How to Optimize Orthodontic Treatment Duration
Beyond the duration of an orthodontic treatment, it’s a long-term investment that offers much more than an aligned smile; it also contributes to reinforcing your self-esteem and improving your oral and overall health.
However, we’ll grant you that wearing braces for several months, if not years, can sometimes be inconvenient. You can’t wait to see the final result, right?
If the objective of each patient is to obtain the best results as soon as possible, few of them know that there are simple tips to optimize their orthodontic treatment duration.
First, What Is the Typical Orthodontic Treatment Duration?
The length of an orthodontic treatment varies from one patient to the next. It depends on various factors, including:
- Complexity of the case
- Patient’s age
- Type of treatment
- Respect of recommendations
Generally, orthodontic treatments last between 6 and 36 months. Young patients, whose teeth and jaw are often still developing, frequently obtain results faster. In contrast, orthodontic treatment duration can often be longer in adults, because of the increased rigidity of their teeth and jaw, which generally react less easily to adjustments.
However, it’s entirely possible to optimize the results and potentially reduce the length of your orthodontic treatment, regardless of your age.
Read on to find out what you need to do.
Attend Every Scheduled Appointment
To ensure your treatment is progressing properly, it’s essential to attend all your scheduled appointments with your orthodontist.
Every appointment has a specific purpose, whether it’s to adjust your braces or monitor the progress of your treatment. By attending your appointments, you avoid pointless delays and optimize your orthodontic treatment duration.
Follow Your Orthodontist’s Instructions
It’s important to follow your orthodontist’s instructions carefully. If you are told to wear rubber bands or aligners for 22 hours a day, then do it.
As a specialist, your orthodontist is best placed to ensure your treatment’s success; their instructions are deliberately designed to optimize your results.
Ignoring their recommendations might be detrimental to the effectiveness of your treatment and make it last longer.
Adopt Good Oral Hygiene Habits
During orthodontic treatment, adopting consistent oral hygiene habits is even more critical.
Meticulously cleaning your teeth, orthodontic appliances and interdental spaces helps prevent risks of cavities, gingival inflammation and various other complications. Not only these problems can affect your health, but they can also significantly slow down the progress of your treatment, which means it’ll last longer.
As a result, maintaining impeccable hygiene and caring for your teeth throughout the whole treatment are essential to optimize your orthodontic treatment duration.
Break Bad Habits
Some patients tend to bite their nails, chew on pens or use their teeth as tools.
It goes without saying that these bad habits can damage your orthodontic appliances. This risks delaying your treatment because of the need for unexpected repairs.
Avoid Biting into Hard and Sticky Foods
You probably heard this often, but it’s important to emphasize it again: biting into hard foods or eating sticky foods might dramatically jeopardize the effectiveness of your orthodontic treatment and increase treatment time.
To avoid these complications, opt instead for soft foods or food that has been cut into small pieces.
Be Proactive When Dealing with Unexpected Events
If a bracket comes loose, a wire becomes irritating, your aligner is damaged or if you experience discomfort or any other problems, call your orthodontist for an emergency appointment.
Ignoring these problems or postponing them for later slows down your treatment. In contrast, a quick intervention helps minimize the impact on your treatment’s progress and unnecessarily extending the orthodontic treatment duration.
Dr. Normand Bach Is Your Ally
By following his recommendations, you’ll be able to actively take part in optimizing the length of your orthodontic treatment.
Don’t forget that your orthodontist is your best ally: don’t hesitate to ask him questions and report any concerns you might have.
To discover the final result of your orthodontic treatment as quickly as possible and smile with confidence, all you need to do is to commit to these best practices. Dr. Normand will take care of everything else!
