Orthodontics Overview
Orthodontics is a branch of dentistry that focuses on aligning teeth and jaws to improve facial structure (and your child's smile), as well as overall oral health.
Orthodontic treatment can help:
- guide permanent teeth into the proper position
- improve lip closure
- reserve or gain space for erupting permanent teeth
- reduce the potential for jaw joint damage
- influence proper jaw growth
- ensure the proper width of dental arches
- improve eruption patterns
- lower the risk of damage to protruding upper teeth
- shorten treatment time for later corrective orthodontics
- improve some types of speech problems
Orthodontics patients can be any age. Usually, braces are worn between the ages of 10 and 14, the period of development when the head and mouth are still growing and teeth are easier to straighten. Earlier orthodontic treatments can sometimes prevent the need for full orthodontic treatment. Adults also wear braces to correct minor problems and to improve their smiles.
Procedure
Initial Oral Examination An oral examination includes a visual examination, charting, x-rays, periodontal probing, diagnosis and treatment recommendations.
Braces (Orthodontia)
Braces are applied to teeth for various reasons, including poorly aligned jaws, crooked, crowded and missing teeth or a bad bite.
Various things can cause teeth to become crooked or jaws misaligned, including thumb-sucking or a traumatic injury. Some conditions are inherited.
Children between the ages of 10 and 14 are typical candidates for braces because their facial structures are still developing. Adult braces usually entail additional procedures because their faces have already fully developed.
Procedures
In most cases, a dentist will need to make a plaster cast of the individual's teeth and perform full X-rays of the head and mouth.
After braces are placed, they need to be adjusted from time to time to ensure that they continue to move the teeth into their correct position. Retainers are used following braces to ensure that teeth remain in position.
Aesthetic and Comfort Issues
Today, braces are made from extremely lightweight and natural-colored materials. The materials that braces attach to, the brackets, are bonded to the surfaces of teeth but can be later removed.
Patients should expect to wear braces for about two years. Adults are usually required to wear braces for longer periods of time.
Because braces need to be adjusted from time to time to ensure they continue to move the teeth into their correct position, they can create pressure on the teeth and jaws. This mild discomfort usually subsides following each orthodontia adjustment.
Hygiene issues
Patients who wear braces need to make sure that food particles and other debris do not get trapped in the brackets or wires. Brackets can also leave stains on enamel if the area surrounding them is not cleaned on a daily basis.
Daily oral hygiene such as brushing, flossing and rinsing are a necessity. Some patients with braces can benefit from using water picks, which emit small pressurized bursts of water that can effectively rinse away such debris.
Space Maintainers
Space maintainers are can help teeth grow in normally following premature tooth loss, injury or other problems. They can help ensure that proper spaces are maintained to allow future permanent teeth to erupt.
If your child loses a baby tooth early through decay or injury, his or her other teeth could shift and begin to fill the vacant space. When your child's permanent teeth emerge, there's not enough room for them. The result is crooked or crowded teeth and difficulties with chewing or speaking.
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