If your teeth are crooked and this bothers you, now is a good time to do something! You might choose braces or porcelain veneers, or even some combination of these. The right answer for you and your teeth is something that should include an evaluation of your goals, your smile, and your teeth. We will evaluate your concerns and come up with a treatment plan that works for you. We understand that the ‘best’ treatment option is different for different people. One of the options our office offers is limited orthodontic treatment with an Inman appliance.

What is the Inman Orthodontic Appliance?
Inman Orthodontic Appliance Benefits
An Inman Orthodontic Appliance Success Story

What is the Inman Orthodontic Appliance?

The Inman removable appliance works by pushing on some teeth while pulling on others. Smooth ‘bumpers’ press from inside the arch or pull back from outside the arch to help create a smooth, esthetic arch form. We recommend wearing the Inman appliance for 20 or more hours per day. Tooth movement only occurs when the appliance is being worn, so patients in a hurry to complete their treatment know that they should wear their Inman appliance as much as possible! Because an Inman appliance is removable, the patient has the option of going without it for a short time, should this be desirable – for example, that party they have been looking forward to.

What Are the Benefits of the Inman Orthodontic Device?

Patients are often unwilling to go into full braces to accomplish tooth movement but are quite willing to wear a removable appliance that will help to improve their smile. If more advanced tooth movement is necessary to accomplish the goals of better esthetics and function, then braces or reconstructive dentistry may be a better option. When smiling, most Inman appliances look like a retainer and are comfortable to wear.

Following tooth movement, the Inman removable appliance can be worn as a retainer, or we will make a retainer for you to help keep the teeth where they have been moved. Retainers may need to be worn just at night – sometimes only a couple nights per week – to maintain the new tooth position.

Meet Sally

Sally told us that she always wished her teeth were straighter, whiter, and not so crowded. When her wisdom teeth came in, the crowding increased. Sally was referred to our office to evaluate her options for a better smile. We selected minor orthodontic movement with an Inman appliance, followed by an evaluation for porcelain veneers or cosmetic bonding. If veneers are completed before the teeth are repositioned, more grinding or preparation of the teeth will be needed to achieve an ideal result.

The position of Sally’s teeth and the esthetics of her smile improved much better than we expected with the Inman Appliance. We were able to achieve the perfect, conservative result for her with just a bit of cosmetic bonding on the left front tooth and the right lateral incisor after improving the brightness of her smile with our take-home teeth whitening system.

Contact Julie Gillis, DDS, PC

We would be happy to discuss options to improve your smile with an Inman removable appliance. There may be other options as well! Please contact our office to set up an appointment or to ask any questions that you might have.