Orthodontics is an important branch of dentistry that can help patients achieve an aesthetic smile and harmonious facial features. It deals with maldevelopments of the dentition, which can affect both the position of the teeth and the positional relationship of the upper and lower jaws to each other. In addition to preventive measures, which are intended to prevent the development of malformations from the outset, orthodontics offers the earliest possible diagnosis and finally the treatment of the anomalies in childhood, adolescence and adulthood.
In most cases, disorders of the aesthetic impression are the reason that causes parents to present their child to the orthodontist. An increasing number of adults also go to the orthodontist to make up for at least part of the orthodontic treatment they missed in their youth. The decisive difference here is that while malocclusions can still be corrected in adulthood, maldevelopments in jaw size and position cannot. For their therapy, the child’s growth phases must be utilized.
The typical age for starting orthodontic treatment is therefore between the ages of 9 and 11. Only in the case of a few anomalies does early orthodontic treatment have to begin at preschool age; in this case, the orthodontist intervenes in a regulating manner, e.g. with oral vestibular plates, with other removable braces that influence function, or with myofunctional therapy. In the decisive growth phase from the age of 9, removable and fixed braces are used in combination, followed by a retention phase in which treatment comes to an end.
For adults who cannot afford an aesthetic handicap for professional reasons, modern, almost invisible methods such as the fixed lingual technique or the Invisalign splint technique are available, so that orthodontics is becoming increasingly popular among adults.
The orthodontist is also an important contact for fans of contact sports when it comes to the production of individual sports mouthguards.
Another therapeutic area is opened up to orthodontics by the findings of modern sleep medicine. Snoring can be treated from its simplest form to life-threatening sleep apnea by means of a snoring splint.
The most important services of orthodontics are presented below.
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