Traditional Metal Braces
The classic: stainless steel brackets and a wire. Strong, reliable, and the colored elastic bands are honestly the best part for most kids.
🦷 Straight-Smile Reef
Braces, minus the mystery
Crowding, gaps, overbites and underbites are easiest to steer while the jaw is still growing — which is exactly why pediatric dentists watch for them early.
When to look
Around age seven is the sweet spot
Most kids don't need braces that early, but that's when we can spot a developing bite problem while it's still simple to guide.
Self-Ligating Braces
Brackets with a built-in clip instead of elastic ties. Less friction, often fewer adjustment appointments.
Ceramic Braces
Tooth-colored brackets that blend in. Popular with teens who'd rather their braces not be the first thing you notice.
Gold Braces
Same mechanics as metal, but gold-toned. Purely a style choice — and a genuinely fun one.
Lingual Braces
Bonded to the back of the teeth so they're hidden from the front entirely.
Space Maintainers
Not braces, but related: a small appliance that holds a gap open when a baby tooth is lost too early.
Signs to mention to us
Worth bringing up at a checkup
- 🐚Teeth that are crowded, overlapping or clearly out of line
- 🐚Losing baby teeth much earlier or later than siblings did
- 🐚Difficulty chewing, or biting the cheek or roof of the mouth
- 🐚Jaws that shift, click or pop
- 🐚Thumb sucking that continues past age five
- 🐚Upper and lower teeth that don't meet properly when biting
- 🐚Breathing mostly through the mouth
- 🐚A front tooth that sticks noticeably forward