Dental Bands for Gapped Teeth

I ran across this website for dental bands called Teeth Gap. They are designed to close a tooth gap without having to get braces. Are you familiar with these? Do they actually work?

Brad

Dear Brad,

I am glad you wrote before ordering these. First, I see the prices vary from $25 up to $70. Aside from being very expensive for what is, at their essence, fancy rubber bands, they can actually do real damage to your teeth. These do not work like orthodontics do. With braces or other type of orthodontic, such as Invisalign or Spark Aligners, the movement of your teeth is carefully controlled.

This is not the case with these dental band type of treatments. They tip the tooth to move it. This has the potential of creating gaps on the outside of the bands as they move the teeth inward. However, they can also do serious damage to your teeth as well. It can even cause healthy, adult teeth to come loose.

This before and after image is an example of a case by the Teeth Effects Company. While the gap is closed, this patient now has a few problems. The first thing I noticed is how the front tooth on our left looks like it has been pulled out of the socket a bit. I have a strong suspicion that this tooth is now a bit loose.

Whenever you use traditional braces, after each carefully planned movement there is a pause to give the bone time to integrate with the tooth root again. There is no way to do that with the teeth bands. What you don’t want is to have teeth that no longer have a gap, but can fall out of your mouth! In fact, I read of a case where a young woman had her adult teeth come loose as a result of this type of procedure. You can read about it here.

Additionally, you will notice that there are small gaps on either side of the central incisors that were not there previous to treatment. It may even be that the gaps are bigger than they seem here because there is no way to verify this. It looks like the teeth in that area have been photoshopped a bit too because the lateral incisors are a different shape than they were before the treatment.

An Alternative to Traditional Braces

Because you are just talking about tooth gaps, you may be a candidate for Fastbraces. However, if you absolutely don’t want any type of metal braces, there are two aligner treatments that are a good option for you: Invisalign and Spark Aligners. Both of these can straighten your teeth without using metal. No one will even know that you are straightening your teeth.

This blog is brought to you by Bee Cave Orthodontist Dr. Alberto Tostado.