Oldham Orthodontics
For many years, traditional fixed braces have had a bad rap. They were highly visible and often quite uncomfortable to wear, with the brackets rubbing off the inside of your mouth and leaving the flesh sore. In recent years, removable braces such as Invisalign clear aligners have rapidly increased in popularity, but there are many reasons why fixed braces still provide a brilliant solution for teeth straightening.
Ceramic braces are fitted to the front of your teeth and use clear or tooth coloured brackets, with metal wires running through. As a result, they are much less noticeable than traditional metal braces. However, there are more discreet fixed braces available – Lingual braces are probably the most discreet type of brace. Whilst lingual braces use metal brackets and wires, they are fixed to the back of the teeth; as a result, they are only likely to be seen by an orthodontist.
There are some more severe alignment issues that clear aligners are unable to fully treat. For the best results for more severely crooked teeth, underbites and overbites, fixed braces can achieve much better final results.
As fixed braces are kept in place throughout treatment, treatment is much more reliable and consistent. Removable clear aligners may make it easier to eat and clean your teeth, however, it can be easy to forget to wear them all the time, and treatment can be less effective as a result.
As well as the common grey metal that is associated with fixed braces, brackets and wires can be provided in different colours to suit your personality, or if you would rather be more discreet, ceramic braces use subtle clear or tooth coloured brackets. The bands that are used to tighten the braces are also available in a wide variety of colours.
One of the biggest grievances that people have had with fixed braces in the past is that the brackets were large and uncomfortable. As the brackets are now smaller than they used to be, they don’t rub against the inside of the mouth so much, so soreness is less of a problem.
