Orthodontics: Helping Improve Your Oral Health

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www.perfectsmilespa.com

Orthodontics is a branch of dentistry that specialises in treating dental irregularities. This field of dentistry basically involves treating various facial growth aspects especially the jaw’s development. Orthodontics was initially known as orthodontia, which is a Greek word meaning proper/straight teeth. Orthodontic treatment is therefore aimed at helping patients achieve proper teeth alignment

Types of Orthodontic Treatment

Orthodontic treatment is made possible with a wide range of orthodontic devices. These devices are placed in the patient’s mouth and help in improving oral functions such as speech and eating. The dental devices are mainly used to help close gaps in between teeth, align teeth, produce a proper bite and prevent excessive trauma or wearing out of teeth. In other words, orthodontic treatment can help improve a patient’s long term health as far as the teeth and gums are concerned.

Like we mentioned, there is a wide range of orthodontic devices and these fall under two main categories which are fixed and removable devices. Fixed orthodontic devices include:

• Braces: Braces are quite common and these are used to help align teeth. There are various types of braces, and they range from coloured braces which are a favourite for children to clear braces which are subtle.

• Space Maintainers: Space maintainers are used to control teeth alignment and help maintain space when a milk tooth is lost. Space maintainers are fixed next to the space of the lost tooth provide enough room for the adult tooth to develop. They prevent teeth crowding and misalignment.

There are also special fixed orthodontic devices which are used to control thumb sucking and thrusting of the tongue. That said; these are only used when extremely necessary.

Removable orthodontic devices are prescribed to treat minor dental problems and these are taken out conveniently when brushing teeth, flossing and eating. Some of the removable orthodontic devices include:

• Teeth Aligners: These are often used instead of braces and many patients prefer teeth aligners are they are unnoticeable.

• Retainers: Removable retainers are worn to help prevent teeth from moving back to their misaligned position after treatment.

• Palatal Expander: Palatal expanders are devices used in orthodontics to widen the upper jaw arch. This device is placed on the roof of the mouth or palate to exert pressure on the palate joints forcing them to form an outward movement and expand the palate size.

• Space Maintainers: Not all space maintainers are permanent and you could opt to have your child wear removable space maintainers.

• Splints: Splints are used to reposition the jaw and are mainly prescribed for patients who suffer from Temporomandibular joint disorder simply known as TMJ

Orthodontic Diagnosis

Before any of the above devices can be used for treatment, the highly experienced orthodontist will have to assess the patient’s teeth so as to identify the best course of treatment. Patients are taken through a dental and medical health history before undergoing clinical examinations. X-rays are used to identify the extent of the condition and you may be asked to take a jaw or teeth x-ray. Plaster models are often used by orthodontics to help create a fitting orthodontic device for your teeth.

As you can see, orthodontics can come in handy to help improve your oral health and facial structure as well. You can also schedule an appointment with your dentist for this purpose.

• Dr Jas Sagoo is the Managing Director and Principal Dentist of Perfect Smile Spa, a leading dental clinic in Essex that provides painless dental treatment.

• Please feel free to drop an email to him at: care@perfectsmilespa.co.uk or call on (+44) 01708 442 114 or circle him on Google Plus: http://plus.google.com/107849783896287587272/