Terri came to Appletree after she had seen a consultant orthodontist who offered to straighten her teeth with metal braces. He had suggested this treatment could take up to two and a half years.
Dr Murphy discussed this and other options with Terri who was clear on two things: she didn’t want to accept things as they were and she couldn’t put up with metal braces for so long.
“Is there anything more cosmetic and faster than train tracks?”
Dr Murphy went through other clear braces options. This case was too complex and the crowding too severe, to consider aligners like Inman or Invisalign.
He proposed adapting Six Month Smiles type braces with clear brackets and tooth coloured wires to suit Terri’s requirements.
Custom Clear Braces Work
The process involved placing each bracket by hand. Six Month Smiles involves sending impressions to a laboratory and asking a technician to make gum shields with cosmetic brackets inside.
Instead Dr Murphy placed the brackets directly himself in the ideal position to generate quick and accurate movement of front teeth.
By polishing in between teeth and expanding upper and lower arches slightly the crowding was slowly alleviated.
He predicted initially that treatment time would be up to one year although ultimately it took 13 months. There were challenges relating to night time tooth grinding and occasional brackets coming off.
Due to the level of difficulty in the upper jaw, it was agreed that both a bonded wire retainer and a removable plastic retainer would be preferred.
Terri was 100% happy with the final outcome.
“It’s turned out better than I had expected. There were a few extra visits but Brendan always made out like it was no trouble, even when it clearly was!”
Terri paid £2935 for cosmetic orthodontics, tooth whitening, two removable retainers and one bonded retainer. This included a free consultation as well as photos and impressions and £30 for X-rays.
An identical Six Month Smiles package would be £2680 and take on average half the time.