Orthodontics

Why Orthodontics for adults ?

​Look at your smile. Your smile is the most important feature on your face. Look in the mirror. Are you happy with your smile now? Does your smile look as good as it did when you were younger? What do you think about someone who has a pleasing smile. Do you find them attractive? What do you think about someone who has an awful smile. Do they look old and haggard? Do you want to look old an haggard? Orthodontic treatment can keep your smile looking old and haggard. At the end of orthodontic treatment, people’s smiles end up looking fabulous. Wouldn’t it be great if you looked fabulous.

Presently as much as 1/4 of the orthodontic treatment is being done on adult patients. It is quite a change 20 years ago when orthodontists were only treating children.

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There are no age limits in orthodontics! Orthodontic treatment goes slower when you are older, and it feels different. Still, people as old as 90 are getting braces. People who live to 90 know how important it is to take care of themselves, and orthodontic treatment is part of it.

Adult orthodontics is basically the same, with a few minor differences.

One difference is that the treatment takes a bit longer. As you get older, you heal more slowly. As a result, the orthodontist needs to be more gentle with his treatment. The orthodontist can still move your teeth, but the orthodontist needs to move your teeth more slowly to let your mouth heal between tightening appointments.

The other difference is that it is harder to enlarge your mouth to get all of your teeth to fit. When you are growing, your jaw is like clay; if your mouth is too small for your teeth, the orthodontist can stretch your mouth so everything fits.

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That changes the treatment somewhat because the orthodontist may have to remove some teeth to make everything fit while the orthodontist could have stretched your jaw if you had come in for treatment when you were a teenager.

LINGUAL ORTHODONTICS

​Lingual orthodontics can treat orthodontic problems mainly in adults. Lingual orthodontics is the technique which positions braces on the lingual surface of teeth. Lingual surface of teeth is the surface which faces the tongue and as a result this kind of Orthodontics is invisible and no one can see it.

Lingual orthodontics is indicated for adult cases and certain teenager cases. Almost all orthodontic problems can be treated with lingual orthodontics.  Lingual orthodontics have both advantages and disadvantages like any other technique.

The main advantage of lingual orthodontics is that they are not visible when compared to conventional braces. Another advantage is that treatment with lingual orthodontics can be beneficial in patients who have problems with temporomandibular joint besides orthodontic problems.

The disadvantages of this technique is that the patient has to be very cooperative and maintain a very good oral hygiene during the treatment, otherwise treatment result will not have the expected outcome.

Another disadvantage of this technique is that the patient will have to adopt in the new oral environment regarding oral hygiene and speech.  Adaptation period usually takes 2-3 weeks time depending on the patient and has to be done in cooperation with the orthodontist.

To Sum-up, lingual orthodontics is indicated mainly for adult patients who seek orthodontic treatment but their social status or job doesn’t allow them to have treatment with conventional visible braces. For those patients, the best solution is lingual orthodontics.