Congratulations! You are taking the initial step, which if followed through, will pay big dividends throughout a lifetime. It is an established fact that modern orthodontic treatment provides many important benefits. These include better chewing, and therefore better digestion, health, and comfort, eliminating undue muscle and bone stress, thereby reducing tension and shapes the mouth for proper speech sounds, and improved appearance for greater self confidence and self-esteem. Studies show that 65% of the population would benefit from orthodontic treament.
My staff and I take pride in being able to provide the best treament to positively influence the life of each of our patients. The success of orthodontic treament not only requires modern equipment, appliances, and techniques, but also the cooperation and understanding of the patient, and in the case of young patients, it would also involving the patient's parents as well.
This web page will help you to better understand the importance of orthodontic treatment and what is expected of you. It also includes answers to some of the most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). If your questions are not here, we will gladly answer them.
The first step in determining your orthodontic problem is learning as much aboutyour condition as possible. In order to provide thorough diagnosis, a set of orthodonticrecords may be taken at this initial visit or on the next appointment. This includes plastermodels of your teeth, photographs, X-rays of your teeth, head, jaw joints, and your medical-dentalhistory.
After examining you and studying your X-rays and study models, a treament plan will be recommended. We will discuss the necessary procedures to accomplish the recommended treament.We will also discuss our office policies and financial options available.
Very important! Your cooperation can reduce treament time by years. We hesitate to treat uncooperativefor these reasons: It will take longer, it may cost more, we may have to extract more teeth, and we may have tobe satisfied with a less than ideal result. It is very importnant that everyone involved understands his or herresponsibilities in order for the treatment to be successfull.
The role of the Orthodontist is to define the patient's problem and provide the appropriate treament.
It is the patient's job to faithfully wear the appliance(s) and to follow the instructions of the doctor.
The parents is responsible to see that the child is wearing the appliance(s) and following the appropriateinstructions of the doctor.
There should be no severe pain during treatment; However, discomfort may occur. If this happens, we recommend using Tylenol (alwaystake it with a glass of water). On all patients, it is beneficial to hold water as warm as comfortable in the mouth for 5 to 10 minutes interval, 10 to 12 times a day for a few days after a major arch-wire adjustment.
If patients develope irritations on the lips; cheeks, or tounge, this is another problem and is usually due to abnormally tight and active muscles. Covering the irritating points with somw absorbent cotton and/or soft wax (which we will provide for you) will help considerably until the muscles become more normal and relaxed. It helps to dry the area in order to hold the wax in the tooth. There are also some adhesive tapes, which can be placed on moist areas and can cover temporarily irritating objects.
We see patients at 3 to 6 weeks intervals. Individual appointments may be short as 10 minutes or as long as 2 hours, depending upon what needs to be accomplished. We emphasize trying to complete our treament in a minimum time but are limited by an individualis physiological tolerance. The amount of appointment time required isfrequently dependnet on the progress made since the last appointment. This progrss is not always predictable. Please be patient if waiting is sometimes neccessary.
Unfortunately all appointments cannot be scheduled during these prime hours. The longer appointments will have to beduring the morning or early afternoon. This allows us, for your convenience, to schedule the prime after school/work times for your more frequent adjustment!
A careful orthodontic patient can eat most food. However, these types of food can cause trouble:
Here are some suggestions that can help you to clean your teeth during the orthodontic treament:
When? Within fives minutes after eating snack or meal. A travel toothbrush for your pocket or purse is perfect when you are away from home. Swishing with water is never adequate with or without braces on the teeth.
How? Brush horizontally (side to side) wherever there is a horizontal (arch) wire. Move the brush back and forth between the wire and thegums to loosen the food particles. This must be done with a very short strokes in a vibrating or circular motion. Keep the circles very small to work the bristles between the teeth and under the wires. Don't forget to brush also where there is no wire. This is best done as follow:
Tooth paste with fluorides, topical fluorides, and fluorides in water or taken orally in some similar formespecially in young people.
