Braces can be used to treat a wide range of dental issues that affect an individual’s smile. Most people realize that braces are used to correct crooked teeth and large spaces between teeth, but many never consider that braces can correct an overbite or an underbite. These conditions can also harm an individual’s smile and make a major difference when corrected. If you have an overbite, it means that your upper row of teeth overlaps your lower teeth. Conversely, an underbite refers to an overlap of the upper teeth by the lower teeth. Overbites and underbites range from extreme cases to barely noticeable ones, and orthodontic treatment can correct each case. Did you know that about 4 million people are wearing braces at any given time in the United States alone? That’s 4 million smiles that are on their way to looking more pleasant and attractive. Consider these other facts about braces:

• Braces work by slowly breaking down and rebuilding bone. You have cells in your body called osteoclasts, which break bone material down. Orthodontists put these cells to work, along with others called osteoblasts, which help to rebuild bone. The addition of gentle pressure moves the teeth as the bone is broken down and rebuilt. It is important to maintain a healthy diet while wearing braces as balanced nutrition helps these cells do their job as your orthodontist performs your “bone remodeling” procedure.
• In 1900, Edward H. Angle became the first orthodontist when he became the first dental professional to limit his practice to moving patients’ teeth and aligning their jaws. As the founder of the specialty, he also established a group that eventually became the American Association of Orthodontists. When he established the profession, most orthodontic work was accomplished using appliances made of gold. Since gold is a malleable metal, it was a material that the orthodontists could easily form into orthodontic appliances. The downside of using gold is that it also stretches easily, which meant that patients had to make frequent visits to the orthodontist’s office to adjust their braces.
• The term orthodontics comes from the Greek language and is pretty straightforward in its meaning. “Ortho” translates to straight, and “dont” means tooth, so the combination means exactly what you wear braces for—straightening teeth. The archaeological record shows that humans have been trying to correct their crooked smiles for thousands of years. Ancient Egyptian mummies have been found with wire bands wrapped around their teeth, and even Hippocrates wrote about misaligned teeth and jaws around the year 400 BCE. Years later, in 1728, Pierre Fauchard wrote a book titled The Surgeon Dentist: A Treatise on the Teeth. This French dentist wrote about an orthodontic appliance called a bandeau in his book. This appliance was a simple horseshoe-shaped device made of precious metal that a dentist would tie to a patient’s teeth to align them better.

Braces can either be fixed on the teeth or they can be removable. The removable type of braces usually are for more minor tooth movement so most orthodontic work is done with non-removable braces. If the orthodontist makes a removable appliance for you, you must still wear it almost all the time, except when eating, in order for it to create the tooth movement you want. Taking it in and out frequently lets the teeth move back and it will take a much longer time to get the results you want.

Braces can sometimes be done on the inside so they are not visible, but not always. Also, it is more difficult to work with braces on the inside and so it usually takes longer and is more expensive.

A typical orthodontic case takes around two years but can vary considerably due to the specifics of the individual case. Sometimes young children are treated in two stages, for example, with one to several years in between.

Braces can be used for both adults and children. Typically most orthodontists have 30% to 50% of the patients as adults.