Roughly one in four orthodontic patients in the United States is an adult. Teeth move at any age, provided the bone and gums are healthy, and adults at The Orthodontic Gallery receive braces, clear aligners, expansion, and coordinated surgical planning when a case calls for it. Dr. Wakas Abdulrazzaq, a board-certified orthodontist, plans every case. Consultations are free.
Adults come to us for three broad reasons. They never had treatment. They had it, and things moved back. Or something has changed, and a bite that was tolerable for twenty years has started causing problems.
Why Adults Are Treated Differently
The mechanics are the same. The circumstances are not.
- No growth to work with. In a teenager, jaw discrepancies can be corrected using growth. In an adult, that option is gone, so the same problem is addressed either by moving teeth to compensate, by bone-anchored expansion, or by coordinating with an oral surgeon. Knowing which of those three is appropriate is a diagnosis, not a preference.
- Existing dental work. Crowns, bridges, implants, and past extractions all constrain the plan. Implants in particular do not move, which changes how everything around them can be arranged.
- Gum and bone health first. Moving teeth through unhealthy bone causes damage. If there is active gum disease, that gets treated before orthodontics begins, in coordination with your dentist or a periodontist.
- Slower bone turnover. Adult movement often takes somewhat longer than the same movement in a fifteen-year-old. Not dramatically. It is a factor in the estimate rather than a barrier.
What We Treat in Adults
- Crowding and spacing. The most common reason adults come in, and usually the most straightforward.
- Relapse after earlier treatment. Very common, and often correctable in months rather than years, sometimes with in-house aligners at a much lower cost than comprehensive treatment. See clear aligners.
- Deep bites and worn teeth. A bite that grinds enamel away is a functional problem, and the wear does not grow back. Correcting the bite protects what is left.
- Crossbites and narrow arches. This is where adult treatment has genuinely changed. Bone-anchored expansion, including MARPE, can widen an adult upper jaw without the surgery that used to be the only option. See MARPE and adult palatal expansion.
- Cases needing jaw surgery. Some skeletal discrepancies genuinely need orthognathic surgery, and orthodontic treatment is planned around it before and after. See surgical orthodontics.
- Jaw joint symptoms. Clicking, limited opening, and jaw pain are evaluated properly rather than assumed to be orthodontic. See TMJ and TMD.
Options That Suit Adult Life
Most adults want treatment that does not announce itself in meetings. Clear aligners are the usual answer, and they suit a large share of adult cases. Clear ceramic braces and LightForce custom brackets are the fixed alternatives when a case needs the control that fixed appliances give.
For limited cases, particularly minor relapse, we make aligners in our own lab. Turnaround is days, and the cost is well below comprehensive treatment.
What we will not do is take on a case with an appliance that cannot deliver the result, because the appliance is the one you asked for. If aligners will not finish your bite properly, we will say so and explain why.
Frequently Asked Questions About Adult Orthodontics
Is it worth getting braces as an adult?
It depends entirely on what is wrong. Purely cosmetic crowding that does not bother you is a legitimate reason to do nothing, and we will say so. A deep bite wearing down enamel, a crossbite causing the jaw to shift, or crowding you cannot keep clean are functional problems that get worse rather than better with time. The honest answer comes from an examination, not from a website.
What are the downsides of adult orthodontic treatment?
Treatment takes months and requires appointments. Fixed braces are visible. Existing dental work can limit what is achievable. There is a small risk of root shortening and of gum recession, higher in adults than in teenagers, which is why we check gum and bone health before starting. Retainers are permanent, in the sense that some wear continues indefinitely.
Does adult treatment take longer than treatment for a teenager?
Somewhat, for a comparable case, because adult bone remodels more slowly and there is no growth to help with jaw relationships. The difference is usually measured in a few months, not years. Limited cases in adults can still finish in under a year.
My teeth shifted years after I had braces. Do I need the whole thing again?
Usually not. Relapse is typically a partial movement of the lower front teeth, and correcting it is a limited case rather than a comprehensive one. Many of these finish in a few months with aligners, often our in-house ones. Bring your old records if you have them, and expect to wear a retainer afterward, since the first time around the retention is what lapsed.
Book a Free Adult Consultation
An hour, an examination, a 3D scan, and a written plan with the fee on it. Our payment plans are in-house with no interest, and we accept CareCredit, HSA, and FSA. Call 813-867-0414 or request an appointment. We are at 10061 Beach Verbena Drive in Riverview.