Eager to learn more about braces before you have one fitted?

Our team are the leading orthodontic experts in Stoke and will always aim to provide you with the fastest and most effective brace, to help you get the smile you deserve quickly.

Here, our team answers the most common questions that we receive about orthodontics in Stoke.

Why would I need a brace or aligner?

Orthodontics in Stoke are used by our team when someone has a dental misalignment.

This can be moderate, such as a few teeth that are out of line with the others, or more severe, where someone’s upper and lower jaw do not mesh and they need to have molar rotation.

The idea behind braces has long been thought of as purely cosmetic but that is not the case; there are many health-based advantages to having braces or aligners if you need them, including better digestion, a lower incidence of tooth decay and a more varied diet. But of course, there is nothing wrong with having a perfectly aligned smile anyway!

Is it easier to wear a brace as a child?

There has long been a myth about wearing braces and aligners, relating to their efficiency and comfort.

You may have heard growing up that braces are only effective if worn in the first 15 years of life, or that adult based braces are more uncomfortable. In recent studies, there has been no evidence to support either of these theories. Yes, in adulthood your teeth are more set in place, but they can still move of their own accord and are often doing so, hence why many adults only need a brace or aligner later in life. And concerning discomfort, there is no such thing as a completely comfortable brace or other orthodontic tool, so children and adults alike can expect to find braces a bit sore at times.

Do you always need to have teeth extracted to wear a brace?

There are only a few instances whereby you would need to have teeth extracted before wearing a brace.

The first is if there is overcrowding, and our team needs to make room for the teeth that are out of line. Alternatively, if you have severely misaligned teeth, our team may decide to remove a tooth or teeth to make room for the movement that we predict will happen.

Can you end up using more than one kind of brace during treatment?

Yes, you can but this is usually up to the discretion of our dentist.

We may choose to start your realignment treatment with a standard or fitted brace and, once we have corrected the more complicated aspects of your teeth, we may move on to an invisible aligner.

This is usually performed to ensure that you have discretion with your treatment and to make sure that your dental hygiene remains in top shape.

How many different types of orthodontics in Stoke devices are there?

Quite a few that are commonly known about!

There is the standard orthodontic brace, the one that is made from metal and is used for more extreme cases of dental misalignment. Then, there are lingual braces that are similar, except they are attached to the back of the teeth rather than the front.

Clear braces are also made from metal, except the brackets that attach the wire to your teeth are made from plastic that is either clear or tooth coloured. And finally, there are invisible aligners, such as Invisalign.