Orthodontics is the specialty of dentistry that deals with the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of dental, maxillary and facial anomalies that have an impact on craniofacial growth and development. It can benefit those children, adolescents and adults who have retained, crowded or crooked teeth, separated teeth, teeth that are inclined forwards or backwards, open or closed bites, disproportion between the shape and size of the jaws, among others.
Early or first phase treatment: orthopedics of the jaws
Every father seeks health and well-being in his children. An important part of this is oral health. To achieve this, you need the teamwork of the family, general dentist, orthodontist and, if necessary, other dental specialties.
It is recommended that the child visit his dentist at an early age, to assess the development of the teeth and jaws. The first years are essential, to create good dental habits in the child, which will last a lifetime.
Children may have problems during deciduous dentition (milk teeth) or during the mixed dentition period (combination of deciduous teeth with permanent teeth), so it is recommended that the child visit the orthodontist, to evaluate possible problems of tooth eruption, transversal (jaw widths), correction of oral habits and any abnormality in the growth of the jaws, being easier to correct if detected at an early age.
Early treatment can prevent more complicated problems from arising, and if a second phase of treatment is necessary, it will be much faster and easier to treat, obtaining results that are impossible to achieve once growth and development are completed.
It is recommended that the first consultation with the Orthodontic specialist be carried out between the ages of 4-7
Orthodontic treatment in adolescents
The second phase of maxillary treatment begins when the adolescent has most of the permanent teeth erupted. In this stage, when the brackets are implemented, the alignment of teeth and jaws that began during the first stage of treatment are completed. Achieving the final position that the permanent teeth will have.
The importance of being treated correctly for a growing child or adolescent is that corrective surgery may be avoided in adulthood.
Orthodontic treatment in adult
Orthodontic treatment in adults is necessary, since the bad position of the teeth can contribute to cavities, periodontal disease and even tooth loss. Incorrect bites can also cause abnormal wear of the tooth surface, difficulty chewing, and damage to the supporting bone and gum tissue.
Today’s technology has made people who wear braces feel better about their appearance. Metal braces are much smaller than previously used ones and are even less noticeable than ceramic or plastic braces. Likewise, we use the lingual technique of Incognito brackets, made to measure for each patient, for invisible orthodontics. We also have Invisalign (invisible treatment), for patients who meet the requirements established for it.
Interdisciplinary orthodontics
For years showing a beautiful smile was something that very few could achieve, and it was thought that for this you had to be born with perfect teeth.
However, today, this concept has radically changed due to the massive diffusion in the different advertising media “How to obtain a beautiful smile” which has expressed a demand for the aesthetic aspect in our patients, managing to stimulate the training of the dental class and technical advances, which must be increasingly effective, offer impressive results and which must be more steady in the long term.
Orthodontics plays a preponderant role in interdisciplinary dentistry, with an intimate relationship between the diagnosis and the treatment plan, essential to be able to achieve the ideal dental rehabilitation in our patients, where an adequate smile design, for each particular case, requires of correct arch shapes, root parallelism of adjacent teeth, to facilitate the placement of implants or bridges by the rehabilitator.
Orthodontics: orthognathic surgery
The combination of orthodontic-surgical treatment allows us to correct skeletal malocclusions in our patients.
A skeletal malocclusion is one caused by the poor position of the teeth and their bony bases, either the maxilla, the mandible or a combination of both, with respect to the rest of the face.
This surgical procedure has the result, in addition to correcting the malocclusion, of causing important facial changes. It is done inside the mouth, without leaving external scars.
With the interrelation of these two specialties, we can obtain long-term aesthetic, stable and functional results.
