How Long Will My Orthodontic Treatment Last?

When deciding whether or not to get orthodontic treatment, one of the key considerations for most patients is “just how long will I have to wear braces for exactly”? There is no single answer, because each patient will have to wear braces for different periods of time depending on factors like what are we trying to correct, how old the patient is, what kind of bones the patient has, what kind of braces are being used, and the list goes on. Your orthodontist should have an idea of how many months you will have to wear braces for, and will tell you before putting the device on.

Getting the device on

Getting orthodontics is a many step process. You will have to have an initial consultation session at which a study model will be made of your teeth. This means that the dentist will see what the problem is, take an impression of your bite and build a model of your teeth and design a device that will correct your teeth and shift them to a better position. This may take some time, but is usually done in a week or so. After that, during the second appointment, you will pick out what kind of braces you will get. You can choose what kind of brackets to have, what kind of wire and what sort of ligature if necessary. After that the dentist will make the brace itself based on the study model, and you will have to go back for a third appointment to get the braces adhered to your teeth.

Once the treatment starts

Depending on what sort of problem the device is meant to correct, you may have to wear your device from anywhere between six months and up to three years in very extreme cases. The length of time for an orthodontic treatment is calculated in months, and not infrequently, years. A typical treatment with a fixed orthodontic device usually lasts a little less than two years, but light aesthetic corrections can be done with 6 to 8 months. How long exactly can only be determined during the treatment itself, as the treatment only makes sense if it lasts as long as the desired effects are met. But as these effects can vary greatly from patient to patient, there is only this rough time frame to work with.

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