Orthodontic treament should not increase the possibility of decay, but braces are food traps. It is important for you to know that braces make certainplaces on your teeth harder to clean. The brackets, tubes, and wires that stick out away from the braces tend to make a little shelf that may cause problems. The shelf makes it harder to get at the spaces between the braces and gum with your toothbrush. If you don't get the tooth clean here and message the gums, thegum swell and get more and more difficult to clean. Continued neglect of these areas may result in gum disease, cavities, and stains.
By all means, please don't neglect these. Dental cleaning should also be continued as before (with flouride treatment if it is adviced.) These dental check-ups should be at least be done once a year.
Gum tissue may get sore and swollen if you do not brush well. Your gums and braces need to be brushed and cleaned thoroughly after eating to keep them healthy. Periodontal disease may lead to receding gums and gradual loss of supporting bone for your teeth. Some people are more susceptible to the disease than others.
Root resorption is a shortening of the tooth roots. It can occur with or without orthodontic appliances and it is difficult to predict susceptibility to this condition. Some patients are predisposed to this occuring, while most are not.
"Relapse" refers to the movement of the teeth back toward their original positions after your braces has been removed. Teeth can move any time, whether or not thay have had orthodontic treatment. The most vulnerable teeth are those in the lower front, affected by the lips.
Most mal-occlusions (crooked teeth) have teeth that are very tight together. In order for us to place a band properly on a tooth, we must created a little space between the teeth. This is done with one of several types seperators. They will become loose and may fall out. This is alright, for then the space has been made. If these seperators irritate the tongue or cheeks, place over them some absorbent cotton and/or gum.
Elastics or rubber bands are often used during orthodontic treament to provide a light constant force to move a tooth or align upper and lower arches. This is effective only if elastics are worn all the time including while eating.
Most people think of braces when the word Orthodontics is mentioned, but teeth can also be affected by forces applied by removable appliances. These plastic appliances are used to put light forces on the teeth and bones and come in many shapes and types. They can be all easily removed by the patient, for cleaning. Retainers are a types of removable appliances used for hold teeth.
Teeth are attached by elastic fibers to the bones. They stretch out as the teeth move and can pull them backward to the original positions. You must wear a retaining appliance to "hold" your teeth in the new position when your braces are removed. This phase of treatment is different for every individual; However, you must wear your retainer until the teeth, muscles, bones, and fibers adapt to your new bite.
Headgear is used to push the protruding jaw back to its correct position. You must carefully follow the instructions for effective and safe use of headgear.
A tight band actually protects a tooth from decay, but a loose band may be dangerous and decay under it is possible. If a band comes off, save the band and bring it with you to the office. If a band becomes loose and it is impossible for you to come in within the following few days, still call us immediately. We recommended that the patient chew a milk-of-magnesia tablet (which is very alkaline) after brushing the teeth and before going to bed. This helps combat any acid formation from the food left underneath the band.
Brackets are cemented to the teeth. If one comes loose, please call our office so that we may set up an appropriate appointment for you to have it rebonded
Ligature wires are the thin, silvers that hold the horizontal heavier wire (arch wire) in the bracket on the band. They have a little twist (that we call a pigtail) which we tuck out of the way. If a ligature wire is broken, carefully remove it and call the office. It is not usually important that these be replaced immediately if elastics can still be worn.
Use the end of a tooth pick, a wooden match or any rough ended instrument and carefully push it back out of the way and then, if necessary, cover it with wax or absorbent cotton.
This usually is caused from accidents or from patients adjusting the appliance themselves. Please call our office to schedule an appointment.
Be sure to pick up a supply of elastic bands in your correct size at each appointment so that you don't run out of them. If elastics are not worn when required, the treatment progress may be slowed or even stopped. You can come by the office at any time (while we are opened) to pick up more elastics or call to have them be mailed to you. This usally is caused by taking them out of the mouth or flipping them with your tongue. Please do not do that.
Dogs love to chew them, and wrapping them in a napkin is the best way to lose one! If your appliance break or become loose, please call our office as soon as possible so that your appliance can be repaired, adjusted, or replaced.
Our goal is to provide you the best orthodontic treatment to enhance your dental care and to improve your smile. However, the success of orthodontic treatment can be accomplished with cooperative and informed patients and parents
We hope that today is the first day of a long, pleasant relationship, and will bring you a beautiful smile for a life time.