Dental care during orthodontic treatment with fixed braces requires more time than dental care without fixed braces. Ideally, teeth should be brushed thoroughly three times a day (morning, noon and evening) to prevent dental damage caused by inadequate dental care. If you need to brush your teeth quickly at lunchtime because you don’t have time to brush your teeth thoroughly at school or in the office, chewing gum for 5 minutes can be used as an interim solution. Chewing gum promotes saliva production and thus provides a “little” cleaning in between.

During treatment with fixed braces, a classic manual toothbrush (medium strength) and also an electric toothbrush can be used. To achieve ideal cleaning, we orthodontists recommend using both types of toothbrush during the day, for example the classic manual toothbrush in the morning and the electric toothbrush in the evening.

In addition to these two types of toothbrushes, dental cleaning aids should also be used. For example, so-called interdental brushes help to clean the area between the tooth and the fixed braces and classic dental floss helps to clean the area between the teeth. All the necessary utensils for good dental care during fixed braces treatment can be purchased at any drugstore.

The costs for orthodontic treatment depend on the severity and complexity of the treatment and cannot be listed as a lump sum. In order to be able to create an individual treatment plan and the corresponding treatment costs, we orthodontists require detailed diagnostics (diagnostic documents) for every treatment and cost plan. These diagnostic documents include recent x-rays of the jaws (not older than 12 months), impressions of the jaws and photos. On the basis of these documents, an individual treatment and cost plan is drawn up for each patient, regardless of age, according to the findings (e.g. crossbite, overbite, underbite, crowding, step, gaps between teeth, …), complexity, severity and desired type of treatment (type of braces such as lingual braces WIN, ceramic brackets, metal brackets, aligners, loose braces, transparent splints, bite splints, retainers, …).

The statutory health insurance fund covers the costs of orthodontic treatment by a specialist orthodontist if the insured patient is under 18 years of age and the orthodontic condition (e.g. crossbite, gaps between teeth, overbite, displaced tooth, missing teeth, …) is of a certain severity. The assumption of costs by the statutory health insurance is directly related to the degree of severity of the oral and maxillofacial anomaly. The degree of severity diagnosed by the orthodontist is assigned to a 5-level KIG system (orthodontic indication groups). From a severity level of 3, the statutory health insurance will contribute to the costs.

There are visible and invisible fixed braces and there are visible and invisible loose braces. Visible fixed braces include fixed braces that are attached to the teeth from the outside. This type of braces includes fixed braces made of metal brackets or ceramic brackets. The invisible fixed braces are the lingual technique, in which the braces/brackets are attached to the inside of the teeth and are completely invisible. The loose visible braces are all colorful, unique pieces from our own dental laboratory, which are used in childhood and teenage years, e.g. to correct the teeth. to create space or perform an orthodontic bite adjustment. Invisible loose braces include all types of aligners, which are manufactured in our own dental laboratory or in America and can be used for orthodontic tooth correction in teenagers or adults.

How long a fixed brace has to be worn depends on the individual severity of the orthodontic condition, individual factors (e.g. age and state of health) and the type of brace. For example, the lingual technique is the fastest type of fixed braces, as lingual braces are completely customized. Treatment with fixed braces can last from a few months to several years. The expected treatment period is estimated before each treatment so that each patient has a goal in mind.

Specialist dentists for orthodontics are dentists (5-6 years of study) who have completed special further training to become a specialist dentist for orthodontics. The training lasts at least 3 years and must be completed both in an orthodontic practice and at a university clinic. There are only around 4,000 specialist orthodontists in Germany.

A fixed retainer (palatal retainer in the upper jaw or ligual retainer in the lower jaw) should remain behind the front teeth “for life” in order to prevent a retraction of the teeth, as the teeth have a tendency to move throughout life due to structural ageing processes. The retainer should be checked regularly by an orthodontist.