Land O' Lakes Orthodontist

Braces in Land O' Lakes, FL

Braces are applied to teeth for various reasons, including poorly aligned jaws, crooked, crowded and missing teeth, and a bad bite (also called malocclusion).Various things can cause teeth to become crooked or jaws misaligned, including thumb-sucking or a traumatic injury. Some conditions are inherited.

Children between the ages of 7 and 14 are typical candidates for braces because their facial structures are still developing. Adult braces usually entail additional procedures because their faces have already fully developed.

About Braces

Orthodontics is a field of dentistry that deals with corrections involving jaw and teeth alignment.

Braces employ the use of wires and are usually one of three types:

• Traditional, conventional braces, which employ the use of metal wires, or bands.
• Metal or plastic brackets that are bonded to teeth.

Braces Procedures

Orthodontic procedures, also called orthodontia, are complex processes. In most cases, a orthodontist will need to make photos, a digital cast of the individual's teeth and perform full X-rays of the head and mouth. After orthodontic appliances are placed, they need to be adjusted from time to time to ensure that they continue to move the teeth into their correct position. Retainers are used following braces to ensure that teeth remain in position.

Braces Aesthetic and Comfort Issues

Advances in technology have vastly improved appearance issues with orthodontia. Braces today are made from extremely lightweight and natural-colored materials. The materials that braces attach to-brackets-are bonded to the surfaces of teeth but can be later removed. People can expect to wear braces for about two years, less or more in some cases. Adults are usually required to wear braces for longer periods of time as adult teeth tend to move slower.

Because orthodontic appliances need to be adjusted from time to time to ensure they continue to move the teeth into their correct position, they can create pressure on the teeth and jaws. This mild discomfort usually subsides following each orthodontic adjustment.

Hygiene issues with Braces

People who wear braces must be diligent in ensuring that food and other debris do not get trapped around the braces and wires. In addition, permanent stains or cavities on the dental enamel can form if the area surrounding them is not cleaned on a daily basis.

Daily oral hygiene such as brushing, flossing, and rinsing is a necessity. Some people with orthodontic appliances can benefit from using water pics, which emit small pressurized bursts of water that can effectively rinse away such debris.

Another caveat: Braces and sticky foods don't mix. Crunchy snacks and chewy foods should be avoided at all costs because they can cause braces to be loosened or damaged.

Space Maintainers

Space maintainers are helpful devices that can help teeth grow in normally following premature tooth loss, injury or other problems. The devices can help ensure that proper spaces are maintained to allow future permanent teeth to erupt. If your child loses a baby tooth early through decay or injury, his or her other teeth could shift and begin to fill the vacant space. When your child's permanent teeth emerge, there's not enough room for them. The result is crooked or crowded teeth and difficulties with chewing or speaking.

Palatal Expander

A palatal expander is a device in the field of orthodontics which is used to widen the upper jaw (maxilla) so that the bottom and upper teeth will fit together better. This is a common orthodontic procedure. The use of an expander is most common in children and teens since they are still growing. Expansion can be successfully used in adults too, although it may require surgical assistance. The amount of correction and the age of the patient can lengthen time of desired expansion to many months. A patient who would rather not wait several months for the end result by a palatal expander may be able to opt for a surgical expansion of the maxilla. Use of a palatal expander is most often followed by braces to then straighten the teeth.

Expansion therapy should be started in patients either before or during their peak growth spurt. To obtain maximal skeletal changes, the therapy is typically initiated at a very early age. Expansion therapy performed after the peak growth spurt will lead to more dental changes than skeletal which leads to tipping of buccal teeth and less stability. There are different types of expansion techniques that can be used in patients such as rapid maxillary expansion, slow maxillary expansion, implant-based maxillary expansion and SARPE.

Orthodontic Retainers

An orthodontic retainer is a custom-made orthodontic appliance used to keep teeth in place after dental braces are removed. Once your braces come off, your teeth need to settle into the jawbone and gum tissue that hold them in place. Made of plastic, wires or acrylic, retainers keep your teeth from shifting and wasting thousands of dollars worth of orthodontic work! Teeth can also shift over time on their own, making wearing a retainer even more important.

Invisalign

Clear aligners, also known as clear-aligner treatment, are orthodontic devices that are a transparent, plastic form of dental braces used to adjust teeth. Clear Aligners are effective for mild to moderate crowding of the front teeth, but less effective than conventional braces for several other issues and are not recommended for children. In particular they are indicated for "mild to moderate crowding (1–6 mm) and mild to moderate spacing (1–6 mm), in cases where there are no discrepancies of the jawbone. They are also indicated for patients who have experienced a relapse after fixed orthodontic treatment. 

Clear-aligner treatment involves an orthodontist taking a mold or digital scan of the patient's teeth, which is used to create a digital tooth model. The computerized model produces stages between the current and desired teeth positions, and aligners are created for each stage. Each aligner is worn for 22 hours a day for about two weeks each. These slowly move the teeth into the desired position as specified by the orthodontist. The average treatment time is 18 months.