About ...
The health of your teeth, gums or even of the temporomandibular joints can be affected in time by dental crowding or malocclusions. Subsequently, the digestive system is impaired due to poor mastication.
Orthodontics is a specialty of dentistry that deals with the correction of malpositioned teeth and jaws. Dental appliances are devices that apply pressure against the teeth and eventually lead to the proper positioning of the teeth and the correction of facial asymmetry.
See the price list for orthodontics
When do you need a dental appliance?
We recommend a dental appliance, regardless the patient's age, in the following cases:
- incorrect oral rest posture
- facial asymmetry/disproportional facial features
- bite and mastication-related difficulties
- dental crowding/overlapping
- crossbite, open or deep bite
- difficulty in articulating words properly
- gaps between teeth or overlapping teeth
Stages of a dental appliance treatment
- Consultation – your orthodontist will assess all modifications in the normal position of your teeth as well your dental occlusion (bite) and subsequently will decide if an orthodontic treatment involving a dental device is necessary or not. In case an orthodontic device is required, your orthodontist will decide what type of appliance is the most appropriate for you;
- Designing the treatment plan – in this stage, dental prints are taken for the dental cast models, along with intra-oral and extra-oral photographs, panoramic radiographs and teleradiographs;
- Insertion of the dental (metallic or physiognomic) appliance, which can last up to one hour;
- Periodic check-up after 4-5 weeks in order to activate the dental appliance, in the case of fixed dental appliances;
- Brackets removal (the brackets are the fixed elements applied on your teeth) – the removal takes up to one hour and will be followed by a prophilaxis and fluoridation session; this represents the last stage of the treatment proper; your teeth will already be perfectly aligned!
- Wearing of the contention appliance, which can be fixed or mobile. The mobile appliance is made of an acrylate base and archwires, while the fixed appliance is made of a special wire that remains permanently attached to the back of your teeth. Both types of appliances are aimed at preserving the correct positioning of your teeth.
What is the result?
Once your teeth are totally aligned, the active treatment period is completed. However, your teeth will tend to move back into their pre-treatment position. As we mentioned in stage 6, it is absolutely necessary for you to wear the contention appliance.
This appliance shall be worn on a daily basis during the first months, after which your doctor will advise you how to give it up gradually.
After your treatment is completed, you are required to come for a periodic check-up after 2 months, 6 months and 1 year, as well as anytime you experience any sort of discomfort or other treatment-related issues.
Self-ligating braces
There are countless technological innovations in the field of orthodontics; self-ligating braces are one such example. In order to understand the difference between self-ligating and classical braces, you need to know that the brackets that are collated on the teeth keep the arch in its place by means of ligatures ensured by special elastic bands; the latter control the tension transmitted by the arch to the tooth with the help of the bracket.
Self-ligating braces eliminate the need for elastomeric (elastic) ligatures due to an incorporated metallic clip, a new design generating the following advantages:
- the braces are less visible and more comfortable for the soft tissues (cheeks, tongue, lips) due to the rounded margins;
- the elastomeric (elastic) ligatures shelter the bacterial plague increasing thus the risk of incipient tooth decay ("white-spots") that might occur as chalk-like white spots in case of an inappropriate hygiene. The metal clips replacing the elastic ligatures in self ligating braces allow for a much better hygiene and significantly reduce the risk of tooth decay; however, a constant thorough dental hygiene is required regardless of the type of orthodontic treatment;
- due to the design of the braces and the fact that the appliance does not include elastomeric elements, less friction is generated during the orthodontic treatment, facilitating thus dental movement; the arch slides more easily and the duration of the treatment can be reduced;
- a better control of the orthodontic movement and less frequent activations of the appliance.
About INVISALIGN
The revolutionary orthodontic appliance INVISALIGN, was designed in the USA and represents the most comfortable teeth alignment method which does not require monthly visits to your orthodontist and is extremely easy to wear. It actually consists in several aligners that you can fix or remove yourself.
Following a series of investigations such as dental print, photographs and radiographs, your doctor designs the treatment plan and decides upon the aligners you will have to wear. The number of aligners actually depends on how serious your dental crowding is. You will receive, from the very beginning, all the aligners as well as the necessary instructions. The aligners are manufactured in the United States especially for you and are tested to ensure 100% biocompatibility.
It is really simple. Each aligner has a series and a serial number and has to be worn for a certain number of days, according to your doctor’s recommendation. The aligners will slightly and gently “pull” your teeth, bringing them back to a normal position. The aligners are harmless for both your teeth and the soft tissue in your mouth, as they are made of a special, elastic, soft but resistant material.
Notoriously comfortable and esthetic, these aligners are transparent and practically invisible from a conversational distance. You will wear them both during the day and at night and you can remove them whenever you need.
Assistant professor doctor Daniel Olteanu, PhD, one of our orthodontic specialists, is currently conducting his doctoral research on the Invisalign system. OZONO is thus a center of excellence in the use of this revolutionary technology used for tooth alignment.