ORTHODONTICS (braces)
Orthodontic treatment allows you to achieve a lasting, beautiful smile. It involves the correction of crooked teeth and jaws and can be one of the best investments for your, or your child’s, health.
Age is less important than having the proper number of teeth. So adults of any age can have orthodontic treatment. For young children, it may be necessary to wait for enough adult teeth to come through before starting treatment.
TYPES OF BRACES
A. METAL
- These braces are most commonly made from stainless steel and attached onto the teeth using tooth coloured filling material (composite resin).
- Care has to be taken eating hard foods as the attachment can easily be broken leading to a disruption in treatment.
- An orthodontic wire (archwire) is tied (or ligated) into the bracket using coloured elastic rings which can discolour in-between visits.
- These elastics can be silver coloured to blend in with the appliance or brightly coloured. As treatment progresses the orthodontist will progress to thicker wires which can place greater forces onto the teeth. The brace can easily be removed at the end of treatment leaving the teeth intact.
B. CERAMIC
- Unlike Metal Braces, Tooth Coloured Fixed braces use stainless steel and the attachments may be made from a hard ceramic material to blend in with the tooth colour. This produces a more aesthetically pleasing appliance which is far more attractive option.
- The orthodontic wires can also be tooth coloured to help improve the appearance further. Ceramic fixed appliances can be as effective as conventional fixed appliances at achieving tooth movement. Sometimes they are not recommended for the lower teeth, if the bite is ‘deep’, because the hard material can damage the opposing teeth that contact the attachments.
- Ceramic appliances are slightly more difficult to remove than conventional fixed appliances, however, they are unlikely to damage healthy teeth in most cases