Serving Cherry Creek and Denver, Colorado

For most people, traditional braces remain the best tooth straightening option available. But don’t let the label fool you, “traditional” braces have come a long way in recent years to become much more pleasant to wear.

How Braces Work

Braces work by slowly moving your teeth from their current configuration to a straighter alignment. This is accomplished by means of brackets attached to your teeth and wires that serve to guide the teeth into their final alignment. During periodic visits to the office, your brackets are tightened on the wire, pulling your teeth into alignment with one another.

Your teeth are able to remove because your bones are constantly remodeling themselves in response to pressure, in your jaw more than anywhere else in the body. It does this by constantly absorbing tiny bits of bone and depositing it again. Bone is preferentially removed from places under pressure and placed in places where bone is needed to maintain support. As your braces cause your teeth to put pressure on the bones, the bones are re-engineered around your teeth.

Braces Are Different Today

Although braces mostly still contain the same basic elements as in the past–the arch wire, the brackets, and the ligatures (rubber bands)—these elements are very different. Brackets come in many different styles, and can be clear or tooth-colored. Some of them can even hold onto the wire without ligatures. The wires can be tooth-colored now, and the ligatures can be clear or practically any color or colors you desire.

Many of the new types of wires, brackets, and ligatures also help make braces not only look better, but feel better, with less irritation of gums and cheeks than in the past.

To learn more about the exciting developments in braces, please contact the Cherry Creek office of Ascent Dental for an appointment today.