Orthodontics
Crowding teeth are corrected by fixing square shaped, small holder pieces made of stainless steel or porcelain (transparent) called brackets to the front side of teeth and with the help of braces placed inside these brackets. This is a treatment which lasts for an average of 1.5-2.5 years. The first orthodontic examination must take place at 7 years of age where primary teeth have fallen off and the permanent teeth have erupted. The purpose of this examination is to prevent imposition of excess force on teeth and joints depending on early diagnosis. Later on, when all the permanent teeth have taken their places at the age of 11 – 12, the main treatment should take place. Orthodontic treatment is not applied only on children and young people, it can also be applied on many adult and elderly patients.
Invisalign Treatment (Orthodontic Treatment without Braces)
Invisalign, which is one of the latest points where orthodontic treatments have reached, is an orthodontic treatment without braces applied to align your teeth using clear plaques (aligners) specially designed for you. The most important reason why Invisalign, which offers the opportunity of treatment without braces, is preferred is that while it fixes the crowding of teeth, it is not visible that you are going through orthodontic treatment. Invisalign plaques are produced in series in accordance with the position the teeth is desired to be brought. Each plaque creates a movement of 0.05 mm. Each plaque is worn for 15 days and then another plaque is started to be used. It is an orthodontic treatment which can be applied both in adults and in young people and children. However, whether you are compatible with the Invisalign treatment or not can only be determined after an examination by your dentist. Moderate and mild dental crowding can be treated with Invisalign. An orthodontic treatment that requires tooth extraction cannot be treated with Invisalign. However, the research in this field is ongoing. As the technology keeps developing, treatments involving tooth extraction will also be able to be treated with Invisalign.
Jaw closing disorders
Jaw closing form is just as important as the alignment of our teeth. Jaw closing disorders may create difficulties during mastication and they usually lead to more cavities. Your oral and dental health is completely secured by fixing jaw closing disorders and cavities caused by this condition are prevented. In growing children (adolescents), regular orthodontic treatment is applied following an orthopedic jaw treatment with functional appliances compatible with the problematic jaw. In adult individuals, it is possible to solve this problem with regular orthodontic treatment. In severe cases of adult individuals, surgery may also be considered to maintain the harmony between the jaws.
Crowding Teeth
It is more difficult to ensure oral hygiene with crowding teeth and gum disorders and cavities are formed more easily. In case of crowding teeth or joint disorders, mastication cannot be fulfilled. As a result, a number of problems emerge in the digestive system. When the upper and lower teeth are not fully compatible with each other, too much force is applied on the jaw joint or on a single tooth and this can lead to painful problems that are difficult to treat . Especially, in some cases aesthetically incredible changes can be achieved.
Dental and Developmental Disorders
The teeth not being in their normal position as a result of crowding due to lack of space, gaps between teeth due to too much space, too much distance between upper and lower front teeth due to thumb sucking or a larger tongue than the normal are the main reasons of dental disorders. The teeth not fitting on the jaw due to the jaw being small and the teeth being wide because of genetic or developmental factors, premature extraction of primary teeth as a result of which the remaining teeth getting closer to each other and not leaving enough space for permanent teeth to come and the permanent teeth erupting in a crowding way or not erupting at all are among the reasons of developmental disorders. In addition, the wisdom teeth squeezing the other teeth in from behind is one of the reasons of these disorders.
Functional and preventative treatments
In order for functional appliances to be effective, they should be worn during the development and while teeth are erupting. The highest rate of growth is achieved in the evening hours where the growth hormone is secreted and active tooth eruption typically takes place in the same period, from 8 pm to 1 am. To ensure practical advantage in this period, it is recommended for children to wear the functional appliances for at least 12 hours starting after dinner until getting up in the morning. When the patient waits until bedtime to wear the appliance, the active growing hormone is missed. Wearing the appliance throughout the day may be an advantage, however, it is difficult to achieve this. The child must be informed that it will be difficult to talk for a while and his comfort and quality of speaking will be improved over time. The biggest problem regarding speech is experienced when an acrylic body is placed between or behind the front teeth.
Space maintainer
Primary teeth may be lost early for a variety of reasons. One of the most important tasks of primary teeth is to guide the permanent teeth to erupt. As a result of premature loss of primary teeth, the permanent teeth cannot erupt where they need to be and as a result, crowding is observed in the permanent teeth. Space maintainers should be placed in the space left by prematurely lost primary teeth in order to prevent teeth from shifting towards the gap and to reserve place of the permanent teeth to erupt. Space maintainers are prepared as fixed or mobile depending on the number of prematurely lost primary teeth and they are removed upon appearance of the main teeth inside the mouth.