Common Treatments
Orthodontic Treatment – Surrey & Vancouver
Effective orthodontic treatment can help you create a beautiful smile. There are a number of orthodontic procedures that can help solve specific teeth, jaw, joint or facial problems. The orthodontic specialists at PacificWest Dental Group perform these procedures in our Surrey and Vancouver offices. Some examples of common orthodontic procedures are:
Teeth Crowding
This patient started treatment at age eleven and wore braces for twenty-six months. His happy new smile reflects his well-spaced teeth – he loves the improvement
An Open Bite: When the Front Teeth don’t Touch
This patient sucked her thumb as a young child. At the age of thirteen, she started her orthodontic treatment. For twenty-eight months, she had self-ligating braces to retrain her teeth and a special appliance (called a crib) to retrain her tongue. Now her front teeth touch together perfectly and she can bite the lettuce out of a sandwich.
A Deep-Over Bite: When the Lower Front Teeth bite into Palate
This adult patient (age twenty-five) required advanced dental orthodontics treatment, including ceramic braces and jaw surgery to correct his severe over-bite. His treatment period was over two years however if he had been treated earlier (before his teen years) his problem could likely have been resolved without surgery
Missing Lateral Incisors
This patient’s lateral incisors were congenitally missing. To solve this problem, she had braces to move the teeth to correct position and then the missing teeth were ‘built’ with bonded “Maryland” bridges. The treatment period was twenty months.
Under-Bite: Lower Front Teeth in Front of Upper Teeth
The under-bite for this adult patient caused jaw joint pain and resulted in severe wear patterns on her teeth. She started treatment at the age of thirty-two and needed thirty months of treatment. Now, her under-bite is corrected, her jaw joint is not stressed, her front teeth are not wearing against each other – smiling and chewing is also easier.
Spacing of Teeth
This patient found the spaces between his teeth to be excessive and it bothered him. Using braces, the spaces closed and he achieved an ideal bite in two years. To keep the spaces closed, special glued-in retainers are used.
Non-Braces Treatment
Not all orthodontic treatment requires braces to correct the alignment of teeth. At the age of seven, this patient was seen for crowding of the lower permanent teeth. The solution for this crowding was to reduce the width of the adjacent baby teeth; then the permanent incisors aligned on their own within the following nine months.
Phase I Orthodontic Treatment
This patient’s parents were concerned about the aesthetics and the health of the erupting permanent teeth for this eight year old patient when they brought him to the orthodontist. The lower front teeth were crowded and they touched the palate, and the upper front teeth were extremely displaced from their normal positions. After twenty months of Phase I treatment with an expander and partial braces, his appearance and dental function was significantly improved.
Other Treatments for: Sleep Apnea, Dentofacial Orthopedics, Surgical Orthodontics, TMJ/TMD
The treatments for a variety of other orthodontic-related issues include dental devices such as sleep apnea dental appliance; surgery when necessary; a mouth guard for TMJ or TMD; and other customized combinations of solutions.
