Why Do I Need Orthodontic Treatment?
Othodontics is the branch of dentistry dedicated to the straightening of misaligned teeth
, the correction of a malformed bite and the realignment of the jaw. At one end of the scale, orthodontics may be used like plastic surgery to simply beautify one's smile; or, at the other end of the scale, it may be used to correct a serious facial misalignment.
There are three classes of malocclusion (or misplaced bite) that orthodontic treatment can rectify. Simplified, this refers to the way the teeth of the upper jaw and the lower jaw meet. Class I is classified as the molars being in place, but the teeth to the front of the mouth (the anterior teeth) are misaligned, having too wide a space between them or they overlap because of crowding. Class II is defined as molars which are misplaced, causing the front teeth to either stick out or overlap the lower teeth to a great extent. Class III is when the teeth of the lower jaw protrude in front of the upper teeth when the mouth is closed.
Your family dentist will refer you to a specialist orthodontist should he think that orthodontic treatment is needed. He will, in all probability, send you to have a special panoramic x-ray of your teeth and jaws to take with you to your appointment with the orthodontist, as well any other information he thinks will be helpful.
Once the orthodontist has examined your mouth he will provide you with a treatment plan, which may include the removal of certain teeth to create space for other teeth to be moved into their place to create a normal bite. Your family dentist will, in most cases, do the extractions unless, of course, they need to be surgically removed. This sometimes happens with overcrowding of the teeth, when there is no space for a tooth to erupt and it becomes imbedded in the jaw bone. Another specialist, a maxillo-facial oral surgeon, will attend to these difficult removals.
The actual method of straightening the teeth is usually done with the use of braces which exert pressure on the teeth to force them to move into their correct position. In this procedure, a brace is attached to each tooth individually and they are all then connected by wires which are then tightened on a regular basis as the teeth are repositioned. In years gone by, these braces were made of metal and were regarded as unsightly, but modern orthodontics has come up with ceramic braces which are tooth-coloured, so they are not nearly so noticeable. The top end of the market in these new and nearly invisible braces is a brand called Invisalign, which is made of transparent plastic.
After the treatment is completed and all your teeth are in the correct position in your mouth, the orthodontist will most probably make you a plastic plate (or retainer) to ware once the braces have been removed, to keep the teeth from moving out of alignment until the jaw stops growing and there is no chance of the teeth moving. These retainers may be needed for a few years, but you generally only use them for a short time at first, then later, only when you sleep.
Dentists now have several orthodontic treatments to offer adult patients who wish to straighten their teeth without the use of traditional metal braces. From "instant orthodontics" with porcelain veneers to invisible braces, these new methods allow adults to transform their smile quickly and discreetly
by: Lawrence White
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