Straighten your teeth WITHOUT Braces
Every young person wants to have a beautiful smile as do most adults as well and wearing braces is not the ONLY way to manage this process. We have created here for you some ideas on how to straighten your teeth without the need for braces and subject to your specific dental needs.
What can I fix without braces?
Should you have any of the following conditions you might be a candidate for orthodontic treatment that doesn’t require you to wear braces:
- Minor Teeth Overcrowding – this condition shows a only when teeth are slightly cooked and subject to their overcrowding we may be able to resolve this without traditional braces.
- Malocclusion – this occurs when your bit is misaligned and a non-brace appliance will be utilized to re-align your jaw.
- Under-Developed Palate – when your palate is too narrow the widening of the palate can be achieved by the use of expanders which will enable the creation of space your mouth requires for your teeth to align into their correct positions.
Here at Orthodontics Ireland our trained dentists will diagnose and ascertain what is the best manner with which to re-align your teeth without braces where a patient’s problem can be resolved this way. One of the keys to remember is that whichever orthodontic treatment is decided upon by your and our dentist you must keep up a very strict dental hygiene programme to ensure that your teeth are kept as healthy and as strong as possible. We will advise you on the best products and best cleaning practice to ensure you will keep cavities retarded during the treatment process.
Retainers
These are one of the most common types of braces and are know as ‘bonded lingual retainers’ and they are cemented into position using dental adhesive to the inner surface of your teeth to to prevent shifting over the treatment period and the process of this will help to correct your bite and straighten your teeth. Considered to be one of the best solutions long term has one drawback in that you cannot remove it yourself for relief or repair.
A Hawley Retainer is a removable appliance which is created from metal wires and dental acrylic which designed and formed to the shape of your mouth which have been lifted from dental impressions taken of your mouth. Both the upper and lower arches of your mouth can be treated with type of brace to brace and align your teeth.
This type of brace is ideally suited for patients who are trying to correct their smile’s look and appearance with the advantage of being able to remove it for special events or even occasional relief. You must be very careful when storing them when you do remove them as it is common for young patients to leave retainers on the table when eating and forgetting to put them back in afterwards – which makes it an expensive meal!
Appliances
Some appliances such as the Herbst Appliance will straighten teeth by re-aligning imperfections in the jaw area. This appliance enables the lower jaw to grow and develop in a more forward direction which enables the bite to be re-aligned more accurately. The result of this is that the upper and lower jaws meet in a more correct manner which is the base requirement for achieving straight and perfect teeth for that wonderful smile you desire. The appliance itself has a metal extension that will be attached to your molars so that the upper and lower jaw are connected. The usual time period for this type of appliance is twelve to fourteen months over which in this time period our orthodontist will align the lower jaw into a more correct position.
With the use of headgear another appliance which enables the straightening of your teeth without the need for braces. When you have protruding upper teeth in a child this may well indicate that an excessive overbite is in place which the headgear will be able to correct. The appliance will over a period of time apply pressure against your child’s upper teeth and jaw which has the effect of realigning the teeth and jaw into a more correct position simultaneously. The headgear appliance is worn for a pre-set amount of time per day to enable observation of the re-alignment process.
The main drawback for this particular appliance is the lack of good looks and is it is not a discrete appliance and takes time to enable the correction of the malocclusions that are present in your child’s mouth.
The Palatal Expander
When your child has the problem of the mouth being too small for all their adult teeth to move into, here at Orthodontics Ireland our orthodontists will look to use a Palatal Expander which will be inserted in to widen the arch area of the upper teeth. This will enable the creation of space for the adult teeth to move into their correct positions naturally. The expander will be attached to the upper molars with the use of dental adhesive. To begin the expansion the orthodontist will use a special key to turn a screw which is located in the centre of the plate which will intron apply pressure gradually on the left and right halves of the upper jaw area. The pressure will cause extra bone to grow between the two halves which increase the width of your child’s mouth enabling teeth to move into position. The expander is almost invisible but patients will feel some minor discomfort every time the expander is adjusted.
Over the last decade or so braces have advanced so much, that disorders which before required traditional braces, can now be fixed with less obvious, and intrusive appliances.
Start Orthodontics Early
When you start treatment early for young children this is known as ‘interceptive’ orthodontics for patients as young as 6 or 7. This is the age where the teeth are still developing and the jaw is still in its growth phase. At this time is may be easier to address certain issues such as crowding of teeth.
Not all orthodontic problems can be treated with early intervention but it may help in certain cases.
Benefits:
The early intervention enables the orthodontist to take advantage of the fact that your childs jaw is still growing. Occasions of incorrectly aligned arches and jaws benefit from early treatment. Using a functional appliance can improve and fix these issues. More treatment is usually required in the future but shorter and less involved treatment is the norm.
Childrens braces have improved immensely in the last twenty years and technology in this area has moved forward in leaps and bounds so much so that braces are cool to have and wear amongst children.
Tips for Early Ortho Treatment:
- Rinse – before brushing your child will find that rinsing with water after eating will make the whole cleaning process simpler and easier to do as the rinsing will have loosened the food they have been eating.
- Floss – this is at least a once a day minimum ideally before going to bed. The flossing will help loosen all the food debris and plaque that will have built up over the day. By doing this it stops the plaque becoming tartar and making the braces even harder to clean.
- 6 Month Dental Checkups – any good parent should make sure from the age of six or seven years your child is having a 6 Month Checkup at the dentist. This is how you catch any early problems before they develop into big problems. The dentist will softly clean the teeth and point out to mum and dad what to look out for when the little one is brushing their teeth.