These appliances can straighten front teeth without braces - sometimes in only a few months.

Patients often complain about their crooked teeth but are not motivated to wear braces to straighten them. Now, appliances have been developed that can straighten front teeth without braces! This can't work for every situation, but it does help many people who would not consider traditional therapy.

For years patients have complained about their misaligned, crooked teeth but were not motivated enough to wear brackets and use wire to straighten them. Recently some very interesting appliances have been developed that can actually straighten upper and lower front teeth without the need of braces! Now this can't work for every situation, but it does help many people who otherwise would not even consider traditional orthodontic therapy.

Another plus is that it may only require a few months of full-time wear. These remarkable "retainers" (actually they are called "active or functional appliances" because they can move your teeth, but patients and everyone else seem to like the term retainers) are strong enough to move your teeth into a better arrangement given time and space. To gain the space needed to move teeth, we polish small amounts of enamel from the crowded teeth, thus allowing the tight springs and tension of the removable appliances to move the teeth to a more ideal position. Monthly visits allow us to polish only the necessary amount needed to move the teeth. This process is not detrimental to your teeth if carefully planned.

In order to see if your crowded teeth problems could be solved with a removable appliance, we create your Orthodontic Record to study your situation.

An Orthodontic Record is an accumulation of radiographs (x-rays), photos, and models of the your teeth. It is a study not only of teeth to teeth relationship, but also jaw to skull relationship.

Dr. Cass can safely construct your orthodontic treatment plan once he evaluates the following important factors:

1. Lateral skull radiograph (x-rays)
2. Panoramic Dental Radiograph
3. Orthodontic study models
4. Facial photographs
5. Dental photographs
6. Lateral skull film tracing
7. And completes a thorough diagnostic analysis

Before any treatment begins, Dr. Cass puts your orthodontic treatment plan in writing, then meets with you to discuss the plan at length.