Orthodontics is a branch of dentistry that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of dental and facial irregularities and incompatibilities between the lower and upper jaw.
The word orthodontics consists of the Greek words ortho meaning “proper” and odons meaning “tooth”. Although it literally means straight teeth, orthodontics also aims to correct developmental disorders of the face and jaws.
With orthodontic treatment, crooked teeth are aligned properly and the teeth are compatible with the teeth in the opposite jaw. Improving oral health helps improve overall health and increases a person’s self-confidence.
Why is Orthodontic Treatment Necessary?
Orthodontic treatment creates balance and harmony between the teeth and face for a healthy mouth and an aesthetic smile. An effective smile gives self-esteem and increases a person’s self-confidence and quality of life. Properly aligned teeth are easier to brush. Since it helps ensure good oral hygiene, it minimizes the formation of caries and gum problems that may occur in the future.
Correcting a bad bite with orthodontic treatment protects the teeth from trauma that occurs during normal daily activities such as chewing. Properly aligned teeth help reduce increased stress on the bones, roots, gum tissue, and jaw joint.
In Which Situations Is Orthodontic Treatment Necessary?
- Crowds in teeth
- The number of teeth is less than it should be at birth (congenital tooth deficiencies),
- Permanent teeth remain buried in the jawbone and cannot erupt into the mouth,
- Teeth spaced (polydiastema)
- Upper teeth being too far forward,
- lower jaw being forward or backward,
- upper jaw being narrow and/or backward,
- The lower and upper teeth not touching each other or contacting incorrectly are conditions that need to be treated.
Orthodontic disorders are disorders that are not life-threatening, but affect the comfort of the patient, and their treatment provides both visual and functional improvement.
What is the Orthodontic Treatment Age?
If there is no skeletal problem and only crooked teeth, these disorders can be corrected with orthodontic treatment at any age. The age of the patient affects the duration of treatment. However, if there is a skeletal problem, these disorders can be corrected with orthopedic treatment approaches until the end of adolescence. In adulthood, such skeletal problems can be corrected by orthodontic treatment combined with orthognathic surgical operations.
Although classical orthodontic treatment (with removable orthodontic appliances) is the starting age at the age of 9 at the earliest in case of problems detected in childhood, space maintainers or planned primary tooth extraction decisions at earlier ages may also be cases followed jointly by pedodontics and orthodontics.
The Importance of Milk Teeth in Terms of Orthodontics
Milk teeth begin to erupt in a certain order starting from the 6th month after birth, and all milk teeth will have erupted in a child of approximately 2.5 years of age. A total of 20 milk teeth in the lower and upper jaw continue to remain in the mouth until the age of 6. From this period until the age of 13, all milk teeth are replaced by permanent teeth.
During this period of change, large cavities and early loss of primary teeth in primary teeth may cause crowding as a result of the movement of posterior teeth into these spaces, causing permanent teeth to fail to erupt and remain impacted. Therefore, it is very important for milk teeth to remain healthy in the mouth.
Conditions in the primary dentition are not solely responsible for the formation of orthodontic disorders. Orthodontic problems can also be passed on genetically to children from parents or older family members. Apart from this, mistakes made during infancy due to inadequate breastfeeding or the use of bottles and pacifiers; Bad habits such as thumb sucking, lip sucking, tongue thrusting, and mouth breathing, especially in children who complain of long-lasting and frequent nasal congestion in childhood, can also lead to orthodontic problems due to developmental delay in the upper jaw.
Orthodontic Treatment Methods
Orthodontic treatment, mostly known as correcting crooked teeth, includes various treatment techniques. Depending on the orthodontic problem in the mouth, treatments can be performed with removable appliances, functional appliances and fixed appliances. Orthodontic problems that are not too complex can be solved with removable appliances, which are devices consisting of plastic palate and wires that can be attached and removed by the patient. Functional appliances for underdevelopment and overdevelopment of the lower or upper jaw
Tools called tools that help the jaws develop in a certain direction are used during the growth and development period.
Fixed appliances, which have recently taken a larger place in orthodontic treatment, work with the philosophy that the wires placed in the grooves on the tools called brackets, which are glued to the teeth, move the teeth. Apart from these basic appliances, there are many other auxiliary appliances. The most commonly used of these are extraoral appliances, which are used especially for skeletal problems. After active orthodontic treatments are completed, reinforcement treatments are also of great importance to prevent relapses. Various passive devices are used for this treatment period.
