What Does An Orthodontist Do?

Do you associate a perfect smile with well-being? You are right because oral health is essential to your overall well-being.

You can encounter dental issues if you have problems like malocclusion or misaligned teeth, and the problems might include tooth decay, gum disease, and challenges or discomfort when chewing.

Unfortunately, not everyone has perfect teeth. If you have an improper bite or significant gaps between your teeth, you might want to consult the North Branch dentist, a specialist in providing orthodontic care.

What does Orthodontics Mean?

Orthodontics means you are consulting a dental professional who has received training to identify, diagnose, and treat dental and jaw irregularities that might develop later.

Orthodontics specializes in straightening crooked teeth, bite problems such as overbites and underbites, crowded teeth, or teeth with significant gaps and misalignments with the jaw.

Dentists specializing in orthodontics are called orthodontists and work with patients of all ages, including children, adults, and seniors.

The orthodontist near you aims to improve your bite because straight and evenly spaced teeth align properly with your teeth in the opposing jaw giving you a healthy bite.

The health of your bite ensures you can eat, chew, and speak without confronting challenges. Earlier orthodontists were associated with children and teenagers needing braces.

However, orthodontists help correct dental problems for people of all ages.

Does an Orthodontist Remove Wisdom Teeth?

As trained dental professionals, orthodontists are fully qualified to extract any teeth, including wisdom teeth.

Therefore, they acquire training in dental school before specializing in orthodontics. After completing initial education in dental school, orthodontists spend an additional two to three years in orthodontic residency programs.

Further education is essential because most dental schools don’t offer comprehensive orthodontic instructions.

The residency programs orthodontists enroll in offer intensive and specialized instructions for professionals specializing in this particular field, focusing on two disciplines: correctly and safely moving teeth and dentofacial orthopedics to correctly guide teeth development besides the jaw and face.

After completing training in orthodontics, specialists become board-certified, although the certification is voluntary in the US.

After specializing in orthodontics, these professionals concentrate on their specialization and generally do not focus on general dentistry or oral and maxillofacial surgery.

Instead, they prefer to redirect patients approaching them for wisdom teeth removal to an oral surgeon specializing in wisdom teeth removal.

Why Must You Consider Meeting An Orthodontist?

Malocclusion and misalignments with the teeth are the most common reasons people consider visiting orthodontists.

Although general dentists can also treat orthodontic imperfections, they refer patients to specialists whenever they notice complicated issues with the teeth better managed by a specialist.

Orthodontic issues are often hereditary, resulting in size differences between your upper and lower jaws or the jaw and teeth.

Malocclusion results in overcrowding, a deformed jaw, or irregular bite patterns.

Treatment options for malocclusion include:

Dental Appliances or Braces: Metal, ceramic, or plastic square brackets are mounted on the teeth with a set of wires or springs applying forces to move the teeth into alignment.

Clear braces, called aligners instead of conventional braces, suit patients with minor malocclusion. Some patients might require headgear to help them move teeth into alignment by applying pressure from outside the mouth.

Surgery: Patients with severe underbites or overbites might require jaw lengthening or shortening surgery. Orthodontists use surgical screws, wires, and plates for jawbone support in such cases.

Jaw surgery is only performed if patients have developed total growth of the jaw and if non-invasive orthodontic treatments haven’t succeeded.

When dentists correct malocclusion, it results in easier biting, chewing, and speaking while improving facial symmetry and overall appearance.

The correction also helps ease the discomfort from temporomandibular joint issues and separate teeth, making them easier to clean to help prevent tooth decay, cavities, and gum disease.

What to Expect from Orthodontists?

If your regular dentist notices misaligned teeth during routine exams and your molars don’t come together correctly, they suggest you find it better to see an orthodontist.

When visiting the specialist in North Branch, you must expect the orthodontist to perform an oral exam, take pictures of your face and smile, x-rays of your teeth, panoramic 360° x-rays of your face and head, and impressions to make molds of your teeth.

The tests performed by the orthodontist help them to proceed with your treatment and determine which orthodontic interventions best suit your needs.

Orthodontists are specialists in treating the conditions mentioned above and specialize in this specific field without focusing on general dentistry.

Therefore if you have issues with crooked and misaligned teeth, you find it beneficial to visit an orthodontist for advice instead of a general dentist.

Thumbs up, Dental — North Branch specializes in orthodontics and can correct all issues discussed in this article if you are affected by them.

Therefore if you think your teeth and white are not correctly aligned, please visit this facility for the treatment you need.