Depending on your age, you might have a less than glowing memory about getting braces, but for most adolescents today, having braces is a right of passage. They can’t wait to go to the orthodontist and actually want to get braces. The benefits of treatment (true at any age) seem especially helpful to kids at this pivotal time in their lives:

• Improved dental health
• Increased self-confidence
• Social acceptance

Our options for adolescents include metal braces, tooth-colored braces, colorful elastics, devices that help us expand (widen) their smile, devices that help us move their jaw into its proper position and more. And most of these orthodontic appliances (as we call them) are designed to work inside their mouth, without requiring any compliance from the patient and without drawing undue attention to their treatment.