Orthodontics Solutions Involve More than Just Wearing Braces

Braces are the most commonly known procedure in orthodontics. They are extremely effective at moving teeth into position, correcting a misaligned bite, and creating a straight and beautiful smile.  Braces can be worn by both adults and children, making them ideal for people in all stages of life.  There are, however, times where alternative treatments are needed. 

Many children have difficulty with overcrowding.  This occurs when baby teeth fall out too early and, as a result, the remaining teeth shift or move out of place.  When the adult teeth try to come in, the space that should have been reserved for them has been lost.  In this situation, braces are not an appropriate solution because the child is getting their adult teeth in, but they haven’t all come in yet.  We can help by making more room in their mouth so that the adult teeth have a place to go. 

Orthodontics involves moving your teeth, jaw, and pallet.  In this scenario, we may want to use a combination of spacers and an expander to move the existing teeth and to expand the pallet so that the adult teeth can come in properly.  Wearing an expander is a common solution because it is a metal device that is placed onto the roof of the mouth and by turning a key, will slowly start to stretch and expand the roof of the mouth.  This is done over several weeks until the pallet has been expanded enough to make room for incoming teeth.  It remains in place for some time in order for the mouth to conform to its new position.  When the adult teeth come in, they will have a spot to grow into that is in line with the other teeth instead of behind them. By performing this procedure early, many children don’t need to wear braces at all. 

Children and adults that do get braces may also need additional procedures to move their teeth and jaw into the right position.  Remember that braces can make teeth straight but on their own cannot expand the pallet or align a jaw.  In the case of an overbite, for example, headgear is often worn at night in order to move the top and lower teeth into alignment.  Simultaneously, rubber bands are often used to align the bite.  In this case, the orthodontist tells a patient which upper tooth to start the rubber band on and which lower tooth it should be ended on.  By wearing the bands, the jaw is held in a certain position and slowly moved into place.  Both of these additional steps are typically only needed for a portion of the treatment time.

There is much more involved with orthodontics and multiple ways to straighten teeth.  There is no one size fits all solution so in order to find out what will work best for you, schedule an examination so that we can make a recommendation and discuss various treatment options. 

Dental Veneers Can Restore Teeth That Are Damaged While Playing Fall Sports

Fall is here and with it comes sports and oral injuries, many of which can be corrected with dental veneers.  It is so common for athletes to have their teeth knocked out or broken that the American Dental Association has advocated athletes wearing mouth guards in order to prevent these injuries.  In fact, over 200,000 high school and college football injuries are prevented every year due to mouth guards.  This gives a glimpse into how many athletes end up in the dentist chair with a cracked tooth. 

Fortunately, we can repair our patient’s teeth to their full functionality using a variety of cosmetic dentistry techniques.  This is important because in the past when someone injured a tooth there was a high likelihood that the tooth would need to be pulled or that it would become infected.  Now, this is very rarely necessary thanks to modern dental techniques.

One of the most common ways for restoring a damaged tooth is to use dental veneers.  A veneer is a thin shell that is placed on top of the existing tooth and can be used to fix one that has been cracked or chipped.  As an athlete, it doesn’t take much to chip a tooth. A recreational softball game is a lot of fun in the spring and summer, but it easy to get distracted and have a flying ball accidentally collide with your face.  These are the types of accidents that are extremely common, no matter how careful you are.  If this happens to you, call us right away to schedule an appointment so that your life isn’t interrupted due to a damaged tooth. 

How the process works.

After an injury, we will examine your teeth and let you know what steps we recommend for repairing it. If dental veneers are the best option, we will take a mold of your mouth so that a permanent veneer can be created in a lab.  The veneer will match the size, shape, and color of your other teeth so that it blends in perfectly.  In the meantime, we will prepare the tooth by removing a portion of the enamel from the surface.  This is done so that when the veneer is placed, it will lay flat with the gums and not stick out in any way.  It can take a few weeks for the dental lab to create your veneer so during this time frame a temporary one will be worn.  The temporary is attached using glue that is meant to come off, so you have to be careful with what you eat, how hard you brush your teeth and your activity level.  As an athlete, you may need to take it easy for a couple of weeks but we can advise you further after discussing what sports you are involved in.  

Once the permanent veneer is ready, you will come back to our office so that we can remove the temporary at bond the permanent one to your existing tooth.  The result is a beautiful looking, natural tooth that is also durable.  This allows you to get back to the game without worrying about your teeth.