Orthodontics: How They Can Help?
When you go to the dentist, you often go there for cleaning, help with issues such as cavities, gum disease and other forms of teeth related issues. But dentistry is such a broad field, and at times, you may not need a dentist for a certain scenario. At most times, an orthodontist will be your go to guy. Orthodontic specialists can provide helpful solutions to people such as teeth straightening. But what else can an orthodontist do? And what procedures can they provide? Well, that’s what today’s blog entry is all about.
What Can They Treat?
One of the most common reasons someone will visit an orthodontist is because of spacing and crowding. A dentist will notice issues with teeth alignment problems and take note of it during a periodic check, but an orthodontist will take action and give treatment to the spacing or crowding issue. But what do these alignment issues consist of? Down below are just of the following issues that an orthodontist will notice and fix.
- Underbite: The lower jaw extends over the upper jaw.
- Overbite: The upper jaw extends too far over the lower jaw.
- Crossbite: The upper teeth sit inside the lower teeth.
- Upper front teeth protrusion: Either the upper teeth extend too far or the lower teeth don’t extend far enough.
- Crowding: The teeth don’t have enough room to erupt.
- Spacing: There is too much room between teeth (or teeth are missing entirely).
- Openbite: There is no overlap between the upper and lower front teeth.
- Dental midline mismatch: The back teeth do not align properly.
How Can They Help?
One common way an orthodontist can tackle a teeth alignment issue is through Invisalign, an alternative to braces that many people find better than the standard traditional braces. However, Invisalign can’t be the go to solution for everyone. For that, there are plenty of other orthodontic procedures that can help in a variety of ways. Here are just a few to show just how much variety a standard orthodontist can provide.
- Traditional braces: Metal brackets placed on each tooth that are linked by wire and elastic to move the teeth into the correct position.
- Ceramic braces: Functionally the same as traditional braces, but the brackets are made with transparent ceramic.
- Damon braces: These braces use a self-adjusting slide mechanism rather than elastic to connect the wires between the brackets.
- Forsus appliances: These are springs attached to the braces against the patients’ cheeks to help position the jaw into proper position and thus correct issues such as severe overbites and underbites.
As you can see, orthodontists are here to help in a variety of ways, providing more help, procedures, and solutions that go beyond basic dental work. That’s all the time we have for today, but for more topics such as this, stay on our blog for more dental related blog entries to come. Until next time, have a pleasant day.