Tooth Braces and Orthodontic Braces can move and straighten teeth. Sometimes people benefit by having brace work first, then any other cosmetic treatment after. We also provide Braces where it is mainly the position of teeth that are the problem, due to uneveness or crooked teeth or the way they bite, different tooth braces can help solve different problems. We also use Tooth Braces, which can be fixed-in or removable, to better position teeth before further Cosmetic Dentistry or other treatments like Veneers, Crowns or Bridges, to improve the final cosmetic smile and bite, as well as minimise the amount of tooth that would need removing if braces weren't used.

Brace Choices:

 There are a number of different types of Braces, but they generally fall into two broad kinds, Removable Braces on a Plate, or Fixed Braces with rectangular brackets on each tooth and a wire, which are often all metal (like train-tracks) but can be done so they are tooth-coloured and look less unsightly, like the picture below:

In general, Fixed Braces work the quickest and produce better results, because they link all the teeth together and are active all the time, even when you are asleep and of course, compliance is good because you cannot take them out and give-up too easily, on a whim. Here at the SmileSpecialist® Centre the most commonly requested Brace we get asked for are fast White Braces that are fixed to teeth and produce the desired Cosmetic improvement in Front Teeth in a matter of Months, rather than the trditional 2 or 3 years of Brace Treatment - see Faster Braces like FastWhiteBracesTM.

Also removable Braces are useful when you just want to maybe move a few teeth and the patient needs to be able to totally remove the brace for say Photos or public speaking, but they do tend to be bulkier in the mouth and can get more easily damaged or even lost, because they are removed every day to clean.

Often to be seen on the NHS, you have to be assessed as your problem being sufficiently bad enough to warrant treatment - put simply there is a scale marked out of 50 and you have to score higher than 36 on this scale to be eligible for NHS Braces. Once that has been established, then there are other criteria like you must be looking after your mouth very well already, as braces need even better cleaning than teeth as they trap food etc, so if you can't clean your teeth properly without a brace in your mouth, that is a reason to refuse treatment too. Then you go onto a waiting list which can be 1 ,2 or even 3 years in some areas, depending upon demand for the limited NHS funding for Braces.

Thus if you score less than 36/50 on the IOTN scale or wish to be seen and treated sooner or wish to have something more Cosmetically pleasing than all metal or to take advantage of some of the newer advances in Braces like FastWhiteBracesTM or Invisalign etc, then this will be Private treatment, which just means you pay directly for Treatment but have more choice about what kind of Braces you have and by whom!

Metal braces though can work very well indeed and many children and even adults do decorate these with different coloured elastics around the metal brackets, to personalise these and make them more fun - see the picture below for an example of this:

Please read below for FastWhiteBracesTM, Orthodontic Tooth Brace information and straightening teeth information too.

Want to know when Tooth Straightening Braces are needed?

Tooth Braces are used to help teeth to move into a better functional or cosmetic position. They can also influence jaw growth if timed early. Malocclusion is the dental term for teeth that don't fit together properly. Orthodontics is the branch of dentistry that corrects malocclusions. The size of teeth and how they fit into a person's jaw are inherited traits. Some people are lucky and naturally have straight teeth.
Others aren't so lucky. Also, habits like thumb-sucking can also put pressure on teeth and cause a malocclusion. Missing teeth can cause a bad bite to develop, as well; the teeth around a space will shift, throwing off the entire bite. A malocclusion that isn't corrected can really affect a person's profile and appearance. It may also contribute to tooth decay, bone destruction, jaw joint problems, and headaches.
Correcting your bite through orthodontic treatment can improve your dental health as well as your smile. Many Adults we see today tell us that they have no problems Eating or biting together with their back teeth, their main concern are the uneven front teeth.Obviously Jaw growth has finished in adults, so their MAIN complaint is a cosmetic one, rather than a functional one. Thus Traditional Braces for those who DON'T want years of traditional braces treatment, but just straighter teeth, tended to either be given NO shorter Orthodontic Braces alternative OR had Restorative options such as Crowns or Veneers, but sometimes this required a LOT of tooth removal to even up better the very uneven front teeth - or patients did nothing and became increasingly dis-satisfied with their Smiles, appearance and even in some cases their self-confidence suffered too.

