Why Do I Need Braces Again Now When I Had Them As A Child?
You had braces as a child but you are not happy with your smile now.
What could have not have resulted in you needing to consider braces again as an adult?
You Didn’t Complete Treatment
Often teenagers get fed up with braces and decide to abandon their treatment before it is complete.
Often orthodontic treatment is planned as a two-phase process in complex cases. Here two sets of braces are planned at two different times. You or your parents might have decided to skip the second phase of treatment if your teeth looked fine after phase one.
The problems you are seeing now could have originated because you didn’t finish your original treatment.
You Stopped Wearing Your Retainer
Now a days anyone completing brace treatment is advised to use some sort or retainer for the rest of their life to ensure that the smile they worked so hard for remains intact. Retainers can take the form of a wire glued out of sight on the backs of the teeth or a removable retainer worn at night – or a combination of both.
In previous years the dental profession didn’t understand the importance of life long retention so you may have been advised to stop after a period of time or you may have been given the modern advice but not followed it.
People who don’t wear their retainers will experience a gradual and progressive shift in the positions of their teeth over their lifetime. The degree and speed of that shift is unpredictable but once teeth start to cross they tend to continue to move further in the same direction.
Dental Health Changes
All sorts of things can change in your mouth and start a chain reaction that results in your teeth moving to less straight positions.
Teeth may shift as an individual gets older and the bite can change. A corrected overbite may recur even if you wore your retainer as you were supposed to. You will require braces again in adulthood to correct teeth that have moved into unnatural positions. An incorrect bite will be associated with problems such as chewing, speech and TMJ disorder.
Could My Wisdom Teeth Be To Blame?
Wisdom teeth appear between the ages of 17 and 21 years at which point orthodontic treatment will have been completed. The jaw will have gotten smaller with age and the appearance of wisdom teeth will adversely affect your straight smile. It will necessitate a second set of braces and removal of the wisdom teeth.
If you are not happy with the positions of your teeth now then we would be happy to see you for a consultation to discuss options for making them straight again or making them appear straighter.
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I qualified as a dentist in 1995 and can honestly say that I have been doing a job that I love for the past 20 plus years. Most people who know me well know that dentistry is a passion for me and that if I won the lottery I would still want to have some dentistry in my life. I get huge satisfaction from treating patients and making a difference to ...
Cath joined the practice as a dentist in 2002. She and Ashley met on their postgraduate Vocational Training course in Birmingham when they ended up working at the same practice in West Bromwich. When Ashley was looking for an associate at Balsall Common Dental Practice, Cath came to take the role and she has been here ever since. In 2017 Cath...
Ashley patiently talked me through all the possible options for having implants, and ensured that I had all the information I needed to take the best decisions. It has been a 3 year process, and he has worked closely with the orthodontist to ensure that, at each stage, I knew what to expect, and the things I needed to do to make sure I had the best outcome I could. All the way through, I have felt in very safe hands, and I have felt that my best interests were being looked after at all times. It has been a complex process, but I couldn’t be happier with the result.- read more
- Sara Hayes
I have always been very impressed with the standard of cutomer care you recieve at Balsall Common Dental Practice. I have been going to see Dr Ashley Daveport for many years, along with my children. Ashley and his team have gone out of their way to make my whole family feel at ease and given us all top quality Dentistry work. Currently I am half way through correcting my teeth with clear ratainers. I am a teacher and the children have not noticed me wearing them. They are a great product and as an adult, are a more favourable alternative to a fixed brace. Finally the children love coming to the Dentist to get their stickers and to play on the Nintendo, while waiting for mummy and daddy.- read more
- Emma Lawless
Treatment at Balsall Common Dental Practice is changing my life!
I was extremely fearful of dentistry in general due to a bad past experience at another practice. Consequently I had not visited any dentist in quite some time. Old fillings were failing badly, some teeth were broken and a crown had snapped off in the front of my mouth. I had trained myself to speak without showing my top teeth and smile with my mouth firmly shut.
This dentist has restored my smile, my confidence and my faith in dentistry!
I would, and have recommended this dentist without reservation to everyone. I can't stop smiling! Thank you so much.- read more