Orthodontic dentistry is a branch of dentistry that focuses on teeth and jawbone realignment to fit in the dental structure. It is easy to assume that orthodontic services are all about metal braces, as they are the oldest solution in this branch. However, orthodontics offers more than conventional braces. Other solutions, including clear aligners, ceramic braces, and lingual braces, are available to improve your smile and tooth functionality.

If you want to fix misaligned teeth through orthodontics, you need answers to some questions about the procedure. At Los Angeles Advanced Dentistry, we know bite problems can hinder your health and social life, so we offer qualified orthodontic solutions. We have highlighted these orthodontic services to help you choose the most appropriate.

Orthodontic Problems

Your choice of orthodontic service hinges on your teeth and jaw alignment and the severity of your oral concern. Bite problems make your teeth clash because they do not meet the way they should. As a result, your facial structure could change as you try to prevent the clashing. Also, chewing hard foods becomes a significant issue because of the pain. Do not assume bite problems because, when left untreated, they develop into major dental problems. The common malocclusion issues that can be arrested through orthodontic services are:

Underbite or Prognathism

Also called prognathism, an underbite is a malocclusion that occurs when the anterior teeth in the lower jaw bite over the anterior teeth in the upper jaw. The teeth can slightly meet or leave a wide margin in these situations. The condition is usually painful because the upper teeth clash with the lower ones. Many people seek treatment for underbites because they make them appear to be expressing emotions, hampering their facial appearance.

Underbites develop at birth when the lower jaw becomes misaligned. You can tell you have an underbite if you experience symptoms like:

  • Pronunciation difficulties

  • Eating challenges

  • Bacteria infection

  • Sleep apnea

  • Tooth decay that leads to excessive wearing of the teeth

  • Chronic snoring

  • Chronic headaches

  • Chronic earaches

  • Chronic jaw pains

Overbites or Overjets

Another condition you should address using orthodontic solutions is an overbite, which happens when the frontal teeth in the lower jaw bite over the anterior teeth in the upper jaw. They are caused by harmful habits like the constant tongue pushing against the anterior incisors when the mouth is closed. Continued pressing of the tongue against the teeth pushes them outwards, leading to an underbite. Overjets make your mouth appear elongated, making you look older than your actual age. Even though it is not as painful as an underbite, it makes you self-conscious, hence the need to fix the problem.

Dental Crowding

A common characteristic of crooked or misaligned teeth is crowding. Tooth crowding develops when you have a small jawbone, forcing permanent teeth to compete for space. Naturally, all teeth should fit in the mouth and have enough rotation space. That way, they become adequately aligned.

Nevertheless, when you have a tiny jawbone, the teeth tend to crowd due to limited space, leading to other severe, hygiene-related complications. Tight spaces between teeth make maintaining proper oral hygiene with crowded teeth complex. This leads to poor oral hygiene, which allows debris and plaque to accumulate in the mouth. The plaque acts as a breeding ground for harmful bacteria, which causes infections in the gums and teeth. Orthodontic services will fix the crowing issue, align your teeth for easy brushing and flossing, and promote good oral hygiene, which is critical in maintaining healthy teeth and gums.

Other orthodontic concerns include:

  • Open bites

  • Dental spacing

  • Crooked teeth

  • Improper eruption

  • Impacted teeth

  • Crossbites

When you suffer from these orthodontic problems, you should speak to an orthodontist to arrest the issue before it progresses to a severe oral problem. There are several orthodontic solutions your dental expert can use to resolve these problems, including clear aligners and conventional metal braces.

Orthodontic Services to Choose From

Even if your dental concern is categorized as orthodontic, the treatment your orthodontist will recommend depends on the type of misalignment. Orthodontic procedures vary from patient to patient, even if they have the same oral problem. For instance, your dentist can recommend clear aligners for your crooked teeth but suggest metal braces for another patient with a problem like yours. The severity informs the dentist’s decision about the disease, as transparent aligners are only suitable for mild or moderate orthodontic concerns.

An experienced dentist will choose the most practical and comfortable treatment from the available orthodontic services. Also, the treatment choice could be based on your budget. You should understand your dental clinic's orthodontic solutions or services to pick the most appropriate treatment for your needs.

Traditional Metal Braces

Also called dental bracing, metal braces are a conventional treatment that realigns or moves misaligned teeth to the desired position to restore flawless smile and tooth functionality. Dental bracing was the first orthodontic solution in this field, and its use, even to date, is widespread. It uses stainless steel bands, wires, and brackets to gently and gradually shift teeth to the desired position.

