Choosing Between Four Braces Options



If your orthodontist in NE Calgary has recommended that you wear braces, that may just be the beginning of an important conversation. Patients looking for adult orthodontic treatment near you have more options than just traditional braces. An orthodontist near you will explain the advantages and disadvantages of each type of braces. Choosing the right option for you will depend on factors such as your aesthetic priorities, budget, lifestyle, timeline and commitment to good oral health and dental hygiene. 

Traditional braces

Metal braces near you use stainless steel brackets that are bonded to the front of your teeth and archwires that connect to those brackets to exert pressure onto your teeth to move them into their proper positions. Your orthodontist will make continuous adjustments to those archwires at follow-up appointments during your treatment plan to keep the right amount of pressure in effect, and in the right directions. Traditional metal braces in NE Calgary are suitable for patients of all ages, including for pediatric and adult orthodontics in NE Calgary. They offer the advantage of being the least expensive option but are the least subtle form of treatment.

Ceramic braces

Ceramic braces in NE Calgary work in the same way as traditional braces: by a combination of brackets and archwires. The difference between ceramic braces and traditional metal braces is that ceramic braces near you are made of ceramic materials rather than stainless steel. Ceramic materials are far less visible than metal braces because the ceramic materials match the colour of your teeth very closely. That doesn’t mean that ceramic braces are invisible, though. After all, archwires usually made of stainless steel or a type of titanium will still run between those braces. Having said that, those ceramic braces are far more subtle than traditional metal braces. 

That subtlety comes at a bit of a cost, though; ceramic braces are more easily stained by strongly pigmented foods than traditional braces. Unless you take care to keep your teeth and ceramic braces clean, those ceramic braces can become stained. 

Clear aligners

The most well-known brand of orthodontic treatment that relies on clear aligners is Invisalign. An orthodontist in NE Calgary who provides Invisalign treatment plans will prepare aligners — they look like a retainer — out of clear thermoplastic material based on three-dimensional images of your mouth, teeth and jaw. Clear aligners are ideal for adult orthodontic treatment near you because they are clear and removable. Those two characteristics enable patients to undergo orthodontic treatment discreetly, and even to remove their aligners to eat, brush, and floss. Invisalign treatment plans may be faster than treatment with traditional braces but can be more expensive than treatment with wire and metal braces. 

Lingual braces

Lingual braces are an interesting alternative to traditional and ceramic braces that use the same basic technology as traditional braces with one of the key benefits of clear aligners — invisibility. Lingual braces consist of brackets and archwires just like traditional and ceramic braces. The key feature of lingual braces, though, is that those brackets are placed on the inside rather than the outside of your teeth. While that offers the benefits of permitting a discrete treatment plan, lingual braces tend to work more slowly than traditional braces and may be more uncomfortable than traditional braces given the proximity of your tongue and the metal brackets and wires. Like traditional and ceramic braces, keeping up good oral hygiene habits can be more difficult with lingual braces than while wearing Invisalign aligners, for example.

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