What to Expect During Orthodontics Treatment?

For most of your dental visits, such as check-ups and cleanings you will usually interact with a general dentist. However, for certain irregularities with your teeth that pertain to alignment and bite, you will need to see an orthodontic. Orthodontics are specialist dentists that deal with preventing and correcting misaligned teeth and jaws. Their goal is to improve function, aesthetics and promote good dental health through various techniques that help straighten your teeth.

There isn’t a perfect time to get orthodontic treatment but instead what matters is that you have the right number if teeth. while both kids and adults can undergo the treatment, it may be necessary for kids to wait to have a certain number of teeth before any procedures are carried out. This is because it is up until the eruption of the first permanent molars and incisors that an orthodontist can determine if there is need for intervention or not.

Benefits of Orthodontics

When your teeth are not positioned correctly, you are likely to experience a number of problems. for instance, a bad bite may interfere with your speech or even how and what you eat. To enable you live a full and quality life, Phoenix Dentists at ESP Dental encourage you to visit an orthodontist for a solution. Some of their benefits include:

• Facilitates good oral hygiene since proper teeth alignment makes it easy to brush and floss
• Improves speech and chewing
• Boost esteem and self-confidence by providing patients with a straighter smile
• Reduces risk of injury that may occur due to conditions like overbite and malocclusion

Problems Solved by Orthodontics

There are a range of issues that can be fixed with orthodontic services. They include:

• Overcrowding: This is often fixed using dental braces. Just as the name suggests, the teeth overlap each other as a result of adequate space. It could be as a result of genetics where your teeth are much larger than the jaw or you have a characteristically small jaw. Losing primary teeth too early or retaining them for too long also causes crowding.
• Under Bite: Happens when the bottom teeth stick out in front of the upper teeth. this puts pressure on the jaw and can cause you to develop sever discomfort as well as increased wear of the teeth. when left untreated, an under bite can result to TMJ pain.
• Open Bite: This is the opposite of underbite, where the top teeth vertically overlap the bottom teeth. habits like thumb-sucking or prolonged use of the bottle can cause this. Depending on the severity, your orthodontist will determine the best treatment option to use.
• Cross Bite: Occurs when there is a lateral misalignment of the dental arches. It could affect a single tooth or a group of teeth. if not corrected, the jaw may shift to one side, or you may experience lopsided jaw growth and possible wearing down of the enamel may occur. Invisalign braces may be used to correct the condition.
• Spacing: Some people have excess space between teeth which can be caused by a variety of factors such as having undersized teeth or having an oversized labial frenum. The bite can also occur as a result of bad habits like thumb-sucking or extended use of the pacifier that place extra pressure on the teeth. Missing a tooth and not having it fixed can also cause the remaining teeth to shift, creating gaps in between teeth.

Before any kind of orthodontic procedure is performed, you will undergo a comprehensive examination for a proper diagnosis. Your dentist will then come up with a suitable treatment plan which may take several dental appointments to accomplish. The length of treatment usually varies with the severity of the problem and the type of procedure. Braces are the most commonly used orthodontic appliances and can take anywhere between 2 months to 24 months to fully correct the condition. For all appliances used, it is common to feel a bit strange and a little discomfort within the first few days. However, with time you get used to them and you should lead a relatively normal life.