Braces

The cost of your orthodontic treatment will vary depending on your individual treatment needs and which treatment plan you choose. At our complimentary initial consultation, Dr. Kathryn Marks will complete a full examination to assess your individual needs and smile vision. The staff will then work with you to find a payment plan that is flexible and meets your budget. We offer flexible payment plans and are excited to work with you.

Absolutely! Each of our complimentary consultations last 50 minutes each, but you can bring all of your children for the screening and even get screened yourself! You do not need a referral to schedule a complimentary consultation. If you're curious which of your children need orthodontic care first, screening all of them will help prioritize care. It's possible some children may need orthodontic attention starting within the year while others can wait until they're an adult.  

No, Marks Orthodontics does not accept Medicaid.

The duration of wearing braces varies depending on the complexity of the orthodontic issues addressed, but most people wear them for 18 to 24 months. In some cases, treatment might be as short as 12 months or extend up to 3 years, depending on individual needs and how well the treatment plan is followed.

Yes! Your child can still participate in their favorite sports and play musical instruments. For contact sports such as football, it’s highly-recommended that they use a mouthguard to protect their lips and cheeks from contact with the brackets and wires. If your child plays a wind musical instrument such as flute or the trumpet, it’ll take some time for them to adjust their embouchure around the braces. If they’re uncomfortable at first, covering specific brackets or wires with wax can help.

If a bracket or wire breaks around the back, slide it off the wire. If the bracket is floating on the wire, brush around it and eat gently. Please contact us the next business day and we'll get you into our schedule. We have comfort visits saved Tuesday through Friday for these types of visits.

To prevent breaking brackets or removing wires, your child should avoid sticky and hard foods to protect their braces. Even pretzels and apples can prove to be too hard. Sticky candies such as Laffy Taffy and Jolly Ranchers are common bracket-removing culprits.

It's recommended that every child should be screened at age 7 to see if they're a candidate for orthodontic treatment. Many times no orthodontic treatment is needed until all teeth are developed (around age 12), but sometimes skeletal corrections need to be addressed before age 9.

If your child needs braces we can assess when the proper orthodontic treatment window is based on their results during the initial consultation. We’ll take radiographs of their jaw, mouth, and teeth to see how they’re developing and make decisions together. Schedule your initial consultation today!

Braces may cause some discomfort, especially in the first few days after they are applied or adjusted, with soreness in the teeth and gums being common. This discomfort usually subsides as your child adjusts, and over-the-counter pain relievers or orthodontic wax can help manage any irritation.

Braces may temporarily affect your child's speech, causing a slight lisp or difficulty pronouncing certain sounds as they adjust to the new appliance in their mouth. However, this is usually temporary, and most children adapt within a few days to a couple of weeks, with their speech returning to normal.