The Complete Guide to Getting Braces
Getting braces raises a lot of questions, and Dr. Jacob Johnson hears most of them every week. This guide walks through how braces actually move teeth, what happens at each visit, how long treatment usually takes, and what shapes the final cost. Read it start to finish, or skip to the part you need.
Dr. Jacob Johnson is a board-certified orthodontist, and that background shapes how every case at Johnson Orthodontics gets planned from the first visit forward. Board certification is voluntary, which means a doctor chooses to have his clinical work reviewed by peers against national standards rather than simply meeting the minimum required to practice. Alongside the legacy of excellence built by Dr. Stephen Searcy, our team offers care that fits every stage of life for kids, teens, and adults.
What Are Braces and How Do They Straighten Teeth?
Braces are fixed appliances that straighten teeth using brackets bonded to enamel, a thin archwire, and elastics. The wire applies gentle, continuous pressure that guides each tooth into a better position. Over months of small adjustments, braces correct crowding, spacing, and bite problems for kids, teens, and adults.
That movement is biological, not mechanical force alone. When steady pressure is applied to a tooth, the bone on one side of the root breaks down slightly while new bone forms on the other side. This remodeling is why teeth shift safely and stay put once treatment ends, and it’s also why the process takes months rather than weeks.
Here’s what makes up a set of braces:
- Brackets: small squares bonded to the front of each tooth that act as handles
- Bands: metal rings sometimes placed on back molars for extra anchorage
- Archwire: the thin wire connecting every bracket and doing the actual moving
- Ligatures: tiny elastic or wire ties that hold the archwire in each bracket
- Elastics (rubber bands): stretched between upper and lower braces to correct how the jaws meet
Braces do more than tidy up crooked front teeth. Dr. Johnson uses them to correct overbites, underbites, crossbites, and open bites, which are bite problems that affect how you chew and how your teeth wear over time. Age is rarely the barrier people expect. Once enough permanent teeth are present, braces work at nearly any stage of life.
The Braces Process: From Consultation to Retainers
Getting braces follows six steps: a free consult with records, a review of your smile journey, the bonding visit, adjustments every 4-8 weeks, removal, and retainers. Most treatment runs 12 to 30 months, and every step happens with Dr. Jacob Johnson at Johnson Orthodontics.
Free consult and records. Your first visit is a free consult. Dr. Johnson examines your teeth, bite, and jaw relationship, then our team captures digital photos, digital X-rays, and a digital scan. No goopy, gaggy impressions.
Reviewing your smile journey. You’ll sit down and talk through what we found, which appliance options fit your case, roughly how long treatment should take, and what it costs. Questions are welcome. Nobody leaves confused about the next step.
The bonding visit. This is the day the braces go on, and it usually takes one to two hours. Dr. Johnson cleans and conditions each tooth, bonds the brackets with adhesive, then threads the first archwire. It isn’t painful, though your cheeks may get tired from holding your mouth open.
Adjustment visits. Expect to come in every 4-8 weeks so Dr. Johnson can change the archwire, adjust ligatures, add elastics, or check how your bite is tracking. These visits are short. They’re also where most of the progress gets directed, so consistency matters.
Removal day. When your teeth and bite have reached their goal, the brackets come off and any remaining adhesive is polished away. Most families are surprised how quick and comfortable removal is compared to how they imagined it.
Retention. Teeth naturally want to drift back toward where they started, so a retainer holds everything in place while the bone and gum tissue settle. Dr. Johnson will explain your wear schedule, which usually shifts from full-time to nighttime over the first year.
Total treatment time depends on how much movement is needed, whether growth is involved, and how faithfully elastics and appliances are worn. Simple spacing cases finish faster. Complex bite corrections take longer, and that’s normal.
Benefits of Braces Beyond a Straighter Smile
A straighter smile is the visible payoff. The health benefits are the ones that last.
How Do Straighter Teeth Improve Oral Health?
Alignment quietly changes the mechanics of your mouth every single day, from how easily floss slides between teeth to where chewing pressure lands on each root. Those small shifts add up over decades.
Cleaner teeth, fewer problems. Crowded and overlapping teeth trap plaque in spots a brush can’t reach. Once teeth are aligned, brushing and flossing get easier, which lowers the risk of decay and gum inflammation.
Even bite forces. When upper and lower teeth meet properly, chewing pressure spreads across the whole arch instead of hammering a few teeth. That means less uneven wear, fewer chips, and less strain on the jaw muscles and joints.
Better function. Certain bite problems make it hard to bite into food cleanly, and some open bites affect speech clarity. Correcting the bite often improves both.
Why Do the Benefits Matter Beyond Appearance?
Plenty of what families report back to us has nothing to do with enamel or bone at all. It shows up in how a teenager carries herself in photos, and in how much simpler dental care becomes years down the road.
Real confidence. Families tell us this one matters more than they expected, and in many cases it’s the change they mention first at removal day. Feeling comfortable smiling in photos, in class, or across a conference table is a genuine outcome of treatment, not a side note.
Simpler treatment later for kids. Early intervention can guide jaw growth, create room for incoming teeth, and reduce the likelihood of extractions or surgery down the road. Phase 1 orthodontics focuses on guiding development, not perfecting every tooth.
Healthy teeth in a balanced bite tend to age better. That’s the quiet benefit nobody photographs.
