Basketball hoops, squirt guns, a third eye on your forehead.

Hey, maybe packing a little metal on your teeth isn't so bad after all.

"Dr. Kaz makes getting braces fun!" is the mantra orthodontist Andrew Kassman preaches - sometimes to the point of excess - at his northside office.

Here, patients can shoot a few hoops, jump into a toy mosh pit, even check out a squirt gun from behind the receptionist's desk.

Loaded, no less.

Yes, indeed, wearing braces seems to be a barrel of yuks these days - and we don't mean that sticky stuff they slip into your mouth when they're making a mold of your teeth.

Even that comes flavored. Among the different offerings: strawberry, root beer, bubble gum, and pina colada.

Retainers - some of them glow in the dark - now come in neon colors, or for the younger set, adorned with cartoon characters.

And while most kids still opt for the stainless steel look, braces finished in 24-karat gold are also an option.

"Preteen like it. It looks good against fair skin and freckles," says Kassman, adjusting the gold braces on patient Marina Denton, 11.

Despite all this catering to kids, about 35 percent of Kassman's patients are adults.

"A profile of my typical adult patient is a woman in her 30s who's working," says Kassman. "Maybe she never had braces. Or maybe she just needs a partial."

His oldest patient: a woman in her 70s. "She wanted her teeth to look good," says Kassman, whose only stipulation is that the bone be healthy. "People live into their 90s now," he adds.

The American Association of Orthodontists recommends that every child see an orthodontist by age 7.

And yes, braces can - and frequently are - worked around baby teeth.

Orthodontists will usually anchor the eight front permanent teeth, top and bottom, to the four permanent molars, top and bottom, that pop through at the back of the mouth at about age 6.

As more permanent teeth pop in, they, too, are linked into the system.

Braces usually stay on about two years. Then comes the retainer, which keeps the teeth from shifting back.

As for wisdom teeth, "It's a 50-50 split whether to take them out before orthodontia," says Kassman, who's against it. "I've seen lower jaws crowd up with and without those teeth."

Return to Dr. Kaz in The News