Adults’ teeth can be moved, too.
Whether you’re 8 or 80, it’s the same physiological process that moves teeth through bone. Teeth move in response to forces being placed on them over time. Many orthodontic problems can be corrected as easily for adults as for children/teens. Adults have denser bone tissue than children, so treatment may take a little longer, but age does not keep teeth from moving.
How is adult treatment different?
The biggest difference in orthodontics for adults vs. children/teens is that adults are no longer growing. Adult treatment may take slightly longer than treatment for children/teens with a similar problem due to the maturity and density of the bone adults have.
They may have fillings, missing teeth, misshapen or worn teeth, or other dental disease. Some medications, and habits like smoking, clenching or grinding teeth, or tongue thrust, can affect the outcome of treatment. It’s common for orthodontists to work with a patient’s family dentist to coordinate care. For some adults to reach optimal dental health, the dentist and orthodontist may need to call in other dental specialists such as oral surgeons, periodontists and endodontists.
