Orthodontics is a department of dentistry treating malocclusion, a situation where your teeth are not correctly positioned when your mouth is closed. Malocclusion often results in an improper bite. The dentist in NE Calgary specializes in orthodontics to help you straighten your teeth.
Orthodontic treatment is also cosmetic to enhance your appearance but often aims to improve oral functioning.
What Kinds of Treatments Are Offered by Orthodontics?
Orthodontists perform work aiming to achieve the following:
- Aligning the tips of your teeth.
- Reducing wide gaps between your teeth.
- Straightening your crooked teeth to improve speech and chewing ability.
- Boosting long-term health of your teeth and gums.
- Preventing long-term significant wear and trauma of the teeth.
- Treating an improper bite.
Orthodontic treatment improves the appearance of your teeth while also leading to better chewing and speech function. In some cases, the therapy also helps protect the teeth from decay and damage.
When achieving the treatment goals, orthodontics in NE Calgary uses various medical, dental devices, including headgear, braces, and plates.
Orthodontic Devices for Correcting an Improper Bite
When correcting an improper bite, the most common devices used by orthodontics are fixed or removable.
Fixed Orthodontic Appliances
Fixed tools are the most familiar devices used in orthodontics. Fixed appliances are beneficial when precision is essential. You can typically eat with fixed appliances but must refrain from having some foods and drinks, including carbonated beverages, hard candy, chewing gum, and various other sticky foods. If you participate in contact sports, it helps if you keep your orthodontists informed because you may need special gum shields.
Some examples of fixed orthodontic devices include:
Braces
Braces consist of brackets, wires, and bands. The bands are fixed firmly to your teeth to serve as anchors for the device, while the brackets are attached to the front of your teeth. Wires shaped like arches are fixed to the bands. Pressure is applied to the teeth when the archwire is tightened. Over time the tightening move your teeth into the correct position.
The treatment with braces may last from several months to a few years. However, you must visit the dental office in T1Y 6J2 every month to adjust and tighten the braces.
You can consider having clear or colored braces to straighten your teeth.
Removable Orthodontic Devices
The NE Calgary dentist also provides removable orthodontic appliances to treat minor problems like preventing thumb-sucking or correcting mild to moderately crooked teeth. Invisalign in Calgary is an excellent alternative for orthodontic treatments of the soft to moderate variety. The devices are removable for eating, brushing, and flossing.
Sometimes orthodontists advise you to remove such devices during certain activities like playing wind instruments or cycling.
Invisalign throughout the world is an excellent alternative to braces and is incredibly beneficial for adults. The aligners are virtually invisible and remain in the mouth discreetly. In addition, the removable feature of the aligners enables you to remove the appliance when brushing your teeth, flossing, or eating.
While braces are stuck to your teeth, the removable aligners fit snugly over them. You can use each aligner for two to three weeks before replacements are provided with a tighter one.
You may prefer removable orthodontic devices to correct the problems with your teeth. However, you must rely on the expertise of the orthodontic specialist on which appliance is best suited for your specific situation—overlooking the advice of the specialist results in delays in completing the treatment or failure.
Who Must See Orthodontic Specialists?
If your jaws and teeth haven’t developed correctly, it results in malocclusion. Malocclusion leaves your teeth crooked and misaligned, with the bottom and top teeth not lining up.
Malocclusion is not a disease, but it undoubtedly affects your physical health. For example, it is a difference in the positioning of your teeth. However, it impacts the shape of your face and the appearance of your teeth resulting in embarrassment and a lack of self-confidence besides depression.
The culprits of malocclusion include injury to the teeth or facial bones, frequent finger and thumb sucking, besides numerous other conditions.
The specialty of orthodontics can help you with an improper bite by straightening your teeth using various types of dental devices. As your teeth move into the correct position, you enjoy better dental health and overall health because you no longer face challenges cleaning your teeth and are not susceptible to tooth decay and gum disease.
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