Because bracing gradually applies pressure to the teeth, you should expect the jaw or teeth to move to the desired position within 18 to 36 months. Nevertheless, the timeline for the treatment varies depending on the severity of the condition and your dental structure.

Dental bracing is encouraged for children with enough erupted teeth, but this does not mean adults cannot rely on this orthodontic service to fix their oral concerns.

  1. Orthodontic Concerns You Can Fix Using Dental Bracing Services

The versatility of metal braces enables them to fix many orthodontic issues. Your dentist will tailor your treatment to move your teeth to the correct position. The common problems you can fix with metal braces include overbites, underbites, dental spacing, crowding, and crossbites.

Depending on your condition, your dentist will adjust the metal braces to maximize positioning. Traditional braces have many components, and you must know these components to understand their functionality.

The first and foremost part of the appliance is the bracket. This part is made of titanium material to withstand all the harsh conditions in the mouth, including injuries, staining, or acidic foods and beverages. The brackets firmly grip the teeth, creating a channel for the attachment of archwires. The metallic archwires run through the brackets, creating a muscle gently applying pressure to the teeth. Once the wires are in place, you visit the dentist regularly for adjustments to push the teeth further toward the desired direction.

The archwires running through the brackets must be firm, which explains the third component of your appliances, the elastic band. The elastic band holds the wires firmly to prevent breakage from the brackets. It ensures the pressure on the teeth remains constant for the next appointment when an adjustment happens. The advantage of mental braces is they can be tailored to your needs by changing the color of your bands at every appointment.

Another advantage of braces is that you can go for the self-ligating option, which has a new feature called the adjustable click, which is smaller than the elastic bands and, hence, less visible through the mouth. Despite its small size, the click applies the same pressure to the teeth as traditional braces. Therefore, the treatment outcome will be the same as that of the conventional braces, although you will not experience soreness after the adjustment of archwires.

Lastly, self-ligating braces are suitable when you want fewer visits to the dentist. You can wear them for extended durations without requiring adjustments, meaning fewer dentist visits. These advanced braces are the most suitable if you travel a lot, have a tight schedule, or live far from the dental clinic.

  1. Preparation for Braces Treatment

At Los Angeles Advanced Dentistry, we thoroughly examine your mouth and teeth before placing metal braces. We also take detailed images of your teeth and jaw to help us design your treatment.

Preparation for treatment starts with making an impression on your teeth with a special dental clay. Your dentist places the clay on a mouthpiece and then presses it against the teeth in the upper and lower jaws separately to capture the precise teeth' size and alignment. When the clay hardens, it creates a model of your teeth and jaw. These replicas are then used to identify your orthodontic concern and craft a treatment plan.

In our dental clinics, we employ the latest 3D imaging and X-rays to capture accurate images of the mouth, identify factors that could hinder the treatment, and develop a plan to resolve them, increasing the procedure's success rate. The solutions to the problems identified through imaging include tooth extraction.

  1. Metal Braces Process

The duration and manner of placement depend on the treatment plan your dentist has prepared. However, placing traditional braces takes a short time and is virtually painless. The treatment begins with cleaning the teeth to remove plaque and discoloration. Once the tooth is clean, the dentist applies a protective coat using an adhering liquid to support the brackets. The dentist then places the bracket on the coat and hardens the adhering liquid, utilizing a UV light for a firm grip.

After fixing the bracket, the dentist installs the wires and fastens them using elastic bands or adjustable clicks, contingent on your choice of dental bracing. The final step involves closing the brackets to hold the wires in place. Subsequent visits are for wire adjustments until you meet the desired goal.

If you are considering braces, be ready to part with $2,000 to $7000 for the services.

Invisalign or Clear Aligners

Orthodontic services have improved over the years, evolving from metal braces to Invisalign, which offers many benefits to patients. Like metal braces, clear aligners shift teeth to the right positions by applying gentle and gradual pressure.

However, unlike metal braces, aligners comprise transparent plastic trays that add a transparent layer to the teeth. They do not fit precisely in the teeth, as they leave a small margin that enables the application of pressure to move the teeth in the right direction.

Clear aligners fix several malocclusions, including overbites, underbites, crossbites, and overcrowding. Nevertheless, they only address these problems before they become severe. If your malocclusion is severe, our dentist will recommend braces.

