Orthodontics for Kids, Teens, and Adults

No. Orthodontics carries no age limit, and more adults than ever are straightening their teeth, for health, for appearance, or both. As long as your teeth and gums are healthy, treatment can be effective at any age. What changes with age is the planning, and an adult consultation spends more of its time on it. Dr. Najjar will go through what is realistic in your case and which options genuinely fit it. Our adult orthodontics page is the fuller answer, and it covers what treatment looks like later in life.

Complexity drives the timeline. A simple case handled with clear aligners can finish in as little as 6–12 months, while a more involved one treated with traditional braces may run 18 months to 3 years. What sets the length is how far the teeth have to move and whether the bite itself needs correcting, not just how the front teeth look in a photograph. Growth counts as well, since a child's jaw can be guided in ways an adult's cannot.

Your own habits shape the rest of it. Aligners only work while they are in your mouth, elastics only work while they are being worn, and a missed adjustment visit or a repair appointment for a broken bracket pushes the finish date back. Expect a realistic timeline from Dr. Najjar at your consultation, and an honest update at your visits if the case is moving faster or slower than planned.

You may notice mild soreness for a few days once braces go on, and again after each adjustment appointment. That is normal, and over-the-counter pain relievers typically handle it. Most people describe pressure or tenderness when biting, and it fades as the teeth begin to settle. Softer food for a day or two, cold drinks, and eating a little more slowly carry you through the worst of it.

Compared with older systems, today's braces are much more comfortable, and clear aligners feel similar in their own way, with a snug tightness for a day whenever you start a new tray. None of that should stop you eating, sleeping, or getting on with your day. If it does, get in touch and we'll take a look.

Two things decide it, how complex your case is and what suits your lifestyle. Clear aligners handle mild to moderate issues well, and their advantage is being nearly invisible and removable, so nothing comes off the menu and brushing and flossing stay normal. That advantage depends on wearing them for the great majority of the day, so trays suit a patient who will put them back in after every meal.

The more complex the case, the more traditional braces make sense. Fixed brackets give more control when there is significant crowding or a bite to correct, and braces work around the clock with nothing for you to remember. Both are proven, so it comes down to fit. Dr. Najjar will examine your teeth and bite and talk you through which appliance suits the result you are after. Learn more about invisible braces.

Plan on a first visit by age 7, the age the American Association of Orthodontists recommends for an initial evaluation. Enough permanent teeth are through by then for developing problems to show, and enough growth is still ahead for those problems to be steered. Crossbites, severe crowding, a narrow upper jaw, and habits such as thumb-sucking are all easier to influence at that stage than once growth has finished.

Early treatment, known as Phase 1, works on jaw growth and on space while both are still changing. Whether your child is a candidate for it is exactly what an age-7 check is for, and it is one Dr. Najjar would rather answer from an examination than from a guess. Our early orthodontics page goes through how that visit works, what would prompt a Phase 1 recommendation, and what happens if the answer is to wait.

The number comes out of how involved your case is and how long you are in treatment, so you will not find a price on this page. Quoting one would mean putting a figure in front of people whose cases we have not seen. A short course of aligners for mild crowding and a full course of braces with a bite correction are different pieces of work, and the only way to give you a real number is to look at your teeth first.

The consultation itself is complimentary. We have offices in Milwaukee, Greenfield, Beloit, and Roscoe, and Dr. Najjar will explain at that visit what your case needs. Nothing gets started until you have a clear written estimate in hand. Your insurance benefits are checked before that estimate is drawn up, so your likely coverage is already factored into it, and the balance goes onto a plan we run ourselves, with no third-party lender involved. The full details sit on our financing and payment options page.

Orthodontic coverage is common in dental insurance plans, particularly for children; for adults it varies by plan. What differs most between plans is how much of the fee they pay, the size of any lifetime orthodontic maximum, and how the benefit arrives, up front or spread across treatment. Those details move your out-of-pocket number considerably, so we look them up for you.

We accept most dental insurance, work with all carriers, and file your claims as a courtesy so you are not left chasing paperwork. Orthodontic benefits behave differently from ordinary dental ones, which catches people out: many pay a set share of the total course rather than a percentage per visit, and most carry a lifetime cap that does not reset each year.

Yes. Without one, teeth can gradually drift back toward their original positions, so holding them in place is the retainer's whole job. That holds true after braces and after aligners alike. Most patients wear one full-time for a few months, then move to nighttime-only wear long-term. Dr. Najjar will recommend what suits your case as treatment finishes. Our retainers page goes into the types, the wear schedule, and how to look after one.