Orthodontics
Smile Inn provides orthodontic treatment for children, and orthodontics is becoming increasingly popular amongst adults. Provided your teeth are healthy and strong and free from dental disease, you can almost certainly straighten up no matter your age.
It is well worth considering orthodontic treatment if you have overlapping or misaligned teeth, or teeth that do not bite together correctly. Orthodontics can also help to close unsightly spaces between teeth. It can correct straightforward and more complex bite issues such as overbites, open bites, crossbites and underbites.
Beautifully aligned teeth look more attractive and can be easier to keep clean. In contrast, overlapping, crooked and tightly packed in teeth are difficult to brush and floss thoroughly. Straightening your teeth can improve your smile but may also enable you to clean your teeth more easily. Treatment can be an excellent investment in dental health, reducing the risk of tooth decay and gum disease.
Orthodontics can also help to protect your jaw joints, called temporomandibular joints. When your teeth do not bite together evenly, it can place these jaw joints under stress, creating pain and inflammation that can spread beyond the jaws, causing facial pain and headaches. An uneven bite can increase the risk of teeth clenching and grinding, a largely nocturnal habit called bruxism. Bruxism can wear down and damage teeth significantly.
Orthodontic options available at Smile Inn include:
• Conventional braces
• Invisalign
• Myobrace
• Early treatment
Many people are familiar with conventional braces, where small metal brackets are cemented onto tooth surfaces and connected to thin metal wires called archwires and elastics. These elastics may be brightly coloured, and some patients use them to create a customised appearance and express their personality.
Treatment is carefully designed to place just the right amount of pressure onto teeth so that gradually the teeth and the tooth roots move into the correct positions. The metal brackets and wires are strong and durable, but if aesthetics is a concern, we may suggest clear ceramic brackets that are more discreet but tend to cost a bit more. These braces also tend to be more fragile than metal braces.
Because conventional braces are fixed onto teeth, they work continuously to move teeth into the correct positions. Treatment can be preferable to removable braces as we can place the brackets into precisely the right positions to correct more complex orthodontic problems. Conventional fixed braces provide predictable and excellent results.
Invisalign is a removable braces system suitable for adults and some older teenagers with good compliance. The system uses a series of removable aligners trays, custom-made to fit tightly over the teeth.
Treatment typically takes a year to complete, but some people may need longer if they have more complex problems requiring correction. Others may complete treatment more quickly, especially if they only have orthodontic problems affecting their front teeth. Invisalign also produces a cosmetically oriented braces system that may only take a few months to move front teeth into the correct positions. Invisalign treatment can correct most orthodontic issues, but fixed braces may provide a more predictable treatment outcome if you have more complicated problems affecting your bite.
Invisalign aligners are extremely easy to use and have minimal impact on everyday life. You do not need to change your dietary habits, and you can brush and floss your teeth normally, so it is simple to maintain excellent oral health during treatment. Once the aligners are in the mouth, they are virtually invisible. This discreet treatment is ideal for adults and older teens who may feel self-conscious about wearing more visible fixed braces.
If you are interested in Invisalign, you will need a consultation on the initial visit. Our dentist can gently assess your teeth to make sure you are suitable for treatment and discuss what to expect with Invisalign. In the initial phase of treatment, a 3-D model of your teeth is created. We use Invisalign’s software to plan treatment precisely, and it’s a process that produces 3-D digital images we use as part of the discussion to develop a treatment plan. After a personalised treatment plan is agreed upon treatment begins with the fabrication of your aligner trays.
The aligner trays use gentle forces to gradually move teeth into the correct positions identified in the patient’s treatment plan. Each set of aligners trays is worn for two weeks before being discarded for the next set in the series. Although removable, the aligners must be worn almost continuously and for at least 22 hours each day. Ideally, they should be taken out for meals and drinking anything other than water and for oral care.
The Myobrace system achieves straight teeth without braces. The system is used to correct poor habits that will cause crooked teeth when adult teeth come through. It also encourages maximum growth of the jaw to achieve stable esthetic teeth and facial features.
Smile Inn Dentistry is a family-oriented dental practice, and we love seeing children. During your child’s regular examinations, we monitor the development of their teeth and jaws closely, and we may recommend an early orthodontic evaluation. A dentist can tell if a child is likely to develop orthodontic problems by age six or even sooner.
During this evaluation, the dentist can identify any existing or potential orthodontic problems and devise a suitable treatment plan. Your child may not need treatment straight away, but the evaluation does allow us to plan treatment carefully. If necessary, we can make sure your child receives orthodontic treatment at the ideal age to make the most of growth spurts, providing better results.
Sometimes we recommend early treatment and specifically to correct the effects of oral habits like finger or thumb sucking or mouth breathing. These habits can affect the growth and development of the jaws, causing problems with overcrowding when the adult teeth come through. We can use orthodontic appliances to guide jaw growth, creating enough room for the adult teeth to erupt normally.
Early orthodontic treatment can help provide a nicer facial profile and may reduce the time required or even eliminate the need for your child to wear braces during their teens.
Have a Query?
Send us a message at
info@smileinndentistry.com.au
Ready to book an appointment?
Book Online
