Understanding Orthodontics: What It Is and How It Works
Orthodontics is a forte in dentistry, focusing on aligning your bite to straighten your teeth. You should arrange a meeting with an orthodontist if you have crooked, overlapping, twisted, or widely spaced teeth. Standard orthodontic treatments include traditional braces, clear aligners, and removable retainers.
Orthodontics Explained
Orthodontics is a division of dentistry focusing on diagnosing and treating malocclusion. The fitting of your teeth significantly impacts your oral health. Orthodontics helps improve the positioning of your upper and lower teeth to reduce the risk of multiple oral health issues, including periodontal disease, tooth decay, and excessive wear.
Who Offers Orthodontic Treatment?
Orthodontists specialize in offering orthodontic treatment. Orthodontists are dental professionals receiving an additional two to three years of training after graduation from dental school. Orthodontists focus on improving your bite without concentrating on general dentistry practices like cleanings, fillings, crowns, and bridges. However, the general dentist in Pearland also offers orthodontics to patients providing them with traditional, clear, and Invisalign braces to straighten malpositioned teeth.
Common Orthodontic Issues
There are many orthodontic issues, and you may have more than one simultaneously. The common orthodontic problems include overbites when your upper teeth protrude over your lower teeth, underbites when your lower teeth stick further than your upper teeth, overlapping teeth, crowding and crooked teeth, rotated teeth, and impacted teeth remaining fully or partially trapped in your jawbone.
What Are the Benefits of Orthodontics?
The aesthetic benefits of orthodontics are straightforward. However, orthodontic treatments from the dentist near me also offer health-related and functional benefits. When your teeth are correctly aligned, they are easier to clean, and straightening them improves chewing and speech function. Orthodontic treatment can ease discomfort associated with TMJ disorder, and an aligned bite reduces your risks of cavities, periodontal disease, and other oral health problems. Orthodontics also helps to achieve and maintain a beautiful and placed smile.
Tips for Oral Hygiene, Diet, and Adjusting to Treatment
If you are receiving treatment from orthodontics in Pearland, TX, you will likely receive tips for oral hygiene, diet, and making some adjustments when undergoing orthodontic treatment.
Oral hygiene is essential at every stage of life. You must brush your teeth twice daily to remove food particles and plaque in your mouth. You must indulge in more frequent brushing when undergoing orthodontic treatment with braces. You may require more time brushing and flossing with braces mounted on your teeth. However, the extra time you spend cleaning your teeth is worth the effort because, after you complete treatment, you can display a beautiful and placing smile.
Oral hygiene helps prevent lousy breath, tooth decay, and periodontal disease. You don’t need to change your oral hygiene routine when undergoing orthodontic treatment from the Pearland specialist. However, you must use different techniques to brush and floss with the braces on your teeth. You may need to practice brushing and flossing differently, but you get accustomed to the new practices quickly.
You must also make changes to your diet and limit snacking between meals. If you must have snacks ensure you make healthy choices and leave the sweetened foods for after meals before brushing your teeth. You must also avoid sticky and hard foods that can remain trapped in the braces to result in infections. Eating and drinking sugary foods between meals will allow sugars to stay on your teeth for hours to, cause cavities and staining.
You must watch over your toothbrush when undergoing orthodontic treatment because it can wear faster. A toothbrush without effective bristles is not as effective. Therefore you must change the toothbrush or electric toothbrush head when the bristles appear frayed.
When having braces on your teeth, you can visit the dentist near me for exams and cleanings every six months, but you may have to visit the orthodontist more frequently for adjustments to the orthodontic appliance in your mouth. Therefore arrange your meetings with the orthodontist beforehand, and don’t forget your appointment.
Orthodontics is the specialty of straightening malpositioned teeth to improve oral health and give you a beautiful smile. The therapy has aesthetic and functional benefits that help you eat and speak without confronting challenges, besides smiling to boost your self-confidence.
If you or your loved one has orthodontic imperfections in the mouth, Harmony Dental can help improve their position to deliver aesthetic and functional benefits. Arrange a meeting with the dental practice to receive orthodontic treatments as required for the betterment of your oral and overall health.