Orthodontic braces
What are orthodontic braces?
Dream of that beautiful smile you ever wanted? Well, traditional braces can make your dream come true.
Dental braces are effective in the treatment of crooked teeth. They. align/straighten your teeth and guide them to the correct position
This not only improves the aesthetic value but also helps you chew and clean better.
Conditions for which you would need orthodontic braces:
- Spacing
- Overcrowded teeth
- Protruding front teeth (teeth extending beyond normal position in an outward direction)
- Overbite (when the overlap of upper teeth over the lower teeth is more than normal)
- Underbite (when the lower teeth overlap the upper teeth).
- Improving speech
- Improving chewing ability
- Impacted teeth (rotated teeth)
How do orthodontic braces work?
Orthodontic braces apply a constant light pressure on your teeth
over a specific period of time to cause slow movement of your teeth to the desired correct position.
Orthodontic braces apply a constant light pressure on your teeth
over a specific period of time to move them into the desired correct position.
Types of braces:
- Traditional braces or metal braces
- Ceramic braces
- Lingual braces
- Clear Aligners
Traditional braces:
- They are nothing but metal braces. Nowadays these braces have been modified to achieve an aesthetic look in the form of ceramic and lingual braces.
- They are used in interceptive and corrective orthodontics.
- Interceptive orthodontics is the correction of maligned teeth in the early stages of growth and development of your child which involves transition of the milk teeth to permanent teeth.
- Corrective orthodontics is for adolescents and adults where the treatment starts after the growth of their jaw is complete and all permanent teeth have erupted.
- Corrective orthodontics is for adolescents and adults. Treatment starts after the growth of their jaw is complete and all permanent teeth have erupted.
Main components of traditional braces:
Archwire: an orthodontic wire that is bent to act as a path to guide your teeth in place.
Bracket: small attachments used to hold the archwire in place.
Elastics: they are placed around the brackets to exert pressure to move your teeth.
How do they work?
Once the orthodontist or dentist has placed the braces on your teeth, the arch wire applies light continuous pressure that aids in tooth movement which eventually, at the end of your treatment gives you the desired correction.
Advantages:
- They are an effective way to treat all kinds of cases including the severe ones as it is quite versatile and allows the orthodontist to guide individual tooth to shift to its right place.
- The treatment duration is shorter.
- They are cost effective.
- They are strong and durable and therefore can withstand chewing and brushing forces.
- They are low maintenance as you need not take out the braces while brushing or eating, and the question of losing your braces does not arise.
Ceramic braces:
Ceramic braces are made up of composite materials. They come in varying levels of transparency so you can have braces that mimic the color of your natural teeth. It uses tooth colored brackets instead of metal ones. The arch wire can be transparent to make the braces less noticeable. Unlike metal braces, they don’t interfere with the imaging test.
Lingual braces:
Lingual braces also known as inside braces just look like the traditional braces that attach to the back of your teeth instead of the front. As they are placed on the inner sides of your teeth, they are almost virtually invisible. They are custom made to fit your teeth.
Myofunctional Therapy
Traditional braces can be complimented with Myofunctional Therapy such as Myobrace for a more effective correction.
Myobrace is used for habit correction which is the underlying cause of your child’s crooked teeth.
It helps you to
breathe through the nose,
to swallow correctly,
to keep the lips together
and to correct tongue resting position.
After the habit correction, it guides the permanent teeth to their correct position in teenagers. If the teeth need further alignment, braces are used in combination for a shorter duration.
Still concerned that braces may alter the way you look?
That worry can be taken care of by invisible braces called clear aligners.
Clear aligners:
Clear aligners are the most recent advancements in the field of orthodontics. They are transparent orthodontic devices that are used to straighten your teeth. They are virtually invisible and therefore your orthodontic treatment remains completely concealed. The only thing visible is your ever improving smile. It is used in patients with mild to moderate misalignment. For more severe cases, traditional braces are preferred.
The principle of working is similar to traditional braces wherein it applies slight constant pressure to your teeth with the help of a series of clear plastic biocompatible custom made trays.
There are many brands of clear aligners available. One of the most commonly used is Invisalign.
How does Invisalign work?
Treatment includes a series of removable ansd transparent trays that slowly move your teeth into position. It uses digital imaging to create custom trays and thereby provides precise treatment.
Clear aligners do not need brackets or wire and is the treatment of preferred by most adults.
Each set has to be worn for a week or two before moving on to the next.
The total number of sets will vary according to the needs of respective patients.
Advantages:
- It has an almost invisible appearance. So you need not hide that beautiful smile of yours.
- It is removable and so you can take it out when you want to brush, floss, eat or drink. Although one needs to wear it for at least 20 hours a day.
- It is comfortable and easy to clean.
- It does not irritate your tongue, gum or cheeks.
- It does not alter your speech.
- In office visits are reduced as the custom trays are made in the laboratory after a 3D scan of your teeth is done. So you just have to use the prepared trays on your orthodontist’s directions.
- It moves teeth more gradually than traditional braces thereby reducing discomfort.
Though clear aligners are easy to use, care should be taken when you remove them so that you do not lose it. Also not keeping them in your mouth for the required amount of time may delay the results of orthodontic correction.