Some people have straight teeth lining up together. However, many have crooked teeth that fit together incorrectly. Crooked teeth affect your bite. However, the dental imperfections affecting you are easily straightened to correct your bite with suitable orthodontics in San Antonio, TX.
If you aren’t aware of what orthodontics is or how it can help you, we suggest you read this article for the information you need to straighten your teeth.
What Exactly Is Orthodontics?
Orthodontics is a division of dentistry addressing bad bites, dental irregularities and treating them with orthodontic appliances like dental braces. The goal of orthodontics is to diagnose, address, intercept, guide, and correct the dental imperfections affecting you.
Orthodontics near me, also called an orthodontist, is a suitable professional to contact if you think you need orthodontic treatment. Orthodontists attend two or more years of additional education after completing four years of dental school.
Benefits of Treatments from Orthodontics
Please do not assume you must get your teeth straightened merely for aesthetic benefits. The challenges of cleaning crooked teeth are overwhelming and make you vulnerable to problems like tooth decay and gum disease. In addition, incorrectly fitting teeth make it challenging for you to chew, resulting in headaches, temporomandibular joint disorders, and shoulder or back pain. If you want to overcome these challenges and enjoy the benefits of having straighter teeth, you must seek treatment for this condition from the dentist in San Antonio, TX.
Orthodontic Treatments — How Do They Function?
You may either need fixed or removable orthodontic appliances to correct the problems in your mouth. The severity of your situation determines which approach is best suited for you and is advised by the orthodontist.
If the situation affecting you is mild to moderate, dentist 78209, also an orthodontic specialist, recommends removable appliances like aligners, an increasingly popular measure among adults to straighten teeth. Aligners move your teeth similarly to fixed dental braces. However, they are virtually invisible and removable for eating and maintaining excellent dental hygiene. In addition, aligners are not accompanied by metal wires, bands, or brackets.
Unfortunately, if you have a complicated situation, you must rely on the most common orthodontic fixed appliance, traditional braces. Traditional braces come with brackets, bands, and wires and are attached to your teeth for three years or more. The bands function as anchors held in place around your teeth. Brackets are attached to the front surfaces, and archwires connect them to the bands. Pressure on the teeth is exerted by the dentist by tightening the archwires to move them towards their correct position gradually. If you need traditional braces for teeth straightening, you must visit the dentist every month for adjustments.
How Would You Know Whether You Need Orthodontic Treatment?
Trying to determine whether you need orthodontic treatment yourself is a challenge you will find difficult to overcome. However, a specialist in orthodontics can correctly determine whether orthodontic treatments are suitable for you after evaluating your mouth using diagnostics tools such as clinical exams, x-rays, impressions of your teeth to develop a customized treatment plan best suited for your unique situation. Whether the orthodontics specialist recommends fixed or removable aligners for the treatment, remember the therapy helps achieve the goal you have in mind to get your teeth straightened and find freedom from the dental issues affecting you.
Orthodontic treatments with traditional braces correct complicated problems with overbites, underbites, crossbites, open bites, misplaced midline, gaps between your teeth, and crowding. However, if you have mild to moderate situations of the above, you can consider yourself fortunate because the specialist might recommend removable aligners to straighten your teeth faster than traditional braces.
Whichever treatment the orthodontist recommends, bear in mind they do so, considering your best interests to help you achieve your goal.
You may think traditional orthodontic treatments are embarrassing because the braces are ungainly and cause problems when eating or cleaning your teeth. However, traditional braces have been around for nearly a century delivering effective results to correct various orthodontic issues. It is why they are known as the gold standard for straightening teeth.
Clear aligners are a recent introduction and are equally effective for straightening mild to moderate conditions of crooked teeth. They undoubtedly function faster but are not suitable for all orthodontic situations. Therefore you must rely on the specialist’s judgment and adhere to their instructions if you intend to correct your bite by having straighter teeth.