Achieve Your Perfect Smile With Our Braces
At Angel Orthodontics we offer a variety of orthodontic treatments, including different types of braces. If you’re looking to realign or straighten your teeth for that perfect smile then you’re in the right place.
While regular metal braces are still widely used, clear braces and lingual braces are becoming increasingly popular along with removable orthodontic appliances such as Invisalign ®, that can be used for mild cases of misaligned and crooked teeth.
Upon your first visit to our Angel Orthodontics practice you will get an initial consultation by our expert orthodontists where you’ll be advised on which braces are the perfect match for you. Here we provide you with the basics about the different kinds of braces we have available and what they do for you.
You might need braces if
- Your teeth are crooked and your confidence is affected
- Your jaws are in a position that creates uncomfortable sounds or makes chewing troublesome
- Your teeth are misaligned, which can cause irritations such as biting your cheeks or tongue
- Your adult teeth haven’t developed properly as you lost your baby teeth too early
- You have a protruding or recessed jaw
Fixed Braces
Fixed traditional braces are also know as ‘train track braces’ and there are currently 4 different types we provide:
1. Metal Braces
Metal braces are the most common type. They are popular with teenagers as they can be brightened up with different colours to make the smile unique. They are made of high-grade stainless steel brackets, which are fixed to your teeth and connected with arch wires.
These shaped metal brackets in connection with the arch wire, which is bent to reflect your “ideal” bite, gently move your teeth into the desired position using pressure. In other words, it reflects the way we want you to look after treatment. The wire threads through the brackets and, as the wire tries to return to its original shape, it applies pressure to move your teeth. Your braces are at work every moment of your orthodontic treatment.
Picture your tooth resting in your jawbone. With pressure on one side from the arch wire, the bone on the other side gives way. The tooth moves, and new bone grows in behind.
2. Ceramic or Clear Braces
Ceramic cosmetic braces are a less noticeable orthodontic appliance compared to metal braces as they consist of 
clear, translucent brackets. They are popular due to their cosmetic appeal.
They work just in the same way as metal braces, with the main difference being white elastic modules are used in place of stainless-steel wire, making the train track braces discreet and hardly noticeable.
3. Lingual Braces
Lingual Braces also fixed braces with the difference of being placed on the inside of the mouth on the inner surface of 
the teeth. So correct tooth positioning can be achieved without the braces being visible. There is no age restriction, provided the periodontal tissues are fundamentally intact, i.e. the teeth are still relatively firmly fixed in the bone. There may be some tongue irritations and speech difficulties initially but soon after the fitting this will improve as you get used to your lingual braces.
4. Self-ligating Braces
Self-ligating braces are an advanced form of metal braces which do not require O-rings or elastics. Conventional braces are tied in with elastics, which cause friction and pressure, making treatment slower and less comfortable.
Self-ligating braces hold the wire in and lock it in place themselves like a gate. They use a slide mechanism to hold the wire, which allows teeth to move more freely, quickly and comfortably. Self-Ligating Braces were designed to be discreet, comfortable and easy to keep clean.
Without the O-rings or elastics, which attract and collect plaque, self-ligating braces enable you to maintain optimal dental health and hygiene throughout your treatment. There are both ceramic and metal self ligating brackets on the market.
Removable Braces
These are used to move and straighten your teeth using gentle tipping. They can tip the crowns of your teeth but do not so much change the position of the roots.
They are used in combination with other orthodontic devices such as springs, screws and bite-planes to help with mild cases of cross bites, deep overbites and alignment of mild crowding.
Invisalign Braces
Invisalign treatment consists of a series of clear removable plastic aligners worn over the teeth. They are almost 
invisible. Invisalign is made with 3-D computer imaging technology and it allows you to view your own virtual treatment plan when you start, so you can see how your straight teeth will look when your treatment is complete.
It is not suitable for everyone which can be established at your initial consultation if this is the method best suited to give you a perfect smile.
Normally each aligner is worn for approximately 2 weeks before moving on to the next aligner, as long as your teeth have moved into the correct position. They should only be removed when eating, drinking, brushing, and flossing. You’ll visit the practice about once every 6 weeks to ensure that your treatment is progressing as planned.
Total treatment time is usually 9-15 months and the average number of aligners worn during one course of treatment is between 18 and 30, but both will vary from case to case. Learn more about Invisalign or visit their website at http://www.invisalign.com.
Functional Braces
Some dental problems that orthodontists are trained to deal with involve correcting jaw disharmonies using dentofacial 
orthopaedics. In younger, still developing patients, functional appliances can be used to balance the jaws better, achieve good facial muscle function and create natural facial proportions.
Functional appliances are available in many forms such as Twin Block, Activators, Bionators, and Frankels to only name a few of those available at Angel Orthodontics. After your initial orthodontic assessment we can advise you on which functional appliances would work best for your requirements.
Orthodontic assessments can be done from the age of 6 years, but are predominantly conducted when 10-11 years of age as the treatment has to be timed with the growth spurt. These appliances can be designed to not only move teeth but also correct the alignment of the jaws which hold the teeth. The most common objective is to correct an underdeveloped lower jaw.
Functional appliances can sometimes be used alone to correct an orthodontic problem, but are often required in combination with another orthodontic treatment, using functional appliances as well as fixed appliances.