Metal Braces vs. Clear Braces vs. Clear Aligners
Metal braces at Johnson Orthodontics remain one of the most effective treatments for orthodontic problems from mild to complex, and they’re still the workhorse for complicated bites. Clear braces offer that same effectiveness with a lower profile, which appeals to teens and adults who’d rather keep treatment subtle. Clear aligners provide a discreet, comfortable way to straighten teeth without brackets or wires, and because they fit into daily life more naturally, many families find it easier to stay consistent with them.
Some bites need extra help. For growing kids and teens whose lower jaw sits too far back, Dr. Johnson may recommend a Herbst appliance or a similar growth-guiding device alongside braces to correct the jaw relationship while development is still on your side.
The honest answer on choosing: case complexity sets the boundaries, and lifestyle picks from what’s left. Dr. Johnson will tell you plainly which options will work for your teeth and which ones won’t.
What Affects the Cost of Braces?
The cost of braces varies by case complexity, treatment length, and appliance type. A short spacing correction costs less than a two-year bite correction with additional appliances. Records, imaging, and retainers factor in as well. Rather than quote a range that may not apply to you, we give an exact number at your free consult.
The main factors that move the price:
- Severity of misalignment. More movement requires more time, more visits, and more materials.
- Treatment duration. Longer treatment means more adjustment visits.
- Type of braces or aligners. Metal, ceramic, and clear aligner treatment aren’t priced identically.
- Records and imaging. Digital scans, photos, and X-rays are part of planning your case accurately.
- Retainers and follow-up. Retention is part of treatment, not an afterthought.
Insurance helps when you have orthodontic coverage. Most plans that include orthodontics pay a percentage up to a lifetime maximum per person, which means the benefit applies once rather than annually. Our team verifies your coverage before you commit to anything, so there are no surprises later.
For the remaining balance, families at Johnson Orthodontics have options: 0% interest in-house payment plans spread across treatment, a discount for paying in full, and HSA or FSA dollars, which typically cover orthodontic care. We’d rather build a plan around your budget than watch you postpone care, because people come before profits.
One practical note on timing. Bites rarely improve on their own, and waiting can turn a straightforward case into a complicated one, which usually means longer treatment and higher cost.
Are You a Good Candidate for Braces?
Most people with healthy teeth and gums are candidates. Braces may help if you notice any of these:
- Crowded, overlapping, or crooked teeth
- Noticeable gaps between teeth
- An overbite where upper front teeth cover too much of the lower
- An underbite where lower teeth sit ahead of the uppers
- A crossbite on one or both sides
- An open bite where front teeth don’t meet when you close
- Teeth that wear unevenly or a jaw that feels strained when chewing
Children. The American Association of Orthodontists recommends a first orthodontic evaluation around age 7. By that age, enough permanent teeth have emerged for an orthodontist to assess spacing, bite development, and jaw relationships. An early check often leads to monitoring rather than treatment.
Teens. This is the most common window, since most permanent teeth are in place and growth can still be used to help correct the bite.
Adults. Braces work at any age. Healthy gums and adequate bone support are the real prerequisites, not a birthday.
Some situations call for extra planning: active gum disease, missing teeth, crowns or bridges, past dental work that limits bonding, or jaw joint symptoms like clicking and soreness. None of those automatically rule you out. They just need to be worked into the sequence.
The only way to know for certain is an exam. A free consult tells you whether braces are right for you and what your options look like, along with straight answers about timing, cost, and what daily life with braces actually involves. Confident smiles start here, with clear information and patient-first care instead of pressure.
Frequently Asked Questions About Getting Braces
Do braces hurt?
Placement itself doesn’t hurt, since nothing is drilled or injected. Expect mild soreness for two to four days after your bonding visit and for a day or so after adjustments, as your teeth begin to move. Soft foods and over-the-counter pain relievers handle it well. Most families say the discomfort is far less than they anticipated.
How long do braces take?
Most cases finish in 12 to 30 months. Straightforward crowding or spacing may wrap up on the shorter end, while significant bite corrections and cases involving jaw growth take longer. Wearing your elastics as directed and keeping every visit are the two things that most influence your timeline.
How often are visits?
Usually every 4-8 weeks. Dr. Johnson uses those visits to change wires, adjust elastics, and confirm your bite is tracking the way it should. They’re short visits, and the team at Johnson Orthodontics works to keep them convenient for school and work schedules.
What can’t I eat with braces?
Skip hard foods like ice, nuts, and hard candy, along with sticky and chewy items like caramel, taffy, and gum, since they pop brackets loose. Crunchy favorites (apples, carrots, corn on the cob) are fine when you cut them into bite-sized pieces first. Broken brackets mean extra visits and a longer treatment time, so the food rules matter more than they seem.
Can adults get braces?
Absolutely. Teeth respond to the same biology at 45 that they do at 15, and adults often make excellent candidates because they’re consistent with instructions. Adults now make up a growing share of orthodontic patients, and many of them are treating bites that went unaddressed in childhood. Clear braces and clear aligners are especially popular with working adults.
Do I have to wear a retainer forever?
Long-term nighttime wear is the standard recommendation. Teeth shift slowly throughout life, and a retainer worn while you sleep is what keeps your smile looking the way it did on removal day. Think of it as maintenance, not extra treatment.