It’s a pretty classic question, fairly obvious to ask so I usually explain it before a patient asks me…. but after I know what sort of treatment they need.
It’s a bit glib, but it depends. I think readers might be looking for more than that, and patients certainly need to know more than that, so I thought I’d go into it with a bit more detail. How long treatment takes will depend on a few different things and some of them are more predictable than others.
Firstly, there are different types of treatment for different problems so depending on what’s wrong with the teeth the treatment will take different lengths of time.
Secondly, some treatments involve waiting for teeth to erupt and that’s an individual biological process that varies wildly from one patient to the next and I’ve no control over it and very little ability to predict it accurately. But I can’t move on to the next bit until I have the right combination of teeth present. Not necessarily all of the adult teeth, but enough of the necessary ones.
Thirdly, all the treatments work within the individual biological, anatomical, physiological aspects of any patient, and these things will influence the length of the treatment. Strong biting muscles, lip or tongue habits, adverse growth patterns can slow treatment down. I have had a couple of guys, only two in 20 years, that stick in my mind for their ability to regularly break the strongest steel wires I can fit on their braces. No fault of their own, just the way their jaws and muscles work combined with the dental problems they had.
Fourthly, when I provide treatment for someone, there will be an amount of cooperation that I need from them to get them the best results. Orthodontics is a collaboration between the patient and the orthodontist. Someone who keeps all their appointments, keeps their teeth and gums clean, takes care about what they eat, doesn’t chew their pens and snap the brackets off the teeth, checks their braces daily and reports brace problems as soon as they notice, wears their elastics bands as advised, wears removable braces (including aligners) as expected will see their treatment progress much quicker.
Fifthly, there are a few things outside of my control and the patient’s control. Particularly when it involves a combination of dentists or other health care providers. I have had patients in treatment who fell into comas, or were hospitalised for serious treatment. Trying to coordinate with implant providers, or a surgeon as part of an orthognathic plan can extend the treatment considerably. Particularly if there are social factors involved, like waiting for a summer holiday to recover from an operation.
So how long do braces take…gimme an answer, Steve!
A simple crossbite in a patient under 10 usually corrects in a few weeks or months
A palate expander usually takes 4-6 weeks of regular adjustment to get the result I’d like (maybe 8 weeks for very narrow palates), but I will usually want the patient to wear the brace for a few more months as the upper jaw stabilises and then there might be other things we’ll need to do before I can make a transition to the next brace.
Where baby teeth have been lost ahead of time, space maintainer braces might be on for a couple of years while we wait for adult teeth to come through at the normal time.
Twin block braces are usually 6 months to 9 months and really depend on good cooperation and being worn enough hours of the day.
Fixed braces, the classic “train track” braces, are usually on for a couple of years, maybe less in simpler treatments, maybe longer in the more complicated ones.
Aligners (like Invisalign) can be very rapid for simple problems but longer than fixed braces for the more complicated ones. It’s my job to inform the patients when they’ll work best and when they won’t, so in practice they tend to be faster than fixed braces because I’ll be using them in situations when they work well.
And retainers are for happily ever after. I stress the ever after.
But which of these treatments are the ones that you will have?
That depends on your teeth.
And your face.
And you.