Can braces treat flared teeth?

Braces can definitely improve flared teeth. Again, how soon this will happen depends on what your initial alignment looked like.

If your teeth are flared out because you have gaps in between your teeth, then improvements can be seen quite early (see the case below).

^1st month of treatment

^4 months of treatment

^9 months of treatment

If the flaring is due to overcrowding, then you and your dentist may have chosen one of 2 treatment plans:

A) Non extraction: May be suitable for patients with a nice side profile, mild crowding and no major concerns about flared incisor teeth. This type of treatment may increase flaring of the incisors to gain space to relieve the crowding.

B) Extractions: This is suitable for patients with protruded lips, more severe crowding and flared incisors.

If you have chosen plan B, then it will take time for the treatment to progress to the space closure stage, which is usually done AFTER the teeth have been more aligned. This may be what your dentist has been working on after starting your treatment.

Bring up your concerns about how your treatment is progressing with your dentist since they would have a complete understanding of your initial condition and your overall treatment goals.

Flared teeth can mean two things:

1. Teeth are flared out because the position of each individual teeth are protruding forwards. In this case, orthodontic treatment will be able to correct the position of the protruding teeth by bringing them backwards. There must be enough space for the teeth to move backwards.

2. Teeth are flared due to the size and shape of the teeth. In this case, you may need to have the teeth reshaped +/- braces to correct the position after.

In any case, treatment time required to notice any improvement depends on the severity of the flaring. If you are worried, do talk it through with your orthodontist.

I hope this helps, good luck!