Teeth Straightening for Brides and Grooms

by Dr. Laura Milnor

If you have recently become engaged, first of all congratulations! Along with all the plans and decisions you will likely be making over the next several months another item to consider is if you want to improve your smile for the big day. Here are some tips for successful orthodontic treatment for brides.

It is more common for brides to be interested in straightening their smile. so I will be focusing on the brides, but this information applies to you too, grooms.

Starting Treatment 12 Months Before the Wedding Is Best

It is very beneficial and helpful for both you and your orthodontist to get started on correcting your smile as far in advance of your wedding as possible. The earlier you start treatment, the higher the chances of you being finished before the wedding.

Having said this, it is common for brides to come to us with 6-12 months of time to work with. As your orthodontist, we will be jumping for joy if you give us 12 months to work with, because in that length of you should see a significant change in your smile and even potentially be done, depending on how crowded or misaligned your teeth are when you start treatment.

Significant Changes Within Six Months, Minor Changes in Three

If you come to us six months before your big day, we can still obtain significant changes, although you may not be completely done with your treatment by your wedding. Don’t worry, most orthodontists, including me, would never have a bride or groom go to their wedding with Invisalign attachments or braces.

If I know your treatment won’t be done in six months, I will plan for your smile to look as amazing as possible in that length of time. Then we can pick up your remaining treatment after your wedding. However for mild straightening issues, six months may be enough time to completely correct your smile.

If you are down to three months, mild corrections may still be feasible. Bleaching is another nice step to make your smile pop before your big day.

Invisalign Is a Great Orthodontic Treatment for Brides

Invisalign goes with brides like flowers go with weddings. With Invisalign, you can straighten your smile and really have no concerns about taking engagement photos, dinner celebrations, or whatever else you may have planned. You can take your aligners out for any photos and no one will be the wiser.

When it comes time for the wedding we will plan on taking all of your attachments off. You can wear your current Invisalign aligner at night to hold your current tooth position and pick up when your celebrations and honeymoon are completed. You can even use your Invisalign aligners to bleach your teeth prior to the wedding.

Invisalign is my favorite orthodontic treatment for brides for all these reasons, however, we still use braces for certain situations. If you are a bride in braces, I typically will remove your braces three weeks prior to your wedding, then put your braces back on after if we still have work to do.

We currently have several brides as patients and we love working with them! Every situation is unique, so setting up a complimentary initial consultation will allow us to determine the best way to prepare your smile for your big day.