When you are in a good mood, and you don’t dare open your lips, your smile looks like a snake (at best, mysterious – like Gioconda’s). When you lower your head or cover your mouth with your palm while laughing, you are not trustworthy. And if you are not shy about anything, smile broadly, but your teeth are in a pile, then … You still need to get used to this.
“Teeth in a pile” is generally one of the most common problems of our time. The people are grinding now: we eat mostly boiled, passed through a blender, we don’t tear the throat of a mammoth with our teeth, we speak articulately again – we don’t need powerful jaws … But out of habit, nature tries to cram into our intelligent mouths the same number of teeth that it originally intended for cave of people.
In the centuries up to the 19th century, the problem was partly solved due to the short life expectancy: a person left the mortal world before all his teeth had time to grow. Few people have lived up to the appearance of wisdom teeth. And then, when life expectancy increased, it became obvious: the “figure eight” molars, trying to break into the light, oppress everyone else, move them from their homes – and even a beautiful smile in youth becomes imperfect by the age of 30.
Therefore, mankind has invented many technical devices for aligning teeth and placing them honestly in the mouth. About how and at what stage to choose the best method for yourself, Marina Berezikova, an orthopedic dentist at the Mr.Dent dental clinic, tells.
How to straighten teeth
There are three ways to align teeth: braces, plates and mouthguards.
The plates are effective at the time of jaw growth – at the age of 6 to 14 years. That is, they are indicated for the underdevelopment of the jaw for the correction of mixed and milk occlusion.
Permanent bite can only be corrected with braces. They allow you to change not only the inclination of the tooth, but also completely move it to its normal position, even if it is twisted with a screw.
Mouthguards do not correct bite, but improve slight crowding and reversal of teeth, but they bring results only if they are worn for at least 22 hours a day – otherwise it is pointless and more expensive than braces.
Veneers are indirectly related to the alignment method. They do not correct, but rather cover minor defects – slight crowding of teeth or a small gap between them. With an incorrect bite, it is inexpedient and ineffective to install veneers: there is a risk that over time chips will appear or the orthopedic structure will break.
When to play records
Before the complete replacement of milk teeth or vice versa, after? In progress! The age of 6-7 years is the most favorable period for correction with the help of plates (“brackets”). If you didn’t have time, then it’s better to postpone it for a period from 10 to 12 years – this is the second phase of intensive jaw growth, when correction with plates makes sense. After 12 years, the bite is corrected already on braces. Often it is impossible to influence the entire stage of jaw growth with one apparatus – for example, plates. Therefore, from 6 to 13 years of age, treatment with plates is carried out, and then, if necessary, with braces.
The growth of the jawbone usually continues until the age of 12-14 – and wearing plates at an early age ensures that the growth of the jaw will be correct. The plates, as it were, “stretch” the jaw so that all the teeth that grow and are planned for the future fit in it.
When to put braces
You have already understood, probably, that teeth often gather in a pile due to the fact that wisdom teeth begin to grow, and there is not enough space in the jaw for everyone.
If orthodontic treatment is performed before the age of 18, wisdom teeth are not removed. If after 18, then most likely you will have to delete it. “Most likely” is if there is no free space in the dentition.
Even if wisdom teeth do not grow and do not interfere with life, this does not mean that they will not declare themselves in the future. And even at the age of 40, they can cause crowding of teeth.
Therefore, if you decide to fight for the harmony of the rows at an already mature age, then mentally prepare for the removal of the “eights”. Even if they didn’t come out.
Since braces are usually installed at an age when “image is everything”, and they have to be worn for at least a year, you should discuss in detail with the attending orthodontist both the material of the system and the method of installation (on the front surface or on inside of teeth). The more inconspicuous, the naturally more expensive. But since braces are now worn by so many, these corrective systems already become part of the image in themselves (like glasses, for example), so it does not always make sense to hide them.
Veneers: Undercover work
An orthodontist is engaged in correcting the bite and correcting the incorrect position of the teeth, and the orthopedist is engaged in prosthetics and aesthetic restoration (improving the appearance of the teeth). So, for brackets and braces – to the orthodontist, and for veneers – this is to the orthopedist.
Veneers will not save if the tooth grows crooked. But if it itself is “wavy” due to irregularities in the enamel or, say, marked with a wedge-shaped defect, then they are quite capable of closing the flaws and making your smile charming.
But it hardly makes sense to put veneers before correcting the dentition. They simply will not withstand the uneven distribution of the load with the wrong bite and will crack.
Therefore, orthopedic treatment is closely interconnected with orthodontic.
Read also:
Wisdom tooth: to remove or not?
11 gadgets for brushing your teeth
