It is an extremely exciting time for most kids when their braces are ready to come off. Straight, teeth, a beautiful smile, and a great new look can really make kids eager to see the final results. But what happens when the time your child is in braces exceeds the original expected time of completion? Why would this process take longer? Read below to find out the common reasons why orthodontics is prolonged in some children.
Poor oral hygiene
Brushing, flossing, mouthrinses, and using a waterpik does more than just make us happy. By doing so, you can help keep the gums, underlying bone, teeth, and your entire body happy, healthy, and free from disease. You can also significantly impact how well your brackets will adhere to your teeth. If there is an accumulation of bacteria and plaque, there is a higher chance brackets will loosen and fall off. If you loose your brackets frequently, that means you will be in treatment longer, which delays the removal of your braces.
Tissue Inflammation
Tissue inflammation is usually a result of plaque accumulation due to poor oral hygiene habits at home. When plaque sits along the gum line for an extended period of time, the body sends “help” to the area to fight off the irritant, resulting in swelling of the gums. All that inflammation can affect the length of braces treatment because of failure to be able to position the bracket properly on the tooth. Bracket positioning must be accurate in order to straighten rotated teeth, or to help new adult teeth erupt into the mouth.
Improper/Infrequent Wearing of Elastics
We use elastics to help bring teeth up or down to close the bite and make sure all your child’s teeth are touching. Therefore, your child MUST wear his/her elastics AS INSTRUCTED, 24/7, unless eating, or brushing teeth. If your child does not wear elastics at times, or he/she wears them in the wrong position, that will result in the teeth not moving, or they might move in the wrong direction, ultimately leading to more time in braces.
Eating Hard Food with Braces
Your braces are meant to be on temporarily, which means that we need to use a cement that is not permanent. As a result, if you eat hard foods, you can knock the brackets off your teeth. Once that happens, your teeth are no longer in active treatment. That can prolong your treatment time.
Lack of General Compliance
Monthly appointments for braces are extremely important because we can see progression, omit any new issues, change wire sizes, and change elastics. If you miss your monthly visits, that can mean your braces have already been delayed. If you know your child has missed an appointment, try to reschedule ASAP to make sure treatment stays on track.
