Braces

You may feel mild soreness for a few days after braces go on and after each adjustment. Most patients describe it as tenderness or pressure when biting down, and it eases as the teeth settle into their new position. Over-the-counter pain relievers and soft foods usually settle it, so yogurt, pasta, soup, and smoothies are worth having in the house for the first day or two.

A new bracket can also rub the inside of your cheek or lip until the tissue toughens up over the first week or so. Where a bracket rubs your cheek, orthodontic wax can soothe the spot: dry the bracket, press a small ball of wax over it, and the rubbing usually eases. Compared with older systems, modern braces are far more comfortable, with lower-profile brackets and lighter wires. Sharp or lasting pain is not part of the process, so call us if something genuinely hurts or a wire starts poking. Waiting until your next scheduled visit only gives a small problem time to get worse.

Yes! Traditional metal braces let you pick the color of your elastic bands, and a fresh choice comes with every adjustment visit, so you are never stuck with one look for long. Go with a favorite mix, match a holiday or your school spirit, or keep things subtle. For plenty of patients it's among the most fun parts of having braces. Very light shades, white in particular, can pick up staining from coffee, curry, tomato sauce, and other strongly colored foods before the next visit, while deeper colors tend to hold their look. Ties on clear ceramic braces are tooth-colored or clear for a discreet look, which is much of the reason patients choose ceramic in the first place, so the color game is really a metal braces perk. Come with an idea or two and our team will help you land on it.

Mechanically they're identical and equally effective, differing only in appearance. Both bond a bracket to each tooth and run an archwire between them, applying the same gentle, continuous pressure, so the two can correct the same crowding, spacing, and bite problems. Metal braces come with small stainless-steel brackets and colorful elastics to personalize, while ceramic braces use tooth-colored brackets that blend into your smile.

The real differences are about looks. That discreet appearance makes clear ceramic braces popular with older teens and adults, particularly anyone in front of people all day at work or with a wedding or graduation on the calendar. Metal braces are the most familiar option, and changing elastic colors lets a teen make treatment feel like their own. Both take the same brushing and the same food precautions, and the ties on ceramic braces are refreshed at every visit so they keep looking their best. Dr. Najjar will walk you through the choice once he has looked at your teeth and heard what matters to you.

Case complexity drives the answer, with most patients in braces somewhere between 18 months and 3 years. How far your teeth have to travel, whether the bite needs correcting as well as the alignment, and how your jaw responds all feed into it. Mild crowding is a shorter road than a significant overbite. A friend's timeline is a poor guide to your own.

Some of it sits with you. Wearing your elastics as directed is one of the biggest things patients control, because teeth stop moving the way the plan expects when elastics are worn only part of the time. Keeping your adjustment visits, roughly every 4–8 weeks, keeps progress steady, and brackets broken on hard or sticky food can add weeks while we repair them and recover the lost ground. At your consultation Dr. Najjar will give you a realistic timeline, and we'll tell you honestly along the way how you are tracking against it.

Not at all. Braces have no age limit, and as long as your teeth and gums are healthy they're effective at any age. The biology that lets teeth move does not switch off with age, provided the bone and gums supporting them are in good shape. That foundation matters more than the number on your birthday, so if there is gum disease, decay, or old dental work needing attention, we would want it dealt with before braces go on.

Improving both the health and the appearance of a smile is why more adults than ever are choosing them. The trigger is often something specific: teeth that have crowded together over the years and turned flossing into a chore, a bite wearing the front teeth unevenly, or a smile that drifted after a childhood retainer was set aside. Many adults choose clear ceramic braces so treatment is less noticeable at work, while metal braces remain the most versatile option when the case is complex. Learn more about adult orthodontics.

The rule behind the list is simple. Anything hard, crunchy, or sticky enough to break a bracket or bend a wire is out for as long as you have braces:

• Ice and hard candy can break a bracket, so leave them alone. Ice is the one people forget counts as food.
• Popcorn and whole nuts. Skip them entirely, kernels included.
• Caramel, taffy, toffee, and chewing gum, sugarless or not. Sticky things tug at wires and cling around brackets, where decay can start.
• Crunchy chips, hard tacos, pizza crust, hard bagels, and pretzels.
• Hard fruits and vegetables, which need cutting into small pieces first. Apples and carrots are the classic bracket-breakers when bitten into whole.
• Anything eaten off a bone or a cob. Ribs and corn both need stripping off first.
• Pens, pencils, and caps. Chewing on them can break a bracket just as easily as food can.

Everything else is still on the table, and softer meals are worth planning for whenever your teeth feel tender after a visit. Brush after every meal and everything stays healthy, since food left sitting around brackets can lead to cavities and white spots on the enamel.

Yes. The bone around your teeth needs time to stabilize once braces come off, and a retainer holds everything in its new position while that happens. The bone and fibers that supported your teeth in their old positions have a memory, so go without one and teeth can gradually shift back. Retention is not an optional extra tacked on at the end. Skipping it puts the result the braces achieved at risk.

Full-time wear comes first for most patients, then a switch to nighttime, and nighttime wear is something we'd ask you to keep up for the long term. Some patients get a fixed retainer, a thin wire bonded quietly behind the front teeth, and Dr. Najjar will recommend the type that suits your case when your braces come off. Bring it to your check-ups so we can confirm it still fits, and let us know if it cracks or starts to feel tight. Teeth can drift in the time a retainer spends sitting in a drawer. See our retainers page for details.

Orthodontic coverage is part of many dental plans, particularly for children and teens, though how much it pays and whether there is a lifetime maximum varies quite a bit between plans. We'll verify your benefits before treatment begins and hand you a clear written estimate showing what your plan is expected to cover and what would be left for you.

If insurance covers only part of the cost, or none of it, that is not the end of the conversation. Payment plans are run in house here, and the schedule gets set to something your family can carry. We take cash, check, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover. You will see the numbers laid out and explained before you commit to anything. Our flexible financing options page has the full picture on paying for braces.