When you want to improve your smile, you can lessen the impact on your appearance with clear aligners or clear ceramic braces. But you still can’t get around one discouraging fact about braces: You won’t get results for 12-30 months, depending on the type of correction you require.
Here at Glow Orthodontics, we have a solution to the time problem, and it’s called accelerated orthodontics. You still choose the type of braces that are best for correcting the problems with your teeth, but you combine your braces or aligners with the PROPEL Orthodontics system.
Why choose PROPEL? Because it can increase tooth movement by 50-60%, so you have your new, beautiful smile in significantly less time. Here’s how it works.
How PROPEL accelerates tooth movement
Any time you sustain an injury, your body naturally heals the damaged tissues, following a well-known and predictable sequence of events. Medical technology has developed ways to use the body’s healing process, producing therapeutic results by creating purposeful surgical “dimples” at predetermined sites around the teeth.
One of the best examples is found in noninvasive cosmetic procedures that use lasers or radiofrequency devices to heat tissues beneath your skin. The heat isn’t painful, yet it’s just enough to “wound” the tissue and trigger healing. In your skin, the healing response boosts the production of proteins like collagen that strengthen and tighten your skin.
PROPEL is a medical device that takes advantage of the same principle to accelerate teeth straightening. Using the PROPEL device, we make tiny “dimples” in the bone around the teeth being moved by your braces.
This process, called micro-osteoperforation (MOP), triggers a healing response in the bone, which leads to two important changes:
Faster tooth movement
The cellular changes triggered by MOP temporarily make the bone more pliable, so your teeth can move more easily. It’s like the difference between pushing a pin into a corkboard compared to a piece of wood.
When the changes in your bone are combined with pressure from your braces, your teeth move into their new, straight position in significantly less time.
Better bone healing
New bone regrows around your tooth after it moves, filling in the spaces and bonding with the tooth so that its new position is well-anchored in the bone. The micro-dimples created by PROPEL stimulate bone healing, moving it along at a faster pace than the natural rate of bone remodeling.
What happens during your PROPEL procedure?
When you come in for your PROPEL treatment, we take X-rays to determine where we’ll make the micro-dimples. We also administer a local anesthetic to be sure you stay comfortable during the procedure.
The PROPEL device is uniquely designed to make a very tiny dimple through your gum and into the underlying bone. We’ll use the device to make one to three dimples on both sides of the teeth that will move while you wear braces.
Although the procedure doesn’t take long, the length of your treatment depends on the number of teeth that are targeted for movement. Most patients can get back to their usual daily activities within a day or so.
Most patients qualify for accelerated orthodontics.
Most of our patients who want to undergo accelerated orthodontics are good candidates for the treatment. There are only a few problems that might disqualify you from PROPEL, such as taking certain medications, gum disease, and cavities. However, we always treat dental problems before starting braces, so you’ll be set for PROPEL.
With accelerated orthodontics, you can see your new smile faster, two times faster or possibly even more quickly than that. If you’d like to learn more about this safe and effective way to shorten your treatment time, please call Glow Orthodontics, to schedule an appointment.
