Fastbraces: What You Need to Know
Pros & cons
How they work
How long treatment takes
Fast facts
An alternative to traditional braces, Fastbraces deliver results in as few as 100 days, according to the manufacturer.
Traditional braces work in two phases: pulling the crown of the tooth into position during the first year, then moving the root of the tooth. Fastbraces technology straightens the roots from the beginning of treatment, leading to results in less time. They’re an appealing option for people who want a beautiful smile quickly, focusing on the “smile teeth” up front.
There are limits to what Fastbraces can achieve compared to other types of braces, says NYC dentist Dr. Steven Davidowitz. “They’re are limited to very mild to moderate spacing or crowding cases,” he says. “Patients with severely crooked teeth or a misaligned bite are not candidates for Fastbraces.”
That said, Costa Mesa, California, dentist Dr. Michael Ayzin says that “with proper diagnosis and treatment, Fastbraces are safe and effective for the right candidate.”
Pros
- The treatment can be much faster than traditional braces.
- You’d need fewer dental office visits for a straighter smile, which can translate into lower costs.
- The brackets can be tooth-colored in some cases, making them less conspicuous than metal braces.
Cons
- This is a quick cosmetic fix for your front “smile teeth,” not a full orthodontic treatment.
- Because it can't treat underbites or crossbites, it's important to ensure that you're a good candidate.
- Most Fastbraces providers are general dentists, not orthodontists, so they may not be experienced enough to treat (or identify) more complex cases. You may want to get a second opinion before choosing this option.
- Compared to clear aligners like Invisalign, Fastbraces are more visible.
- As with all braces, it's not a great option if you have untreated dental conditions, such as gum disease or tooth decay.
Fastbraces have triangular brackets, not the traditional square wire bracket systems. The triangular design allows the whole set of braces to use one super-flexible, strong wire.
The manufacturer of Fastbraces claims that this wire moves the crowns and roots of the teeth at the same time, massively speeding up treatment, explains Dr. Davidowitz.
RealSelf member Ktjorgensen, who got Fastbraces to improve a significant gap in her front teeth, reported seeing improvements after just three weeks.
Fastbraces are also said to be significantly more comfortable than traditional braces. Because the wire is activated by the natural heat your mouth produces, it supposedly moves your teeth smoothly, with less friction than traditional braces.
The company claims that patients need to wear their retainers after treatment for only 15–20 minutes a day to maintain their results, though there are no studies yet to validate this claim.
The manufacturer of Fastbraces claims that they can fix teeth in as little as three months.
However, you may also want to manage your expectations about how fast your teeth can be straightened. “Fastbraces patients almost always go over the originally promised timeline, and they also don’t get great finishes,” says Dr. Jenny Sun, an orthodontist in Surprise, Arizona, in a RealSelf Q&A.
That’s what happened to RealSelf member dclarke1. Her dentist promised she’d have to wear Fastbraces for only a year, but she ended up having to wear them for more than three years. “I sincerely wish I would have gone the traditional orthodontics route, because it seems as though these braces are now a permanent fixture. I am beyond disappointed.”
Although a company website listed scientific references for their marketing claims, a letter published in the British Dental Journal points out that “none of them directly supports the stated and implied claims made that Fastbraces are new, faster, move the teeth in a different way to ‘old’ braces, are less likely to need extractions, and require only 15 minutes of retention per day. It is full of pseudoscience.”
A major criticism of Fastbraces is that most providers are general dentists who have had two to three years of extra training to specialize in tooth movement, bite correction, and jaw alignment, not orthodontists.
“Fastbraces is a method general dentists use to align only the top front teeth [the so-called social six], without concern for the bite as a whole,” says Kennesaw, Georgia, orthodontist Dr. Doug Depew. “As a result, treatment time is more limited, and so is the result and your satisfaction with it.”
Phoenix orthodontist Dr. Clark Jones says in a RealSelf Q&A that such fast orthodontic treatments are simply incomplete treatments that don’t address underlying issues.
“They’re akin to what the orthodontist refers to as ‘initial alignment,’ which is what orthodontists usually do first, before trying to make the bite corrections to make the teeth fit each other properly. When you begin to move any of the teeth, the bite will usually change—and now you have to fit all the teeth back together again in a different way to get them to fit properly and work properly, upper to lower. I can often get great initial alignment in three months and then spend another 12–18 months trying to get everything to fit together and work really well. That’s the hard part.”
Another knock is that unlike with conventional orthodontics or clear aligner treatment, there are no studies available to the dental community to assess and learn more about the efficacy of Fastbraces treatment, says Dr. Davidowitz. “In fact, very little information is released to the dental community. One can only learn more by paying tuition for two-day Fastbraces training.”
If you go with this option, “be sure to see a qualified orthodontist, not a general dentist who dabbles in orthodontia,” Dr. Depew advises.
Updated June 13, 2023