ARCH Orthodontics

When your braces come off, your orthodontist removes the brackets, polishes away the leftover adhesive, takes new scans for retainers and checks your bite. It is a short visit and does not hurt. Debond day, as orthodontists call it, is the appointment most patients count down to. It is also the start of a new […]

Orthodontists fix an underbite by moving the lower teeth back, the upper teeth forward, or guiding jaw growth, using braces, aligners, elastics or expanders. Children can often be treated early; some adults need surgery too. An underbite is when the lower front teeth sit in front of the upper front teeth when you bite down. […]

Ceramic and metal braces work the same way and treat the same problems. The difference is mostly appearance and care: ceramic brackets blend with your teeth, while metal brackets are sturdier and cost-effective. If you are an adult or teen choosing braces, this is often the first real decision you make, and it is easy […]

Invisalign attachments are small, tooth-colored bumps of composite bonded to certain teeth. They give the aligner something to grip, so it can rotate, raise or tip teeth that a smooth tray alone would slide over. Patients are often surprised to hear about attachments at their first aligner fitting. Aligners are sold as clear and nearly […]

Rubber bands, or elastics, connect small hooks on your upper and lower braces to pull the jaws into a better bite. Brackets and wires line up the teeth in each arch; elastics are what fit the two arches together. Most people expect braces to be the whole story, so being handed a bag of tiny […]

Why the Same Treatment Gets Quoted Differently at Two Offices “How much does Invisalign cost?” is one of the first questions almost every patient asks, and the numbers people find online rarely match what they are quoted in person. That is not because offices are hiding something. Clear aligner treatment is priced per case, and […]

What a Palate Expander Does The upper jaw is not one solid bone in childhood. It is two halves joined by a suture down the middle of the palate, and that suture stays open for years before it fuses. A palate expander uses that window: fitted to the upper back teeth and widened gradually — […]

Why Nobody Can Quote You a Price Over the Phone “How much do braces cost in Massachusetts?” is the most common question we hear before a first visit, and the honest answer is that the fee depends on what your teeth need. Two people the same age, in the same town, with the same insurance, […]

Two Ways to Hold a Wire Every set of fixed braces works the same way: brackets bonded to your teeth, a wire threaded through them, and steady force guiding teeth into position. The difference between self-ligating braces and traditional braces is how the wire is held in each bracket. Traditional brackets use a separate tie […]