Teeth positioning problems and health: \

We know how important dental health is, but there are times when we need the help of specialists because teeth positioning problems cannot be solved without their help. Dr. Dr. . Teodorina Secară, primary doctor in orthodontics and dento-facial orthopedics. Teodorina Secară: Teeth positioning problems generate inefficient mastication, thus causing, over time, various discomforts, from excessive wear of the teeth, to damage to the tissues supporting the teeth in the bone, and to digestion problems.

Among the side effects of orthodontically uncorrected teeth positioning problems in the oral cavity, with both aesthetic and functional implications are: excessive tooth mobility, receding gums, bone resorption. In addition, crowded teeth are difficult to clean and thus favor the occurrence of caries and their complications. In short, misalignment of teeth leads to bite trauma, discomfort, pain, facial muscle spasms, bruxism (teeth grinding), unnatural noises in the jaw, pain in the joints that connect the mandible to the skull, limitation of mouth opening, trismus ( . Teodorina Secară: Crowded teeth are a consequence of the insufficient development of the jaw bones. And the insufficient development of the bones or the imbalance between them affects all the functions in which the teeth are involved, i.

e. mastication, swallowing, phonation. An insufficiently developed mandible can also be accompanied by breathing problems, because the space for air is reduced. It also has a negative aesthetic impact, providing insufficient support to the soft parts, hence the appearance of the double chin, popularly called goiter. In general, people who breathe predominantly through the mouth, instead of through the nose, have jaw compression, that is, narrower jaws, that is, the roof of the mouth is smaller, and their teeth are crowded, or too inclined towards the face, exposing them to the risk of trauma.

This causes the bite to be incorrect and leads to tooth wear and a number of periodontal problems. Children who tend to mouth breathe may have attention deficit disorder, restless sleep, nightmares, problems with concentration, memory, increased irritability. They have dark les, sunken cheekbones and an overall tired look with slumped shoulders brought forward. In adulthood, they have a predisposition to hypertension, sleep problems, snoring. Teodorina Secară: Correct diagnosis is the main step of orthodontic treatment.

This stage consists in the clinical assessment of the patient (examination of the teeth, mucous membranes, muscles, mouth opening, etc. . ), but also the analysis of the orthodontic file. What is it and what does it include? . In addition, cephalometry is required, i.

e. a set of specific measurements on the skull radiograph, as well as additional analyzes such as the Modjaw (digital articulator) evaluation, which captures the dynamics of the jaws, in the functions in which the teeth are involved, i. e. mastication, speech, swallowing . , and the pathology of the joints that connect the mandible to the skull.

To make these measurements, scans of the dental arches (i. e. their fingerprint) are needed. Of course, other factors that play an important role should not be neglected, namely the orthodontist's experience and case history. Orthodontic treatments must be conducted exclusively by orthodontists, because there are many elements related to the specifics of this specialization that a dentist with another specialization cannot know in such detail.

Teodorina Secăra: There is a series of aesthetic orthodontic appliances, almost invisible, with the help of which we can achieve an irresistible smile and a correct bite. These are the lingual appliances, i. e. placed on the sides of the teeth facing the tongue, or the braces/aligners, which surround the surfaces of the teeth like a thin transparent glove. The latter are easy to wear, comfortable, almost imperceptible and do not force the patient to change the diet, being easy to use.

They consist of a sequence of braces, which change the position of the teeth through a cumulative effect over time. If brackets have been used since the time when computers were the size of a camera, aligners or transparent mouthguards are the orthodontic solutions corresponding to the 21st century, i. e. slim and almost imperceptible, in line with the technological trends of today, when it is the time of the smartphone and . You can even monitor the progress of your treatment, on your own mobile phone, by installing the application of the manufacturer of the respective medical aligner device and thus you can be connected with the daily progress of the teeth straightening process.

Teodorina Secăra: Brackets, in the form we know them today, are orthodontic devices for aligning teeth, used for about 70 years. They have proven their effectiveness over many generations of patients. However, digitization has also penetrated orthodontics and changed the rules of the game. In 1997, in California, the system of transparent braces was invented, which gradually follow each other and change the positions of the teeth through a cumulative effect, leading them to a perfectly functional and harmonious bite from an aesthetic point of view. For 20 years, the inventors of this first invisible device were protected by the patent of the invention, so they established themselves as the world leader, having today in their portfolio more than 16 million completed cases and 250 thousand doctors working with this system.

Since 2017, the main brace manufacturers on the market have replicated this successful recipe, so there are now thousands of brands of aligners available on the market, making this market segment extremely competitive. The main advantages of aligners are the comfort they offer to patients, the efficiency of personalized treatments, the shortening of the duration of treatments as a whole, the absence of emergencies and painful episodes, which patients with brackets used to experience. In the case of treatments with traditional appliances, checks are mandatory every month, for their adjustment. Also, for classic devices there is a strict diet, which excludes crunchy, hard or sticky foods such as pretzels, caramels, gummy candies, crisps. And last but not least, rigorous hygiene is essential, with the patient using an arsenal of brushes to remove food debris from brackets and teeth.

In contrast, aligners are invisible, imperceptible, for this reason they are the preferred appliance for all age groups, from adults, public figures and even cool teenagers who don't want it to be obvious that they are undergoing orthodontic treatment. The ease of use consists in the fact that it is removed during meals and you do not have to give up any of your favorite foods. The risk of caries is also very low, as cleaning the teeth is easy. In short, even if it is a little more expensive, the aligners variant is preferred by patients for the benefits in using the product, and the invention of this type of medical device represents an important milestone for orthodontics, an update of medical practice and a way to stay in step with . .