But now there is another way......click on Faster Braces like FastWhiteBracesTM to read how they can they really work for Adults in Months rather than Years ?

The great news is, at the Smile Specialist Centre we can provide even more advanced Cosmetic Braces, a technology learned from the USA, so that YOU can benefit from Fast and Cosmetic Orthodontic Tooth Braces. You don't need to be a super-star to get Super-Star options and it may well cost less than you think, for this Latest option in the UK. Now look at the picture below - yes this young lady who is nearly at the end of her FastWhiteBracesTM treatment, which is SO MUCH MORE than just having tooth-coloured brackets and wires, because the technique, design, planning and application is unique too, that's why there is simply nothing else that compares toFastWhiteBracesTM treatments and materials !!!

Orthodontic Retention after Bracework!

In ALL forms of Orthodontics now (Slow Traditional or Quick FastWhiteBraces) science has shown that moved teeth are prone to "rebound", which means the natural tendency is for teeth is to drift back to their original positions when the braces are stopped being
worn. This means you HAVE TO WEAR A RETAINER for the rest of your life basically, or risk relapse and reversal of the improvements made. We can provide FIXED retainers, which are bonded behind your front 6 teeth OR removal retainers that are like thin bleaching trays !

Whilst Fixed tooth retainers placed on the inside (tongue-side) of teeth are not normally visible, you can see in the picture above that if you open wide and laugh and someome is viewing you from high above, then with a close-up photo lens they may see some of the thin metal bar that is bonded behind the front six teeth, to make sure they stay in line. Can you recognise who the above person is ? Clue = the nose shape and they are famous !

there are a number of different kinds of retainers that can be glued behind your teeth now, which although not normally visible, can be made of more cosmetic materials so they are metal-free and even more unlikely to show than this metal bar hidden behind the teeth.

The above person is 27 years old now (2010) and finished his Ortho Braces 11 years ago, but the standard advice now is if you have had Traditional Ortho Brace Treatment over several years (as above) or shorter term FastWhiteBracesTM, you will need retention for life to ensure you do not suffer relapse. Did you guess who it was - well here is the full face picture below to show Braces really can be for everyone!

Prince William photographed recently - did you notice the Family resemblence to Princess Di ?

It may be you've had previous Traditional bracework that has now reversed without using a retainer and now as an older Adult you simply want your teeth to be straighter/nicer in the smile, WITHOUT going through all the complex and long-drawn-out treatment times of Traditional Orthodontics. At the Smile Specialist Centre, we can certainly help you with FastWhiteBracesTM in average time of 4-8months BUT you will still require a Retainer after treatment to avoid repeat treatment and repeat costs. Because retention is for life now, we would recommend the fixed-in retainers which apart from an occasional re-glue every 5-10 years, are far more reliable than removable retainers, not as easy to lose or forget or get fed-up of wearing, but we can discuss this further when assessing you at your Cosmetic Smile Consultation. Indeed you may feel you would benefit most by a combination of otions such as FastWhiteBraces, whitening, the odd bit of re-countouring/shaping/bonding, a cosmetic Veneer etc, etc.We can discuss these and all other aspects after examining you for a Cosmetic Smile Consultation, for Braces or other Smile improvement options.

Here at our Smile Specialist Centre, we will not limit your options and choices, but clearly everyone has different problems and may wish for different solutions, from Traditional Orthodontic Brace treatment over Years, to FastWhiteBracesTM over Months, to faster but more invasive Restorative Treatments over weeks to maybe no treatments at all ! However we cannot possibly give you ALL the options without examining you first AND taking the time for you to ask questions, have a proper written estimate and go through the Pros and Cons for your preferred choices, so we book out the time to do this thoroughly and expertly with you - the cost is £99 for a 45 minute appointment at our Smile Specialist Centre, Haworth, West Yorkshire. Good value for GREAT personal advice!

That is a small price to pay to get a thorough Examination and discussion of your particular wishes, needs and possible options that best meet your needs and budget. We will of course give as much info. free on our very informative dental website, but if you need to know more or get a personal opinion as to which options will meet your needs best, then there is NO substitute for a personal examination from someone who can give you ALL the choices!

