Patient: I am 30 years old, and I have a mouthful of “big whistling teeth” because I like to bite my pencil for a long time when I was studying. The doctor said my teeth are crowded and uneven, and due to the difficulty of cleaning, some teeth are decayed and there is moderate gingivitis, so he suggested me to have orthodontic treatment. I am a little hesitant. May I ask if I have missed the best time for orthodontics at my age? Will my teeth loosen after orthodontic treatment? I have to go to work every day and it will be ugly to wear braces for a year or two, is there any other way? Answer: Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Director of Orthodontics, Chang Shaohai: But as long as the misaligned teeth affect the aesthetics and function, orthodontics can be considered. The teeth with malocclusion are not easy to clean, which can easily induce dental caries and periodontal inflammation, and seriously affect the normal function of the mouth, such as chewing function, swallowing, normal breathing, etc., which can cause indigestion and gastrointestinal diseases. Therefore, we suggest you to control the caries and inflammation first, and then consider orthodontic treatment. Compared with teenagers, adult growth and development has been completed, the jaw and facial bone gap has become bony fusion, the plasticity of bones and neuromuscles is very low, and the metabolic rate of adults becomes slower and the biological reactivity is reduced, so adult orthodontics is much more complicated than that of minors. However, in view of the rapid development of modern orthodontic technology, there is no longer a strict age limit for orthodontics, and the necessity of orthodontic treatment is mainly based on factors such as the patient’s occupation, economic status, time, general and oral conditions. Unlike adolescents, adult treatment means mainly tooth movement, for serious bony deformities need to be orthognathic surgery orthodontic treatment, the course of treatment and maintenance time is relatively long, but adult patients are mostly independent request for treatment, can take the initiative to cooperate with treatment, the implementation of medical advice is better, so the course of treatment some even shorten, the final orthodontic effect is also as ideal. For your concern about whether the teeth will loosen after treatment, in fact, the normal roots of the teeth are completely buried in the alveolar bone and are very strong. The more the periodontal bone is absorbed, the looser the tooth will be, and when the periodontal bone is completely absorbed, the tooth will fall out. The orthodontic treatment only causes the periodontal membrane gap to widen, a slight loosening is a normal phenomenon, do not worry too much. As long as the orthodontic treatment is completed and maintained for a period of time, the alveolar bone around the teeth will be altered and the teeth will become as stable as before again. Specifically, orthodontics generally takes about a year and a half to two years, and complex malocclusion takes longer to treat than simple malocclusion. When the aligners are removed after orthodontic treatment, the teeth are still unstable in their new position and will usually have to be maintained in their new position with the help of retainers for some time to wait for the alveolar bone to remodel, but the time required is not the same for each individual and needs to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis. You may feel some tooth pain and chewing weakness for 3 to 6 days after the first fixed aligner and each follow-up visit, and you may eat softer foods for a few days. The pain will then gradually decrease until it disappears. If the professional population is concerned about unsightliness, clear brackets and lingual braces are now available, but they cost more.