Orthodontics is an important branch of dentistry that is gaining momentum over the past decades. Your teeth are an important part of your overall health and well-being. They help in important functions like mastication, and speech in addition to providing aesthetic enhancement to your face by keeping them in a proper alignment.
The dentist in New Bern, NC offers a comprehensive approach to help align the teeth in the correct position, to improve your overall oral health.
An overview of orthodontics
Orthodontics is a super specialty in dentistry that focuses on diagnosing and treating improper or poor bite (malocclusion). The way your teeth align has an impact on your oral health. By improving the way your upper and lower arch teeth meet, you can greatly reduce your risk for a series of oral health issues like cavities, gum disease, and erosion. Dentists who deal with teeth and jaw alignment are known as “Orthodontists”.
Benefits
Orthodontics is one of the major and essential branches of dentistry, and offers the following benefits:
- Teeth alignment in a proper position making them easier to clean
- Straightening the teeth to improve mastication (chewing) and speech (phonetics, and pronunciation)
- Help ease pain related to TMD (temporomandibular joint dysfunction)
- Help reduce your risk of oral issues like tooth cavities, gum disease, and tooth mobility
Common orthodontic problems
Orthodontists are trained to deal with the following dental imperfections:
- Teeth with overbite, underbite, or deep bite
- Crowded teeth
- Overlapping teeth
- Crooked teeth
- Rotated teeth
- Teeth with diastema (space or gaps between teeth)
Different orthodontic appliances
Orthodontics is a vast super specialty of dentistry, that aims to correct dental imperfections through the following appliances:
- Braces
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- These devices include metal brackets and archwires that help shift your teeth into the desired position using appropriate forces.
- Clear aligners
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- These are a series of modern, clear custom-made plastic trays that help shift your teeth to the desired alignment.
- Retainers
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- These are custom-made appliances that help retain the aligned teeth and prevent orthodontic relapse.
- Palate expanders
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- These are often used in children to widen the upper jaw and create extra space without the need for tooth extractions or other procedures.
Final note
Orthodontic treatments provide special appliances that help enhance your oral form and function, in addition to improving your smile. Based on your needs there are several treatments offered by specially trained dentists known as orthodontists. Discuss your goals and expectations to rejuvenate and improve your quality of oral health.