Are there any side-effects or complications with wearing Braces?

The main problems are usually related to oral hygiene cleaning around the brackets and wires - unless one can already clean teeth well to a high standard without braces in place, then most orthodontists and Dentists will refuse treatment, because there is no point in having straight rotten teeth with lots of decayed holes in them when finished!Any Braces will inevitably trap more food, plaque and debis around them, making a dirtier mouth prone to tooth decay and gumproblems.This will always cause more decay and cavities, especially if treatment takes YEARS, but even wearing Fast White Braces for Months rather than years, not cleaning these properly can still lead to the enamel weakening in say a 6 month period and gums becoming inflamed and bleeding due to the extra bacteria and food trapping, though the much shorter time-scale of Treatment for FastWhiteBracesTM does mean the risks to teeth and gums are much lower and even good cleaning habits (rather than ideal 100% cleaning often demanded by some Orthodontists) will still be OK, though we would ALWAYS encourage people doing their best efforts to keep their teeth and gums healthy and reduce the number of Sugar attacks in your daily eating, which is good advice even if you don't wear Braces and you want your teeth to have a good chance of lasting a lifetime - that could be 100 years !!!

Other potential problems are some pain and dis-comfort initially as the teeth start to move - only rarely does this cause treatment to be abandoned and one of the BIGGEST suprises to patients is that unlike the extensive metal Fixed Braces in the picture above, our FastWhiteBracesTM work by using very LIGHT Forces on teeth (sometimes less is more effective), but like wearing new shoes, there is often some discomfort and just getting used to something new at first, but in the main, 99% of people adapt quickly and soon get used to such FastWhiteBracesTM.When some teeth are moved long-distances through the bone or heavy, prolonged forces are applied for more than a year, then there is a risk some teeth can become non-vital (dead nerve) and need root canal treatment later or the roots can resorb (dissolve) away a bit due to being moved through the bone with heavy forces. However, fortunately these complications are rare and the vast majority of orthodontic braces treatment is successful and of course the shorter-treatment times and light forces involved with FastWhiteBracesTM treatments, lower these risks even further, but nothing in life is risk-free, not even just crossing the road sadly. We will discuss these and other considerations after we have given you a thorough examination and discussed your particular needs.

How long does Normal Brace Treatment take and why is it usually years?

Orthodontic Braces treatment often does take years, because back teeth move so slowly through bone and traditional Braces treatment is looking to create an ideal bite on back teeth, perhaps expanding arches and the jaw bones from front to back too, to correct differences in relative size of the upper and lower jaw bones . Of course Traditional Braces may be ideal in the 11-14 year old child where such large bone-changes are desirable longer term, but what happens if the patient refuses treatment because the timescale of years is not acceptable for some reason - are these patients offered an alternative Orthodontic Brace option ? Well for many the answer was NO and now in adulthood these people are still very unhappy with the looks/position of their teeth. Obviously as Adults bone growth has finished and the bone around teeth, if anything, has got more dense and hard, meaning if they seek Traditional Orthodontics as Adults, they find Treatment takes even longer, possibly 2 - 3 years and they don't like the idea of wearing full metal "train-tracks" for such a long period of time either !

Clearly there are a number of options to consider and not everyone is suitable for braces or other alternative treatments.
Your Dentist or Specialist can discuss ALL the options with you, perhaps including Traditional and unique FastWhiteBracesTM options, Restorative etc.

FastWhiteBracesTM or Removable bulky plates or Traditional Metal or Ceramic slower versions - you decide !

You can use the above website menu or just click-a-link here for Specialist or Advanced aspects of Faster Braces like FastWhiteBracesTM Cosmetic Dentistry, Tooth Veneers, Tooth Whitening, Dental Tooth Implants and smaller Mini-Implants, Dental Ceramic Crowns, Gum Diseases and Bad Breath, Root Canal treatments or Dental CPD Courses, are just some of the subjects you can learn more about here on our award winning dental website www.smilespecialist.co.uk.