If you've had extensive dental work done in the past, you may wonder if you're a good candidate for braces. Plenty of adults seek orthodontic treatment after having crowns, bridges, and implants. It simply comes down your dentist helping you choose between a fixed or a removable brace to improve the alignment of your teeth. Here are some special circumstances that could affect what type of braces you get.
How Do Braces Work?
To understand why a crown, bridge, or implant could affect your braces, you should know exactly how braces work. Your teeth have tiny ligaments, comparable to those little rubber bands that most people associate with braces. These ligaments are what hold the teeth in place against your jawbone. They also act like mini shock absorbers and allow your teeth to move back and forth slightly as you chew your food.
With metal or fixed braces, your orthodontist will use rubber bands to deliver a mechanical pulling, so the ligaments on one side of the teeth stretch as the ligaments on the other side shrink. Over time, the ligaments "learn" their new position and your teeth stay where the braces have held them over the months.
The removable or invisible braces are the plastic trays that slip over the teeth, and they are designed to move your teeth slowly over time. In general, fixed brackets tend to be favorable over removable braces because the removable ones simply cannot create the same force, tug, and pull the way the metal brackets can. However, if you've had the following treatments, your dentist will let you know if the removable ones are favorable over fixed braces.
1. Implants. An implant is a replacement tooth with a titanium anchor that attaches the tooth to the bone. Because there are no ligaments that allow the tooth to move and shift, an implant will not move with braces.
This doesn't mean that braces won't work if you have an implant, though. Ironically enough, an implant works well as an anchor for the braces. Therefore, your orthodontist may decide that fixed braces will work perfectly to get your teeth around the implant positioned just right.
2. Crowns and Bridges. If you have a crown or a bridge, you can still get braces. However, you will need to be monitored closely for several reasons.
First, as your teeth shift, the crown or bridge may change shape and need to be completely replaced once the braces come off.
Second, with a fixed brace, the metal brackets don't adhere to the porcelain surface of a bridge or crown as well as they bond to a natural tooth. So there's a greater risk of the bracket coming loose from a crown. In those instances, some dentists will place a metal band over the tooth and bond the metal bracket to the band. Other dentists will recommend using the removable braces to avoid this problem altogether.
Major Dental Work Before Braces
If you have missing teeth or need to have some work done at the same time you are considering braces, your dentist will probably recommend that you get braces first and then have the implant or crown put in. This is because your teeth need to be moved to their permanent position before fitting any sort of appliance in your mouth. This is particularly true of implants because once they're in place, they're pretty much a done deal.
Partial braces are another option for those who only wish to have a few teeth moved or need to have a particular area prepared for an implant. The major benefit of this is that the treatment time is much shorter, and you can correct your problem without worrying about ruining a bridge or crown. Partial braces can be used if you suffer from tooth crowding or gaps between your teeth. Check out the site here for additional information.
