Why Braces?
For most people, a beautiful smile is the most obvious benefit of orthodontics. You’ll feel great about your attractive and healthy smile. Your dentist has probably also discussed with you the health benefits of clean teeth and a healthy bite. Crooked, crowded teeth are hard to clean and can result in tooth decay and gum disease. A bite that doesn’t align properly can lead to destructive wear of the white outer surface of the teeth. Imbalances can create excessive stress on gum tissues and bone that support the teeth, and may impact the health of your jaw joints. Timely treatment of orthodontic problems can help you avoid future dental care that may be painful, costly, and will need to be maintained over time. In the long run, timely orthodontic treatment is a conservative, prevention focused, low cost alternative that results in a beautiful, confident and healthy smile throughout your lifetime.
How Orthodontic Treatment Works
Orthodontic appliances can be made of metal, ceramic, or plastic. They may be removable or they may be bonded to the teeth. By placing a constant, gentle force in a carefully controlled direction, Dr. Lenk guides your teeth to where they need to be. This is a great time to be an orthodontic patient! You can choose tooth colored or metallic braces, or clear aligners. At every visit you can pick from a wide variety of colored elastics (from bold to indiscreet) used to hold the wire in the bracket. Contemporary braces and the latest technology allow Dr. Lenk to move teeth faster and with less discomfort than ever before!
Duration of Treatment
Treatment time typically averages from one to three years, depending on growth and the severity of the problem. Patients grow and respond individually to orthodontic treatment, so completion times will vary. A patient’s diligent use of any prescribed rubber bands or other treatment aides is always an important factor in achieving the most desired results in a reasonable length of time.
Common Conditions Video
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Crowding of the teeth
Patient started treatment at age eleven and wore braces for twenty-six months. He loves his new smile.
Openbite: Front teeth don't touch
Patient sucked her thumb as a young child. She started treatment at age thirteen. She had braces and a special appliance — called a crib — to retrain the tongue, for twenty-eight months. Now she can bite the lettuce out of a sandwich.
Deep overbite: Lower front teeth bite into palate
This adult patient (age twenty-five) required braces and jaw surgery to correct his severe overbite, with treatment taking two years. His problem could have been corrected without surgery if he had been treated before he was a teenager.
Missing lateral incisors
This patient's lateral incisors were congenitally missing. She had braces for twenty months to move the teeth into the correct position, then the missing teeth were replaced with bonded "Maryland" bridges.
Underbite: Lower front teeth in front of upper teeth
Patient's underbite was causing her jaw joint discomfort and excessive wear patterns on her teeth. After thirty months of treatment starting at age thirty-two, she now finds smiling and chewing much easier.
Spacing of teeth
Patient was bothered by the spaces between his teeth. Braces closed the spaces and gave him an ideal bite in twenty-four months. Special glued-in retainers help keep the spaces closed.
Overbite: Protruding front teeth
At age ten, patient had a big overbite with the top teeth protruding beyond the bottom. She had two phases of treatment. The first helped her jaws to grow more harmoniously; the second aligned her teeth and bite. At age thirteen, she was proudly displaying her new smile.
Non-braces treatment
Sometimes braces are not needed to get noticeable improvements in tooth alignment. This patient was first seen at age seven for crowding of the lower permanent teeth. A procedure was performed to reduce the width of the adjacent baby teeth and the permanent incisors aligned on their own in nine months.
Phase I
Patient's parents were concerned about both aesthetics and the health of the erupting permanent teeth when they brought him to the orthodontist at age eight. The lower front teeth were crowded and they touched the palate, and the upper front teeth were extremely displaced from their normal positions. After twenty months of Phase I treatment with an expander and partial braces, patient's appearance and dental function was vastly improved.
