Modern Orthodontics
Written by:When is an orthodontic treatment necessary?
Orthodontic treatment is necessary when the patient has a malocclusion, bad position of the teeth, bad bite, and now we can perform orthodontic treatments not only for children but also for adult patients. This is something we can do thanks to technological advances, so much so that we are currently treating a patient with aesthetic braces who is 69 years old.
What types of treatments are there?
Treatments can be with removable appliances, with which children are usually treated, or with braces, most common among adults.. The brackets can be vestibular, outside the tooth, and lingual, inside the tooth and completely invisible. The brackets can be aesthetic, plastic, composite, ceramic or sapphire or they can be metallic. There are also the Invisalign transparent layers and the most advanced at this moment are the self-ligating brackets.
What are the differences between traditional brackets and self-ligating brackets?
The traditional bracket has an elastic ligature that holds the wire to the bracket. This ligature makes lose part of the force of the wire that is transmitted through the bra-cket to the tooth and creates a friction during the movement of the tooth. The self-adhesive brackets eliminate this elastic ligature and thanks to this the friction is diminished and the force transmission of the wire to the bracket is increased and through this to the tooth. Thanks to these types of treatments we can shorten the same because these brackets are more effective.
Are there differences in treatment between children and adults?
Yes, there is a difference in treatment between children and adults. A child, or girl, is growing, an adult no longer has jawbone growth. When we work with children we can take advantage of this growth to create the bone to place the teeth in good position. In the case of adults we do not have this growth and we have to adapt to the shape of the bones that the adult already has and sometimes we have to go to the help of the maxillofacial surgeon. Apart from this the adult patients ask for the most aesthetic devices, that is why there are lingual devices, vestibular aesthetic devices and Invisalign invisible orthodontic treatments.