Jumpstart Your Straightening with Accelerated Orthodontics

Man or woman. Adult or child. Financial executive or beet farmer. When it comes time for them to get braces, the first question they all ask is “how long will they have to stay on?” While it’s a necessary procedure to get straight teeth, the idea of keeping braces in your mouth for a prolonged period turns off a lot of people. However, we at Brodsky Orthodontics are experts in an emerging form of treatment known as accelerated orthodontics, which can get you in and out of braces faster than ever.

What is Accelerated Orthodontics?

With traditional orthodontics, you get a set of braces, and during each regular check-up, your dentist tightens those braces until your smile is perfectly straight. While effective, this process can drag on.

Accelerated orthodontics relies on your standard orthodontic devices such as braces or Invisalign, but uses them in conjunction with a separate device that speeds up the straightening process. For us, that device is the AcceleDent System.

What is the AcceleDent System?

The AcceleDent System is a small electronic device that looks a bit like the handle of an electric toothbrush but with a mouthguard attached. While some other accelerated orthodontic systems require minor surgery, the AcceleDent System is noninvasive and is designed to stimulate your teeth in a way that speeds up their movement and straightens your teeth quicker.

Teeth move through a process known as bone remodeling. When force is applied to the teeth (such as with orthotics pushing them straight), a cellular response leads bone cells to gather around the tooth’s root. This leads to changes in the bone surrounding the tooth, which allows orthodontics to push teeth into their correct position.

AcceleDent’s mouthpiece, when worn for 20 minutes a day, applies a precisely calibrated set of micropulse vibrations, which transmit through your bones into the roots of your teeth. These gentle vibrations stimulate cellular activity and speed the rate at which your teeth can move. Clinical trials show that when used in conjunction with standard orthodontics, AcceleDent has been proven to straighten teeth up to 50% faster while simultaneously reducing pain and discomfort levels up to 71%.

How Else Can I Accelerate Treatment?

Whether you use the AcceleDent System or stick to traditional orthodontics, there are a few things everyone can do if they want to minimize their time wearing braces. While none of these tips will make your braces go from eight months to two, they’ll all make sure your treatment doesn’t go slower than expected.

• Use your elastics: It’s tempting to keep your elastics off for a while after eating or brushing your teeth, but they’re only effective when you actually wear them. Time spent out of your mouth is treatment time lost.
• Avoid chewy and hard Foods: The last thing you want to do is damage your braces by bending your brackets or snapping your wires. Plus, the time between that damage and getting them fixed during an appointment is time lost while still wearing braces.
• Eat bite-sized pieces: Spend the extra seconds dicing up your food into more manageable pieces so that you don’t literally bite off more than you can chew. This is particularly important if you’re planning to eat crunchy foods like apples and carrots.
• Keep your appointments: It may seem simple, but the more appointments you miss or postpone, the longer the treatment will take. Orthodontic adjustments are a necessary and calculated part of the process. Any delay will delay how long you’ll be in braces.
• Don’t clench your jaw: Teeth clenching and grinding can move teeth in the wrong way during treatment. While some people have a hard time controlling this, particularly those who grind their teeth during sleep, if you know it’s a problem, talk to your orthodontist, and they can adjust your treatment.

Every orthodontic treatment is different, and some will be faster than others, but if you choose accelerated orthodontics and abide by the guidelines above, Brodsky Orthodontics will have you in and out of braces in no time.