One in five orthodontic patients is now over twenty-one. Whether you never had treatment, stopped part-way through, or your teeth have shifted over the years, adult treatment is discreet, comfortable and quicker than most people expect.
Roughly one in five orthodontic patients is now over twenty-one. Some never had treatment as children. Some had it and stopped part-way. Many finished properly, never wore the retainer, and have watched the teeth drift back over twenty years.
Adult treatment is different in one respect: the jaws have stopped growing, so we work within the skeleton you have. Where the discrepancy is skeletal rather than dental, that is where surgical orthodontics comes in. Everything else moves just as it did at fifteen, only usually a little more slowly.
It is also different in a way that helps. Adults turn up, keep appointments, wear their elastics and clean their teeth properly, which is why adult cases so often finish ahead of the estimate.
Clear aligners and ceramic brackets mean adult treatment rarely has to be visible at all.
Aligned teeth are simpler to brush and floss, which matters more as the risk of gum disease rises with age.
If you stopped treatment years ago or lost your retainer, restarting is usually far shorter than the original course.
Correcting an uneven bite reduces the abnormal wear and joint loading that comes from teeth meeting badly.
A full examination including your gum health, existing restorations and any wear pattern, plus what you actually want changed.
Where crowns, implants, gum treatment or extractions are involved, we plan the sequence with your dentist before starting.
Every suitable appliance, with the visibility, duration and cost of each set out side by side.
Reviews every six to ten weeks, arranged around your working life.
Adult teeth drift, so retention is not optional. We fit and explain a retainer plan you will genuinely keep to.
No. Teeth move at any age provided the bone and gums are healthy. We have treated patients well into their sixties and seventies.
Not if you would rather they could not. Clear aligners and ceramic brackets both keep adult treatment very discreet.
Commonly twelve to twenty-four months. Limited treatment to correct only the front teeth can be considerably shorter.
That is one of the most common reasons adults come to see us, and re-treatment is usually much shorter than the original course. Bring your old records if you still have them.
Often, yes, particularly where there are crowns, implants or gum treatment to coordinate. We will contact them and agree the sequence before anything starts.
A series of clear, removable aligners that straighten your teeth without brackets or wires. We work with several aligner systems and choose the one that fits your case. You take them out to eat, brush and floss normally, and most people around you will never notice you are in treatment.
The most proven appliance in orthodontics, and far more comfortable than the braces you remember. High-grade stainless steel brackets and light archwires move teeth predictably, with coloured elastics if you want them.
Ceramic brackets in a translucent, tooth-toned material that blends into your smile instead of standing out against it. They work exactly like metal braces and are usually placed on the upper front teeth, where visibility matters most.
If you have been putting it off for twenty years, a consultation costs you nothing but an hour.
