Advanced Orthodontic Treatments

Most orthodontic cases follow a predictable path: braces or Invisalign, regular adjustments, a retainer, and a finished smile within a year or two. But not every case is as straightforward. A smaller subset of patients present with skeletal discrepancies, complex bite mechanics, or diagnostic questions that call for more than a standard approach — what’s considered advanced orthodontic treatment. Experienced orthodontists can recognize these cases and treat them correctly.

Dr. Stephanie Ross and Dr. Aden Peterson have built their Longmont and Firestone practices to handle this full range. That means most patients who walk through the door will need conventional treatment, and that’s exactly what they’ll get. But for the cases that don’t fit that mold — a jaw that’s genuinely out of alignment rather than just the teeth on top of it, a bite that isn’t responding the way it should, a diagnosis that needs more than a visual exam to get right — advanced treatment options exist, and are used selectively rather than as a default.

This distinction matters because advanced orthodontics is often marketed as though it’s simply a better version of standard treatment — faster, more high-tech, more thorough. In practice, it’s a set of tools reserved for specific clinical circumstances, and using them where they aren’t indicated doesn’t improve a result; it adds unnecessary time, cost, or risk to a case that would have been handled just as well with a conventional approach. The value of experienced diagnosis is knowing which category a given patient actually falls into before any treatment plan is proposed.

Surgical orthodontics

Braces reposition teeth. They cannot reposition a jaw. When a patient’s bite problem originates in the skeletal relationship between the upper and lower jaw rather than in tooth position alone, orthodontic treatment on its own has a ceiling — it can compensate for a jaw discrepancy to a point, but it cannot correct one.

Surgical orthodontics, or orthognathic surgery, is reserved for these cases: adult patients, generally past the completion of jaw growth, with a skeletal underbite, overbite, crossbite, or asymmetry significant enough that braces alone won’t resolve the underlying structural issue. It is a coordinated process between orthodontist and oral surgeon, planned around presurgical tooth movement, the surgery itself, and a period of post-surgical refinement — not a single procedure, but a full treatment arc that requires both specialties working from the same plan.

Diagnosing a surgical case

Recognizing when a case has crossed from “orthodontic” into “surgical” territory is a clinical judgment, not a formula, and it’s one that depends on experience with both dental and skeletal diagnosis. Two patients can present with what looks like the same overbite from the front of the mouth, and yet one may resolve fully with braces while the other genuinely requires surgical correction — the difference lies in the underlying skeletal relationship, not the surface presentation. That distinction is easy to miss without the diagnostic rigor and case volume to have seen both outcomes play out.

It’s also a minority outcome: most patients with a challenging bite are still fully treatable with braces or aligners alone. Surgical referral is reserved for the cases where the jaw itself, not just the teeth, is the source of the problem, and recommending it appropriately means being equally willing to rule it out when a case doesn’t warrant it.

Accelerated orthodontics

Reducing treatment time is appealing to nearly every patient, but accelerated orthodontic techniques aren’t a universal upgrade — they’re a clinical tool suited to specific case types. Applied appropriately, to the right degree of crowding or spacing and the right level of patient compliance, they can meaningfully shorten a treatment timeline without compromising the stability of the final result. Applied to a case that isn’t a good fit, they add cost without adding benefit, or risk moving teeth faster than the surrounding bone and tissue can safely accommodate.

Who qualifies for accelerated treatment

That distinction is the reason acceleration isn’t something patients should assume they qualify for, or that every orthodontist offers responsibly. Whether it’s appropriate depends on a careful read of the individual case — the type of movement needed, the biology of the patient’s periodontal tissue, and whether their case will actually benefit from it. Accelerated treatment should never be sold as an add-on. Dr. Ross and Dr. Peterson evaluate candidacy for accelerated options the same way they evaluate any other advanced treatment: against the specific mechanics of the case, not as a default upsell.

Digital orthodontic technology

Every advanced treatment decision is only as good as the diagnostic information behind it, which is why digital technology has become central to how complex cases are evaluated at Longmont Braces. Three-dimensional scanning, digital treatment simulation, and precise progress tracking replace the guesswork that used to come with visual exams and physical impressions, and they matter most exactly where the stakes are highest — in cases where a jaw discrepancy, an unusual eruption pattern, or a bite that isn’t tracking as expected needs to be understood correctly before a plan is built around it.

Modern Diagnostic Standards

This isn’t a marketing detail; it’s a diagnostic standard. A skeletal problem misread as a purely dental one, or a straightforward case treated as though it were more complex than it is, both lead to the wrong plan. Digital imaging and simulation give both doctors a far more complete picture of what’s actually happening in a patient’s mouth and jaw before treatment begins, which is part of what makes it possible to correctly identify which patients genuinely need advanced treatment and which don’t.

Retainers and post-treatment stability

Complex cases don’t end when the braces come off — if anything, retention matters more after an advanced treatment plan than after a routine one, since surgical and heavily accelerated cases can involve more significant shifts in bone and tissue that need time to stabilize. A well-designed retention protocol, and consistent follow-up to confirm that a result is holding, is part of the treatment plan itself, not an afterthought once active treatment ends. For patients who’ve been through a longer or more involved course of treatment, long-term monitoring is what protects that investment.

A selective approach to advanced treatment

The majority of patients at Longmont Braces are treated with standard braces or Invisalign, and that’s appropriate — most bites and alignment issues don’t require surgical, accelerated, or unusually complex intervention. Advanced treatment exists for the smaller number of cases where it’s genuinely warranted, and identifying that distinction correctly is itself part of the expertise a patient is paying for.

Dr. Ross is an active member of the American Association of Orthodontists, and both Dr. Ross and Dr. Peterson have the combined clinical background to recognize when a case calls for surgical coordination, when acceleration is a legitimate option rather than an unnecessary add-on, and when a diagnosis needs a closer look before any treatment plan is proposed. That judgment, more than any single technology or technique, is what advanced orthodontic care actually depends on.

Patients who’ve been told a case is complicated, or who have a general dentist’s referral for a jaw or bite concern, can get a clear read on what treatment would actually involve with a complimentary consultation at either the Longmont or Firestone office.

Schedule a complimentary consultation to find out what treatment would look like for your case.