth get coffee stains during braces treatment, you’d be left with unpleasant splotches afterward.
Fortunately, it’s possible to avoid these stains in the first place. One way is by sipping coffee through a straw. As for another, you could brush your teeth (or rinse your mouth) roughly 20 minutes after finishing a cup.
Do Traditional Braces Hurt?
We won’t lie; you can expect to experience some soreness during your orthodontic treatment. However, this is actually a good sign because it means that your teeth are moving into their ideal positions! Plus, there are several easy ways you can combat this discomfort, from placing a cold compress against the outside of your cheek and putting orthodontic wax over your braces to taking OTC pain medication as directed.
What Can You Not Eat with Traditional Braces?
Mainly, you can’t eat anything particularly crunchy. A few examples include raw nuts, whole apples, popcorn, and tortilla chips. However, patients should also avoid eating corn on the cob, meat on the bone, pizza crust, caramel, and taco shells. Basically, you don’t want to fill your plate with anything that can potentially break a bracket or wire. This may seem inconvenient, but it’s crucial to preventing an orthodontic emergency that can derail your treatment plan!
Am I Too Old to Get Braces?
Good news: candidacy for braces isn’t determined by age alone! In other words, there’s technically no such thing as being “too old” for orthodontic treatment. So, if you’re interested in straightening your teeth, don’t let your age stop you from scheduling a consultation. You may be surprised to hear that adults often end up being some of the best patients since they are investing their own money and they understand the importance of good oral hygiene.
What Happens After You Get Your Braces Off?
After we remove your braces, we will provide you with a custom retainer. Although you don’t have to wear it 24/7, it is important to wear it consistently. Remember, upwards of 50% of patients experience orthodontic relapse after their treatment (which is when your teeth move back into their misaligned positions). One of the best ways to preserve the alignment of your teeth and protect your investment is by wearing your retainer as directed.
How Long Do Traditional Braces Take?
Naturally, the length of your orthodontic treatment will depend on numerous factors, including the severity of your misalignment and how well you follow the guidelines we provide you. With that being said, it usually takes anywhere from one to three years to completely straighten your teeth. Although it can be tough to wait that long, it’s crucial that we move your teeth gradually. Otherwise, the health and function of your smile could be negatively impacted.