6 month braces

Has anyone heard of six month braces? It’s actually called the Powerprox six month braces technique. The offer clear braces and for those who don’t want anyone to see their braces they also have lingual braces. Check it out and let me know what you think.

I did a search for Powerprox on the internet and got some good information. I have already had braces, but I am going to pass this on to some friends. I did read that some treatments may take longer that six months.

[tvaysman]

I am an Orthodontist practicing in NYC. Regarding your question I would say that is something sounds too good to be true it is. Teeth will only move at a certain rate regardless of what system of braces is used. The length of treatment usually depends of the complexity of your problem. Some minor problems in truth do only take about 6 months, but a lot of treatments need longer to get the ideal results unless you are willing to settle for only partial improvements.

I hope that you find this helpful.

Regards,

Dr. Tanya Vaysman
Upper Eastside Orthodontists
153 East 87th Street, #1B
New York, NY, 10128
212-360-0835
Dr. Tanya Vaysman New York Orthodontist

[Zoso]

And the catch with PowerProx is that it, for the most part, only addresses the aesthetic of the anterior teeth.

The other catch (at least in my personal opinion) is that, as far as I am aware, all doctors offering PowerProx are general dentists, whose "orthodontic training" might be as little as a weekend seminar, or even a correspondence course.

[mariahfromchicago]

Do the 6 month braces cost less than the regular ones because there are less appointments, so that means less chair time?

[Sunny]

Mariah I don't know anyone who's had this treatment, but on the official website it states that the cost is less. I'd expect it to be less, as your bite isn't being corrected as with the usual type of treatment, but this is more about having the appearance of your teeth from the front, being more pleasing.

Chair time is only one expense with orthodontic treatment, and with modern archwires, this has been cut considerably. Many orthodontist now see their patients every 10-16 weeks, instead of the once popular 4-8 weeks. Some use the latest equipment and still prefer to see their patients more often, but I doubt they'd charge for that. Less chair time doesn't necessarily result in a less expensive option, but it can be helpful for those with a busy lifestyle.

[mariahfromchicago]

Sunny, I thought so...
Wow! 10-16 weeks?! Interesting...

[Sunny]

With the modern memory archwires, they are shaped to perfect your arch to the shape it should be, and will keep working until your arch is in that shape. ... but it does get more complicated than that, in that often other things need assistance to help the arch get corrected. For example gaps needing to be closed. Therefore it's important for the orthodontist to check that progress is going as it should be, and sometimes adding something to help.

More and more patients can go through orthodontic treatment having very few archwires. This has many advantages to the comfort and chair time for patients. Plus it has the added bonus of not increasing patient costs, as although these high quality archwires are more expensive, by not needing so many, the cost doesn't change a great deal.

[Zoso]

And Powerprox relies on essentially the same types of archwires and brackets as "conventional" orthodontia.

Whilst it's true that the modern archwires and bracket systems (and "modern" is a relative term - there has not been any radical change in a couple of decades - NiTi wires were in fact first introduced in 1972, although they did not see widespread immediate adoption) can allow for longer intervals between appointments, a great many orthodontists do still opt to keep the intervals shorter, and around eight weeks (and often less) still seems more the norm. Nevertheless, it's undeniably true that there are docs out there who do take advantage of being able to see patients at longer intervals, since this allows a practice to see more patients (and gross more fees) without increasing staff or facilities costs.

[Tara19]

ya I'm not sold on 6 month braces at all... just correcting the front teeth would really shortchange someone