Your Four Options for Braces

At best, misalignment issues in your mouth, such an overbite or crooked teeth, pose cosmetic concerns. At worst, misalignments in your teeth can affect how you speak and chew and may even lead to problems with your temporomandibular joints. Whatever is driving you to consider braces for straightening your child’s teeth or your teeth, we have you covered — in four different ways.

The team of dental experts here at Willow Glen Dental Specialists want to ensure that our clients have the latest tools for addressing misaligned teeth, which is why we offer four different types of orthodontic treatments.

In this month’s blog post, we explore these four types of braces and how each can help you reach your alignment goals.

1. Metal braces

The oldest method for straightening teeth — metal braces — continues to deliver reliable results. With metal braces, we use a network of metal brackets that we adhere to your teeth, along with wires and elastic bands that pull the teeth into their desired positions.

Metal braces are quite durable, and they work quickly to align your teeth as we adjust the wires throughout the straightening process.

As well, these types of braces are often the most economical if budget is a concern.

2. Ceramic braces

If you’d rather not call attention to the braces, but you still want the reliability and efficacy of metal braces, ceramic braces fit the bill. These work the same way as metal braces except we use ceramic brackets that blend in better on your teeth. The ceramic brackets can be tooth colored or clear, and we can camouflage the visible wires by using wires that are closer to the color of your teeth.

3. Lingual braces

Lingual refers to your tongue and, in this context, it refers to braces that we place on the tongue-side (inside) of your teeth. Lingual braces are a great option if you want to keep your braces low-key and out of plain sight.

Lingual braces can achieve the same straightening results as conventional braces, but they may not work for every misalignment issue. For example, if you have a severe overbite, you may hit the brackets on your upper teeth with your lower teeth, causing them to dislodge.

4. Clear aligners

Clear aligners are fast gaining favor as a great way to straighten teeth because they offer several benefits, including:

• The aligners are clear, so they’re not readily visible
• You can remove them to brush your teeth and to eat
• They’re easier on the soft tissues inside your mouth than metal braces

We offer two brands of clear aligners — Invisalign® and ClearCorrect® — and both can tackle most alignment issues (please note that clear aligners may be able to correct severe misalignments). 

As well, these aligners only work as well as you use them. If you lose your aligners or you frequently forget to put them in, you can slow the straightening process, unlike braces that are bonded to your teeth.

If you have more questions about our options in braces or you want to figure out which one is best for you or your teen, please contact our office in San Jose, California, by calling 408-478-9081, or you can book an appointment with us online.