Expert: Tony Appleton BDS DPDS - 6/26/2007

Question
QUESTION: hi i was wondering is there anyway i can fix my teeth without braces? i really just have two gaps that i want to fix.

ANSWER: Hi Tasha

It really depends on how big the gaps are. Often we can create the illusion of closing gaps just by placing tooth coloured fillings to fill the gaps. Veneers or crowns are also a possibility, but they involve destroying healthy tooth tissue.

Generally orthodontics (braces) is the best solution, but we can often achieve really excellent results with the methods I described above.

Regards

Tony Appleton

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: how long will i have to keep the braces on i really just want to close my gap i will get braces but i don't want to keep them on longer than a year

Answer
Hi Tasha

It's impossible to say  how long you would need to keep braces on without doing a full orthodontic assessment. However, if you do go for braces them I'm afraid you just have to accept that they will take as long as it takes - there are no shortcuts and the worse thing you could do is to abandon treatment part way through.

Wearing braces is not the end of the world - loads of people of all ages do it with excellent results.

Hope this helps

Regards

Tony Appleton