What Are the Different Types of Braces and the Pros and Cons of Each One?

Hello. I’m Dr Mike Anderson from Allstar Orthodontics. Earlier today, I had the chance to meet another Mike in the neigbourhood. He’s in his late twenties and came in for a consultation about straightening his teeth with braces.

He asked about what options he has and the different pros and cons of each. I thought this is are very common question from patients, so I recorded this video.

We’re very fortunate to have choices when it comes to braces, because there’s different types. There’s metal, there’s coloured and there’s clear braces. There’s also braces that can go on the inside of your teeth called lingual braces.

The lingual braces are the ones that are bonded to the inside of the teeth. They were very popular quite a few years ago. Not so much now because that’s been superseded once clear aligners and Invisalign became an option. Now, you can have your teeth straightened and do it discreetly, we don’t need to rely on lingual braces so much anymore. The metal braces have been around for a long time, so we know they’re really tried and tested, and they’re a relatively small brace too. You also have options with them that you can brighten them up and put colors on them if you want to do that as well.

The clear or tooth-coloured braces do the same thing as the metal braces, but they’re obviously a lot more discreet because they match the color of your teeth.

The next generation of braces that is going to be released very soon is the 3D printed braces. These are highly customisable to the shape and position of your teeth. So this results in more accuracy in the straightening of teeth. It also provides great convenience for patients because it means they don’t have to come to as many appointments and that their overall treatment time may be shortened as well. The thing with the 3D LightForce Braces, because they are made in the USA, the waiting time to start a treatment could be slightly longer. It takes a few weeks for them to be printed because this is very high tech manufacturing of the braces. It does take a while to have them manufactured and then delivered to us.

They’re made in the US, and so that’s why it takes a few weeks for them to get to us.

Traditional braces, on the other hand, can pretty much me made right away because it’s done local.

So I hope you’ve found this short video useful, and clear some confusions around the different ways to straighten your teeth. And if you or your child are looking for an orthodontist to help you realign your smile, we would love to look after you.

Simply call us on 07 3666 0096 or send us a DM on Instagram and Facebook. And we’ll be in touch to help you organise an orthodontic consultation. See you in the next video.