Lingual fixed braces

Upper and lower lingual fixed braces in place

Lingual fixed braces are a highly specialised tool used for straightening teeth. Only a small number of specalist orthodontists in the United Kingdom regularly practice in the use of lingual fixed braces. Lingual fixed braces are used in adults when a truly invisible form of comprehensive orthodontic treatment is desired.

Lingual fixed braces consist of custom manufactured metallic attachments called brackets which are bonded to the inner surface of each individual tooth. These customized brackets are linked together by a series of fully customized orthodontic ‘archwires’. In the early stages of treatment superelastic flexible archwires are used to gently straighten the teeth. In the later stages of treatment larger stiffer archwires are used together with elastics, placed by the orthodontist or patient, to close spaces and to correct the way in which the upper and lower teeth bite together.

Linugal fixed braces are an effective tool for straightening teeth as they allow your orthodontist to have a large degree of control over the three dimensional position of all teeth. Lingual fixed braces are however significantly more complex to use that labial fixed braces (fixed braces on the ‘outside’ of the teeth) and require meticulous and diligent oral hygiene and compliance on the part of the patient. As such lingual fixed braces are an appropriate treatment option most but not all cases.

Before treatment