Lingual Braces

The term “lingual braces” refers to a method of orthodontic treatment where the brackets and wires that produce the patient’s tooth realignment are attached to the backside (palate or tongue side) of their teeth, as opposed to the front or cheek side as is the case with traditional dental braces. 


While the positioning of the patient’s orthodontic hardware is just the opposite as that found with traditional dental braces, both techniques and the materials they employ are otherwise very similar.

The chief advantage of lingual braces lies in the fact that they are non-visible. By “non-visible,” as opposed to the term “invisible,” we mean that if someone carefully looks, they may catch a glimpse of your lingual braces but otherwise they are not easily detected.

Not everyone is a suitable candidate for lingual braces treatment. In general, appropriate candidates will be adults and older teenagers (teenagers that have few, if any, baby teeth remaining). The patient’s teeth need to be relatively normal sized, as opposed to being very small.

Good candidates will have a bite relationship that is accommodating to the presence of lingual braces. If the patient has teeth that overlap excessively or have an alignment that might produce heavy forces on their orthodontic brackets when they chew or otherwise close their teeth together, lingual braces probably aren’t the best choice. Only an evaluation by an orthodontist can lead to a determination that lingual braces technique is a suitable treatment approach for you.