![[Banner Image]](orthoimages/txinfo.gif)
Ten things that slow down orthodontic treatment
Everyday, we hear the same words over and over..."When am I going to get my braces off?" Our usual answer is..."when they are done." And, then we hear..."so when do you think that is going to be?" Aaaaghhhhhh! Yes, nagging will slow down your treatment!
The real answer is we really don't know when your treatment will end...
Here are ten reasons why we don't know and neither does anyone else
There are many factors that determine how fast teeth move and when treatment is completed. Of those factors, good oral hygiene and your cooperation are important as well as individual growth and development of the teeth and bone. Cooperating with instructions... like wearing elastics or working on a habit problem goes a long way toward making things go fast.
So, here's the top ten things that will slow down your treatment:
Tongue thrusting. There is nothing worse than tongue thrusting to slow down treatment. It is a muscle problem which interferes with the teeth coming together properly. Learn to swallow properly and orthodontic treatment ends quickly.
Non-cooperation with wearing the elastics (rubber bands) really slows treatment. These simple devices are what produce the force to move the teeth and change the facial features. It is what makes the teeth move. If you wear them, something is going to move. If you only wear them the day you come to the office, then nothing will happen except you are going to be wearing braces a lot longer than necessary.
Not keeping your teeth and gums healthy due to lack of good oral hygiene will slow down treatment. Poor oral hygiene slows down the movement of the teeth due to infection. Plus the swollen gum tissue hinders our ability to work on you.
Not showing up on a regular basis for appointments just extends your treatment time. Blame this one on your parents if you can't drive. If your mother misses a lot of your appointments or cancels all the time it just extends the time you wear your braces.
Not growing at the normal rate slows you down. There is nothing you can do about this one, but it is a fact. Some kids just don't grow for long periods of time and then all of a sudden will take off and get a growth spurt. The trick is to treat the orthodontic problem during the maximum growth spurt.. But, if you start treatment after your major growth spurt as a teenager, then we have no help from growth and treatment goes very slow.
Teeth not erupting on time is another thing no one can control. This is another growth related problem.
Eating hard foods or things on the no-no list which damage the braces adds time to your treatment. If the wires are bent, the teeth won't move. Having to constantly replace damaged braces adds months and sometimes years to treatment.
Chewing gum when you have the soft thermal wires in place will cause abnormal movement of the teeth. What happens is the wire slides around to one side due to the constant pumping action of chewing gum. Normally, we ask that you not chew gum when the initial softer wires are in place, but it's okay after the heavier stainless steel wires are there.
Habits like lip-biting or thumb sucking can cause major problems with treatment. Lip-biting pushes the lower teeth backward and the top teeth out. Obviously a thumb between the teeth will move something and without doubt slows down treatment.
A bad attitude about your treatment is a total non-starter. If you don't have a positive attitude about your braces and what we can do for you, then things are not going to progress. It's a simple case of one positive producing another positive. If you are down and negative about your treatment....good things are not going to happen.
Ninety eight percent of our patients do great with their treatment and never have a problem. It's the two percent who have some of the ten problems listed above that cause all of us to want to go screaming out the door at the end of the day. So, we tend to concentrate on the good positive kids and just let the negative people fall by the way side. It's true...we will do anything to help those who help themselves.