What You Need to Know About Crowded Tooth Treatment

Do crooked teeth necessarily need to be corrected?

Crowded teeth not only impair the aesthetics of the smile, but also increase the risk of caries, as it makes it difficult to clean the teeth adequately, and negatively affects the health of the tissues around the teeth. In the long term, orthodontic treatment is necessary for good oral and dental health and a beautiful smile.

What other treatments do orthodontic treatments include other than correcting crooked teeth?

The scope of orthodontic treatments is quite wide. Apart from crowded teeth, sparse teeth also threaten the chewing function and the health of the tissues around the teeth. In addition, orthodontic treatment is frequently needed for the correct positioning of the teeth before prosthetic treatments such as implants, bridges, and veneers.

Preserving the position of the primary teeth lost due to caries or trauma is important for the normal eruption of the permanent tooth that will replace the primary tooth. The gaps in which the permanent teeth will be preserved are protected with the appliances that can be removed or fixed to the teeth.

 Individuals with skeletal problems in which the upper or lower jaw is anterior or posterior to normal should be treated at an early age (9-15). We call these treatments dentofacial orthopedics, today the full name of orthodontics is ‘orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics’. In adult patients with jaw problems and delayed treatment, after the wire treatment, the jaws are surgically repositioned as much as the tissues allow.

How can it be understood that individuals need orthodontic treatment?

To explain briefly, we can say that individuals with crooked or sparse teeth, missing teeth, excess teeth or impacted teeth, having too few or too many teeth while smiling, and those whose upper jaw and/or lower jaw are forward or backward than normal need orthodontic treatment.

Can orthodontic treatment with braces be applied at any age?

If the problem is only related to the teeth, that is, there is no skeletal problem in the jaws, yes, teeth can be corrected with braces at any age. However, it is possible to correct both teeth and jaws in pediatric patients between the ages of 9-15, where growth and development continues, and the treatment results faster than adult individuals. Therefore, it is very important to start orthodontic treatments before it is too late.

How long does orthodontic treatment take?

Forces are applied within certain limits in orthodontics so that the teeth and bone tissue are not damaged during the movement of the teeth in the jaw and the repositioning of the jaws and the biological events can take place in an ideal way. For this reason, results cannot be obtained in a very short time in orthodontic treatments. Depending on the severity of the problem, the age of the patient and his compliance with the treatment, the duration of treatment is quite variable, it can be said that this period is between 6 months and 3 years.

Are orthodontic treatments expensive?

Orthodontic treatment provides the patient with good oral care and teeth that he or she will use for a lifetime without any problems, and saves the patient from treatments that require much higher fees in total, such as fillings, extractions, implants, prostheses, which will be made in the future for oral and dental health problems. For this reason, it cannot be said that orthodontic treatments that provide a beautiful smile and facial aesthetics as well as guaranteeing oral and dental health for a lifetime are expensive.

Bakirkoy Hospital

Chief Physician Dt. Selma KURTOGLU