You’ve wished for straight, even rows of teeth for years. You didn’t have braces when you were a child, and now getting orthodontic treatment is something you want to do for yourself. Perhaps you have an overbite or an underbite that you feel mars your facial appearance, or it may be misshapen and crooked teeth you want to remedy.

You’re ready for braces, but you’ve heard that orthodontic treatment can take up to three years. You’re a busy person, and three years’ worth of office visits doesn’t sound appealing. Now there’s a faster way to straighten your teeth: accelerated orthodontics.

Dr. Karen Reese with Reese Orthodontics in New Hope and Chanhassen, Minnesota, employs the latest advances in the field. She uses Wilckodontics, or Accelerated Osteogenic Orthodontics™ (AOO), a newer method of straightening teeth in adults for those individuals who want to speed up treatment.

How are accelerated orthodontics different from traditional braces?

If your misalignment is severe, you might wear braces for up to three years; the average time in braces for an adult is 18 months to three years. Using accelerated orthodontics, you’ll very likely spend less than one year in braces. That’s a big difference.

You decide on the type of braces together with Dr. Reese. Perhaps you want ceramic rather than metal brackets since the ceramic ones match the color of your teeth.

There’s one extra step in the tooth straightening process with accelerated orthodontics. Once your braces have been in place for about a week, you’ll have an appointment with a periodontist who performs minor surgery. The procedure helps your teeth fall into place more quickly than with braces alone. Dr. Reese can recommend a periodontist if you need help selecting one.

The periodontist visit

You receive local anesthesia for the minor surgical procedure in the periodontist’s office.

This procedure makes changes to your gum and bone that secure your teeth to your jaw. Your periodontist excises a small part of the surface of the alveolar bone, which is located on the jawbone. This stimulates bone breakdown, so it’s softer while your teeth are being moved through your bone with the braces.

After bone breakdown, a rebuilding process takes place, and the bone is even stronger than it was before treatment. The experience is akin to a dental cleaning, so it doesn’t cause much discomfort.

Regular braces take much longer to straighten your teeth because your teeth are slowly trying to move through the bone that they’re attached to. With accelerated orthodontics, the bone has been temporarily softened through the surgical procedure, so your teeth can move faster. You’ll have periodic visits with Dr. Reese to adjust your braces and monitor your progress.

Not everyone is a candidate for accelerated orthodontics. Dr. Reese examines your teeth and gums and lets you know if accelerated orthodontics is right for you.

Call our office most convenient to you or book an appointment online today to start your smile transformation.