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Orthodontic Braces at a Glance
Dentists and orthodontists. can straighten crooked, rotated or malpositioned teeth for children and adults.
A traumatic occlusion (the third principal disease we treat in dentistry) is a major factor in causing gum disease that leads to tooth loss in adults. When a tooth is out of position in the dental arch, it absorbs more biting force than its neighbors, causing it to loosen prematurely. Dentists take the time to look for orthodontic problems and will frequently fabricate study models, or molds, of your teeth to allow us to make an accurate diagnosis of your bite.
Crowding of lower front teeth is common and continuous throughout life regardless of the presence of wisdom teeth. This occurs because our teeth are genetically programmed to move forward to compensate for abrasion of the biting surface of teeth that occurred when we were cave people eating coarse food. As the biting surface of teeth was abraded, spaces would develop between teeth, causing food entrapment and gum irritation if the spaces did not close on their own.
Modern day people do not eat the coarse foods of a thousand years ago, yet our teeth continue to move forward. This results in crowding of teeth, which occurs slowly, yet progressively, over decades.
The lower front teeth of most people bite against the inside of the upper front teeth. As one or more lower front teeth begin to be pushed out of the dental arch they typically hit harder against their opposing teeth in the upper arch.
Over time the upper teeth will also begin to be pushed forward, resulting in an unattractive smile that is more susceptible to gum disease. Notice this happening to many of your friends and family who are over the age of 50. Proper diagnosis and early careful treatment can help prevent this because these problems get increasingly difficult to treat as the years of damage increase.
The practice of orthodontics offers removable braces and also clear braces that are nearly invisible. This approach to orthodontics has recently appeared on television commercials. There are many novel methods to prevent your teeth from relapsing following active treatment.
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