teeth seem to be the second criterion for judging beauty. In order to avoid becoming a "crescent face", many people began to pay attention to dental problems such as irregular teeth and protrusion.
However, orthodontics is not a simple "cuffing of teeth", it also has time to correct and requires long-term management.
"Life Times" (search for "LT0385" in WeChat to follow) interview authoritative experts, provide you with professional advice on orthodontics, and help you have a neat tooth.
Expert Biography
Xu Tianmin, Professor of Orthodontics, Peking University, PhD supervisor, and the fourth chairman of the Orthodontics Committee of the Chinese Stomatological Association
Author | Life Times reporter Li Shuang
Editor | Wang Lu Zhang Yu
Orthodontics, purpose Not only for beauty
Everyone generally believes that "correcting teeth" is to enhance image, but Xu Tianmin said that the rapid increase in the attention of the orthodontic industry in recent years is mainly related to the improvement of public health literacy and technological progress.
Orthodontics for young and old, with different purposes
Clinically, many parents bring their children to orthodontics. The main purpose is to align the teeth and improve the facial shape. But there are also many young people and old people who perform orthodontics for their health.
On the surface, orthodontics is to arrange the teeth neatly, but the ultimate purpose of is to adjust the bite. Irregular dentition will lead to uneven occlusal strength of teeth, causing teeth to wear, loose and fall off. If
has abnormal bite, it will affect chewing function, pronunciation, and lips closure. Therefore, orthodontics can further assist in digestion and nutrient absorption, prevent oral mucosa from drying, and enhance oral infection resistance.
and some orthodontics are "re-adjustment" after surgery. For some serious skeletal malocclusion conditions, such as "ground cover" and "pocket teeth", it is no longer a simple dental problem, involving maxillofacial deformities. Orthognathic surgery is also required at this time.
Since the operation is the movement of bones, it cannot be very delicate, so orthodontic treatment is routinely performed for about half a year after surgery.
Technical advancement lowered the threshold
In the first century AD, Roman doctors taught people to push teeth with fingers to correct misaligned teeth. This was the most primitive corrective technique, and the patients were very painful at that time.
With the development and progress of technology and medicine, dentists have gradually explored the auxiliary tool-the appliance that uses steel wire to "clamp" the teeth, but this most primitive material is cumbersome, laborious and unsightly, so titanium gradually appeared Appliances made of different materials, such as alloy orthodontic arch wires and straight wire arch appliances. The
metal braces have strong correction strength, but they can only be disassembled and cleaned under the operation of the doctor, and the patients will also have strong foreign body sensation and poor aesthetics when they are worn. The emergence of
invisible braces has greatly improved the aesthetics and comfort during orthodontics, and has become the "new favorite" of modern orthodontics, making more and more people willing to accept and adopt orthodontics.
But it should be reminded that the mechanical properties of invisible braces are not up to the level of fixed braces. For the correction of complex malocclusions, fixed appliances are still the most reliable tool.
Is there the best time for orthodontics?
For many people, orthodontics is not a small expense, so they always want to get the best results and want to correct them at the most suitable time. In this regard, Xu Tianmin said that orthodontics will be too late.
Adolescents (11 to 13 years old) who have almost completely erupted permanent teeth and basically completed dental arch development have strong plasticity in the alveolar bone, and orthodontics can generally be completed in about two years. Although the growth and development of adults has stopped and the external shape of the bone has been stabilized, the internal regeneration and reconstruction ability of the bone still exists.
Therefore, can perform orthodontics at any age as long as the periodontal condition is good. However, the specific correction time varies from person to person, and adults may be longer than teenagers.
Some adult patients worry that if they get older, they will lose their teeth if they are corrected. But in fact, the main cause of tooth loosening is periodontal disease, which is related to insufficient oral cleanliness, atrophy and absorption of alveolar bone. Z1z
Orthodontics is a slow biological reconstruction process, which is absorbed by the bone on one side of the moving tooth, and the other side is renewed and reconstructed, finally moving the tooth to the normal position. this processIt is gradual, and the teeth will eventually grow stable in their new positions. After
correction, brushing is the key step
dental correction often takes more than two years. During the process, patients will encounter various problems, and "persistence" has become the most difficult thing.
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9zSoreness and weakness are normal.
Due to the tension between the stress brought by the appliance to the teeth and the force that the teeth want to return to their original position, the teeth will become loose, sore, and weak when the patient first wears it, but this is also The gradual adaptation process of the teeth usually takes three to five days to ease.
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I would like to follow the doctor’s advice and frequent review
Due to the different materials of the appliance and the degree of deformation of the teeth worn by the patient, the review time of different people is not consistent, so you cannot make your own judgment based on online information.
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9zActively brush your teeth and don't slack
After wearing the appliance, the patient's difficulty and frequency of brushing will be greatly increased.
If you are wearing a non-invisible appliance, you can use a small-head toothbrush or a special orthodontic toothbrush to enter from the upper and lower directions of the appliance, and brush horizontally; in the middle gap, you can use tools such as flushing device, interdental brush, dental floss, etc. Perform cleaning. If
is an invisible appliance, it must be removed before eating, otherwise food residues or beverage juice will flow into the appliance, which will damage the appliance and corrode the teeth. Remember to clean it after eating and drinking.
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The steel wire protrudes inwardly
Wearing metal brackets, the ligation wire head may change position due to brushing, etc., causing problems such as mouth ties. Because the ligation wire is Soft, the patient can push it directly to the back of the appliance by hand or other tools.
If the brackets are worn out, they can be pasted with protective wax for a certain degree of protection.
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after the correction, it is particularly important to keep the
retainer worn to ensure the post-correction effect.
juvenile correctors usually wear the retainer until the end of growth and development.
adults are recommended to wear them for life, and even so, "active" teeth may still change, so adults need to follow up every six months to a year according to their personal circumstances. What
needs to remind is that invisible braces are just a correction tool. Only the orthodontist knows the position of the teeth that best meets the oral physiological and functional requirements. Therefore, even if you want to choose invisible braces, you must find a regular and qualified doctor. ▲
