Your braces journey is coming to an end or maybe you just curious about how long it takes to take your braces off which we will discuss below!

Braces take a long time to move your teeth into the correct position. This is because teeth move slowly when attached to brackets and wire.

Teeth may move a bit faster in children and teenagers when compared to adults but most of the time we are looking at around 18 months of treatment for an average when it comes to wear full sets of braces.

But let’s have a look at how long it may take you to have your braces removed:

Average Time That It Takes To Remove Braces:

Usually this varies patient to patient due to how many wires need to come off, if you perhaps have bands attached to your teeth and if the glue doesn’t sit too hard on some teeth.

Usually this process of removing the brackets and wire can take anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes which includes removing all the brackets with a bracket removal tooth, by crimping the bracket so the glue disconnects from the tooth. This then allows us to take the braces off as one whole unit in each jaw.

After your braces have been removed, your dentist or orthodontist will then take a smoothening disk to remove any excess glues that are left behind after the braces have been taken off.

This process of removing the glue from the teeth can take anywhere from 5 to 15minutes depending on how much glue is left over. This process is very important for us to take our time because we don’t want to damage the enamel of the tooth while polishing the glue off each tooth.

After this dental impressions for orthodontic retainers are taken on the upper and lower jaw. Your orthodontist or dentist should either place a fixed lower retainer, a fixed upper retainer or give you removable appliances from the lab to wear as they prescribe.

If they are placing fixed retainers, this can take up to around 20 minutes to allow for correct placement of the fixed retainers.

In total we are looking at anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour for your braces to be removed in the braces removal appointment.

Disclaimer: We cannot provide professional advice to you and anything mentioned in the articles should be verified by your dentist or orthodontist first since this is just general educational information that cannot apply to every person in every case. If in doubt ask your dentist or orthodontist.

Need Orthodontic Treatment Done?

Dr Gray has done extra postgraduate training when it comes to dental braces and can solve all of your dental issues and works with his amazing team to offer the best treatment and results!

Visit our practice at 33 Claribel Road, Windermere, Durban, South Africa for your first consultation and we will give you a treatment and payment plan for your braces!