Crowding of the teeth
Ashley started treatment at age 11. She never smiled. Kids teased her about her “fangs.” She wore an expander for four months and braces for 17 months. Ashley’s mother says “Now, she never quits smiling!”
Open bite: Front teeth don't touch
Donovan sucked his thumb as a young boy. He started treatment at age 13. He had braces and a special appliance called a tongue crib, which he wore for 6 months, to retrain his tongue. This was followed by braces for 18 months. Darren can now bite “lettuce out of a sandwich”! Go Donovan!
Deep overbite: Lower front teeth bite into palate
Jimmy, age 25, required braces and jaw surgery to correct his severe overbite, with treatment taking just two years. Jimmy’s friends didn’t even know he had lower teeth! His problem may have been corrected without surgery if he had been treated when he was a growing teenager. But now he loves his new smile and bite and gets compliments all the time!
Missing lateral incisors
Sarah never developed two of her upper front teeth so she had unattractive spacing. She wore braces for 20 months to move her teeth into their correct positions, then the missing teeth were replaced with bonded kevlar resin bridges. Now that is something to smile about.
Underbite: Lower front teeth in front of upper teeth
As an adult, Max’s underbite was causing him jaw joint discomfort and excessive wear on his permanent teeth. Now after 18 months of treatment, he finds smiling and chewing much easier. No more bull dog bite!
Spacing of teeth
Bob was bothered by the spaces between his teeth. Braces closed the spaces and gave him an ideal bite in 17 months. Special glued-in permanent retainers behind the teeth help keep the spaces closed.
Overjet: Protruding front teeth
At age eight, Michael had a big overbite with the top teeth protruding beyond the bottom. He had two phases of treatment. The first phase helped develop his jaw sizes and get rid of crowding. The second phase aligned his teeth and got rid of the overbite. At age 13, he was proudly displaying his new smile.
Non-braces treatment
Sometimes braces are not needed to get noticeable improvements in tooth alignment. Lauren was first seen at age seven for crowding of the lower permanent teeth. A procedure was performed to adjust the width of the adjacent baby teeth, and the permanent incisors aligned on their own in nine months.
Phase One
When they brought him to the orthodontist at age eight, AJ’s parents were concerned about the appearance and health of their sons’ erupting permanent teeth. The lower front teeth were crowded and touching the palate, and the upper front teeth were extremely displaced from their normal positions. After 11 months of Phase-One treatment with an expander and partial braces, AJ had a really nice change.
