Braces often get a bad rap because most people usually imagine a teenager with a mouth full of metal. Metal that they’ll be stuck with for years. If not an entire lifetime.
But the truth is, this reputation is undeserved. Especially because there are plenty of perks of wearing braces from boosting your self-esteem to generally improving your smile and correcting your bite.
But the question is, how long do you have to wear braces?
Well, this blog post is going to help answer that question. Of course, there is no one size fits all solution here. But this blog post gives a pretty good idea of how long it should ideally take to get the desired results.
Typical Treatment Times and Factors
The Severity of the Case
When it comes to determining how long one will need to wear braces, the most critical factor is severity. If the case is severe, the patient may need to wear the braces for a little longer than average.
So here, the orthodontist will need to consider a couple of factors. These include the amount of room available and the distance that the teeth will have to travel to meet the goal.
Taking all these into consideration, one should wear braces for one to three years on average. But, depending on the severity of the case, it might be a little longer than that.
Type of Braces
Another critical factor is the type of braces one chooses. Of course, some are better than others. Which means it might either take a longer or shorter period depending on the kind of braces one chooses.
As a general rule of the thumb though, metal braces are more efficient in as far as repositioning teeth is concerned. Plus they are durable and can often have colors added.
Age
While anyone can wear braces, adult treatment takes a little longer than children. That is for the simple reason that children’s jaws are still growing and can be manipulated easily. This is to say; it takes a shorter time for their teeth to reposition.
However, this doesn’t mean that adult treatment will take three years more. Adults can still get desired results within a year or less depending on the procedure.
Patient Compliance
The other critical factor that determines how long one has to wear braces is compliance. A non-compliant patient can prolong their treatment or worse even make it hard to get results. But, for more compliant patients, it should take a year or even less.
Biology
Last but not least is the biology of the patient. The truth is every patient is different. And so it goes without saying that while some peoples teeth take a shorter time to reposition. For others, it might be the opposite.
The idea of wearing braces can be a little scary. But, there’s no denying that the benefits are bewildering. Plus, on average it only takes about a little over a year to get the teeth re-positioned in place.