How Long Do You Have to Wear Metal Braces?

What Is the Average Braces Treatment Time?

Generally speaking, the average amount of time that a patient has metal or ceramic braces on is between 1 and 3 years. Most people fall somewhere in the middle and have braces for 2 years, but again, everyone is different. Our local orthodontist can provide you with a more concrete timeline after evaluating your teeth and jaws.

Read More → Getting Braces? Here’s What to Expect

It’s important to keep in mind during treatment that while your smile may seem good to go or like your braces are ready to come off, the process is not to be rushed. Bones take time to set and removing braces too soon can potentially undo any progress that’s been made in terms of alignment correction. Failing to wear rubber bands or eating foods that damage brackets and wires can also impact the time you have traditional metal braces on.

The Amount of Time You Wear Braces Will Depend On:

1. How Severe or Complex Your Dental Issues Are

This is probably the biggest determining factor when it comes to straightening teeth with metal braces. The degree to which your teeth are misaligned or the existence of bite problems will play into how your treatment plan is structured by our team.

The following dental issues may prolong your orthodontic treatment:

• Overbite
• Underbite
• Open bite (top and bottom teeth don’t come together)
• Cross bite
• Severe crowding that requires tooth extraction
• Crookedness of teeth
• Wide spacing between teeth

2. Your Age (Child vs. Teen vs. Adult)

You are never too old to receive braces. In fact, more adults than ever are choosing treatment and according to current statistics from the American Association of Orthodontics (AAO), 1 in 4 orthodontic patients is an adult. That’s great!

At our DeLand, FL, orthodontics office, we offer dental braces as well as clear aligners for adults wanting straighter teeth. While our orthodontist encourages patients of all ages to seek the treatment they need for better oral health and aesthetics, there is one thing to consider: your jaws.

A child or teen’s jaws are still growing and their teeth will move into new positions easier compared to an adult. That’s because an adult’s teeth have been in place longer, thus requiring more effort to move. In other words, the bone is more dense. Metal braces for adults are absolutely possible, but they can take slightly longer to get the job done due to this reason.

3. Your Level of Cooperation Throughout Treatment

Missing or delaying checkup appointments with our orthodontist and staff will not keep your treatment on track. Quite the contrary, actually. If you want to have your braces removed on time, it’s important that you visit our office as often as instructed.

From your child’s first orthodontic appointment (or yours) on, we’ll tighten and adjust the braces so progress is made on schedule. Neglecting these visits or not properly caring for your braces will only set you back and could result in additional corrections being needed.