Oral health care as well as smile designing is done in our dental division. Oral health maintenance and smile designing needs the interaction of various dental disciplines like orthodontics, prosthodontics, periodontics, conservative dentistry and oral and maxillofacial surgery.
Orthodontics
WHAT IS ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT?
Orthodontics is the branch of dentistry that corrects teeth and jaws that are positioned improperly. Teeth that are crooked or not in the right place can be less esthetic and might affects one’s smile and confidence .It also cause difficult to clean all the surfaces causing gum infection and dental caries .
The benefits of orthodontic treatment
HEALTHIER MOUTH
PLEASING APPEARANCE
BETTER BITING EFFICIENCY
Types of irregularity:
CROSS BITE
PROCLINED TEETH
SPACING
CROWDING
WAYS TO CORRECT TOOTH IRREGULARITY
CONVENTIONAL BRACES
INVISIBLE BRACES
CONVENTIONAL BRACES
Dental braces are devices used in orthodontics that align and straighten teeth and help position them into right place .commonly used is metal braces .if you prefer more esthetic options ceramic braces (tooth colour braces )can be opted which has similar efficiency as metal one.
HOW MUCH TIME DOES IT TAKE TO FINISH THE BRACES TREATMENT?
Time duration depends on the amount of problem or irregularity or need for tooth extraction .Generally orthodontic treatment takes around 10 months to 24 months .once a month visit will be required to direct the teeth in right position
ALL THE ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT REQUIRES TOOTH REMOVAL?
Need for tooth removal (extraction) depends on the amount of jaw problem and how forwardly teeth is placed and how crooked the teeth are arranged. Orthodontist will evaluate the need for extraction only if teeth cannot be aligned without tooth removal.
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CAN ONE EAT NORMAL FOOD WEARING DENTAL BRACES?
Yes, one can have normal food during orthodontic treatment with slight modification to ones eating habit.
Brackets are metal clips attached to teeth, which along with wire causes tooth movement .if brackets are broken desired tooth movement will not happen. Hence it is mantodatory to avoid very hard food like like nuts ,bones and sticky items like bubble gum. it better to cut the hard foods into small piece and eat .there is no restriction food like rice and upma or idly etc ..and no restriction for hot and cold food.
WHAT IS INVISIBLE BRACES?
Invisible braces (clear aligners ) are braces that suited for patient who very conscious about their appearance and do not want wires to be seen from their teeth all the time (e.g. people in media or teenage or adults who finds it awkward to show braces in the public). it one of the recent and break thorough in braces technology. where there is absolutely no wire or bracket present in the mouth .instead a clear plastic self removal tray set is given to patient to bring about tooth movement which they have to change themselves at home every month as per instructions of orthodontist .This is completely invisible and do not pose any social esthetic problem and oral hygiene maintenance becomes very easy and less dental visit.
AGE LIMIT FOR BRACES TREATMENT :
There is no age limit for orthodontics .Even children from age 10 to late adult can go for alignment provided they have healthy teeth and gums
For children ,
Kids with irregular teeth alignment might affects normal growth of the jaw and affects esthetic appearance causing teasing by their friends or it can reduces kids confidence .hence orthodontic treatment might help them to regain better smile and cope with peer group.
Orthodontics treatment treatment can be intervened at early age as 10 years.
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Can Improper jaw /bite can be corrected early age ?
Generally ,Our mouth is made up who jaws upper (maxilla )and lower jaw .correct position of the both jaw in 3dimension will give pleasing look .if either of jaw is not positioned correctly might affects teeth and face giving the compromised smile.
If your kid has jaw problem or teeth alignment that affect the normal growth of the jaw,it is mandatory to start functional theraphy (type of dental treatment ) to allow or stimulate the normal growth which is around 9-11 years where kids growth is at maximum.if left untreated he/she might require surgery to correct jaw and bite at later stage.
There are lot of functional appliance ,based on the jaw problem and maturity of kid appliance is carefully selected.
Types of functional appliance
Can adults improve their bite or correct their forwardly placed jaw
SIGNS OF JAW PROBLEM
REDUCED UPPER INCISOR SHOW ON SMILING
MORE LOWER INCISOR SHOW PRESENT ON SMILING
FORWARDLY PLACED LOWER JAW OR TEETH
FLAT UPPER CHEECK
JAW SHIFTED TO ONE SIDE
CROSS BITE CAUSING DIFFICULTY TO EAT.
Mature adult with jaw discrepancy can be corrected using surgical method (orthognathic surgery)
During ones growth phase ,even if the jaw growth in not ideal, the teeth and surrounding muscle will try to accommodate to existing problem to improve function like eating and speech and making jaw problem less evident .they are called as dental compensation
Hence correcting the jaw problem with surgery alone will not give ideal bite and teeth alignment .Hence orthodontic treatment is necessary to align the teeth and surgery to correct the bite and jaw and improve the facial appearance
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Case 2 :
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