Before the start of the therapy, patients who decide on any of the available types of orthodontic therapy should have healthy and fixed teeth (all cavities must be fixed and healed, bad fillings must be replaced with new ones).

At the first orthodontic examination the orthodontist will examine the patient, analyze the panoramic dental X-ray and will take a print of the upper and lower jaw, on the basis of which they will decide on the type of orthodontic device that will be required for the patient and the duration of the therapy.

Moreover, the orthodontist will decide whether it will be necessary to extract one or more teeth in case of to shortage of space in the jaw.

Patients usually request orthodontic therapy if they are not pleased with the aesthetic appearance of their teeth, this is why they consult an orthodontist.

Patients often do not understand that the teeth from the upper jaw must be juxtaposed in a way that the upper teeth will overlap the lower teeth and each tooth from the upper jaw should be in contact with two teeth from the lower jaw, except for the lower front teeth (central incisors) and the upper wisdom teeth. We call this relationship class 1.

Because of this, orthodontists cannot satisfy the wishes of the patients to set straight only the teeth from one jaw, which is usually what patients request, but they set the orthodontic device on both jaws, unless the orthodontist estimates that it is necessary to place the braces only on one jaw.

The average duration of the orthodontic therapy is 1 year and 6 months.

One must take into account that the situation in each patient’s mouth is different.

Orthodontic therapy corrects aesthetic appearance but also the function, therefore the therapy could take longer than the estimated average duration.

The duration of the orthodontic therapy mainly depends on the cooperation between the doctor and the patient. This is why regular follow-ups are very important and of course, compliance with the instructions and advices of the orthodontist.