What are Braces? – Dr. Shanaz (Part 2)

As our life progresses with technology, daily activities and tasks become simpler and quicken by modern advances. In the dental industry, specifically orthodontics, one of the new and progressive dental advances are the use of self-ligating braces and clear aligners.

In our clinic, we now offer these type of braces, as they have supplemented the conventional type and gave our patients more choices. And down below, you’ll be able to identify the advantages of these type of braces.

1. Self-ligating braces:
   • Eliminates the need for elastics that can cause the accumulation of plaque and have a tightening effect on teeth.
   • Uses a light high-technology shape-memory wire that move the teeth faster with fewer adjustments required.
   • Total treatment time is reduced dramatically and patient’s feel more comfortable wearing braces
2. Clear aligners:
   • No brackets are required to be placed or banded on teeth
   • Removable
   • Close to invisible when worn
   • Can be used as a retainer during last few stages
3. Ceramic/Clear braces:
   • Clear brackets or ceramic brackets (tooth coloured brackets)
   • Works the same way as conventional/Damon braces
   • No obvious metal bonded on teeth

No matter what type of braces system you’ll be using, patients may be wondering what to expect and what is required of them when they’ve decided to go for orthodontic treatment.

Orthodontic treatment can usually be considered a lifelong treatment. This is because there is a lot of preparation and maintenance involved on the patient’s side when going through orthodontic treatment.

What to expect when going through Orthodontics

1. Patients will need to learn how to keep their oral hygiene to an optimum state (brushing regularly, brushing after meals, flossing daily, using the interdental toothbrush)
2. Patients will need to visit their dentist on time during their review schedule and subsequently go for scaling and polishing every 4-6 months.
3. The diet of patients will have to be changed to softer food, or at least food that has been cut up to reduce the amount of stresses on the teeth.
4. Avoiding contact sports would be advisable as to protect the patient from harming others and harming themselves.
5. Patients will have to expect slight discomfort or pain during the orthodontic treatment. (The bone is resorbing and reforming after all)
6. Wearing of retainers and upkeep of oral hygiene is most important after bracket removal. This is to ensure minimal relapse occurs (if any).
7. The total treatment might take some time, but if you come back regularly for the review and follow the instructions given, there will be progress to your treatment. The idea is to have small slow movement of teeth, to ensure they are kept alive, your bone is healthy and the overall treatment can be controlled.

The key to understanding orthodontics is that it is a two-way relationship treatment which involves both cooperation from the patient as well as the dental surgeon. Both must be able to fully commit to the treatment for the desired results.

Till next time! – Dr. Shanaz