Process of Placing Clear Aligners

The placement of the clear aligners begins by examining your physical tooth structure. At Los Angeles Advanced Dentistry, we utilize the latest technology to study the placement process, including 3D imaging and X-rays. That way, we can develop a treatment plan tailored to address your unique malocclusion needs. With precise measurements of your tooth structure, the clear aligners to be fabricated will be accurate and effective.

Once the dentist obtains the dimensional measurements of your teeth, they will schedule another appointment when your plates will be ready for placement. This usually happens a few days after the first appointment due to the state-of-the-art tools we will use in our dental clinic.

The placement process is not complex; all you must do is wear the trays, one for the upper jaws and the other for the lower teeth. However, we understand that how you wear them and the duration you wear them will affect the results. Therefore, we will train you on using Invisalign and how to wear, clean, and store them.

Typically, these appliances push the teeth 0.3 mm every two weeks. Therefore, we will arrange meetings every two to three weeks to replace the aligners with new ones with different measurements. We recommend wearing braces for 22 hours for optimum outcomes to avoid delayed results.

Advantages of Clear Aligners Over the Traditional Braces

Invisalign services have become very popular because of the multiple benefits over conventional metal braces. These advantages include:

  • They are removable, mainly when taking hard foods or brushing

  • The plates are clear or transparent, making the treatment discreet

  • Clear aligners are more comfortable in the mouth

  • They require a shorter duration

  • They involve fewer visits to the dental clinic

  • They are more precise when shifting teeth than braces

Invisalign Costs

If you are considering clear aligners, you must pay $3,000 to $8,000 for the treatment contingent on the material used to make the plates, required adjustments, and additional procedures like surgery.

Ceramic Braces

Another orthodontic service you can find in our clinic is ceramic braces. The treatment resembles the conventional metal braces but is more discreet. Ceramic braces also have three components: brackets, wires, and bands. The difference is the brackets are formulated using ceramic to mimic the color of your teeth, making the appliances less noticeable.

These braces apply minimal force to the teeth; hence, the treatment takes longer than traditional braces and Invisalign. If you prefer ceramic braces over traditional ones, you should be ready to pay $2,000 to $8,500.

Lingual Braces

Like metal braces, lingual braces are metallic. They function the same way as traditional braces, only that they are placed directly opposite the tongue, making them unnoticeable to the person near you. Because the braces face the tongue directly, it is crucial to customize them to avoid scratches or damage to the tongue.

The treatment lasts 24 to 36 months, depending on your treatment plan. If you are interested, you should pay $5,000 to $13,000.

Post-Orthodontic Procedure Instructions

When you start orthodontic treatment, you must change your lifestyle. Before allowing you to leave, we will provide guidelines on caring for the appliances. The aftercare pointers include:

  • Brush and floss non-removable appliances like braces thoroughly. You can clean removable appliances like Invisalign using running water

  • Adhere to food restrictions

  • Attend all scheduled adjustment meetings

Payment Plans

Orthodontic services are expensive when paid upfront, and this discourages many patients from seeking treatment. So, we make the services affordable by developing payment plans that fit our patient’s financial needs. Our goal is to start the treatment as we prioritize your health. Visit us to discuss the available payment options, and once you have found a suitable plan and paid the deposit, we can start the treatment.

Alternatively, many dental insurance companies provide coverage for orthodontic services. Therefore, contact your insurer with details of the procedure you need to determine if they provide coverage and the fraction of the fee they will pay you. Whatever amount your insurer pays will help make the services cheaper.

Choosing an Orthodontic Service

Not all Los Angeles dental clinics offering orthodontic services are suitable for you. Therefore, when hiring, research the clinics you are considering. If you want a professional to handle the oral needs of the entire family, look for a family-oriented orthodontist.

Also, find a professional with extensive experience in the malocclusion you are experiencing. You can ask about the number of orthodontic procedures like yours they have performed and their success rate. If the orthodontist has handled many issues like yours in the past, you can trust them to resolve your problem.

Find a Competent Orthodontist Near Me

Fixing orthodontic problems significantly improves appearance and oral health. So, your journey to a beautiful and functional smile begins with finding the right orthodontic services. At the Los Angeles Advanced Dentistry, we have experienced dentists and advanced equipment to enable us to offer quality orthodontic solutions to meet your unique needs. Call us at 310-361-2080 for a free evaluation to establish the sources of your teeth or jaw problem. After identifying your dental issue, we will administer the appropriate orthodontic solution.