Already today every second child and 30% of adults need highly qualified orthodontic care.

What are the reasons for dento-maxillary anomalies?

The appearing of dento-maxillary anomalies can be associated with various etiologies. Teeth and jaws anomalies can occur and develop as a result of organism diseases or be the result of some congenital abnormalities (genetic factors, endocrine disorders). Various adverse factors after child's birth can also contribute the development of dental deformation (violation of breastfeeding, child over 3 years feeding with soft food, diseases of ENT organs). Such bad habits as sucking of fingers, lips, cheeks and different objects, also as habits related to violation of body posture, carriage, a violation of tang and lower jaw position can lead to abnormalities of occlusion. Caries and its complications also lead to teeth row deformation and the development of anomalies of malocclusion. Malocclusion violation can lead to pathology of the temporomandibular joint, which is accompanied with pain and difficulties in moth opening.

Any dento-maxillary anomalies lead to dysfunction.
So, the sooner treatment is started, the easier it is to reduce the severity of the anomaly. Started in time treatment can avoid the teeth remove and to conduct the treatment in a shorter time. What are the types of treatment with orthodontic technology usage?

Orthodontic treatment can be carried out on removable and fixed equipment, depending on the patient's age.
Removable equipment is presented with mechanical one-jaw plates (for upper and lower jaw), and with two-jaw plates of functional and combined action. The advantage of removable equipments is that they are easy to be looked after. Twice a day they should be cleaned with a toothbrush and toothpaste. Plates are worn constantly and are taken off only during the meal taking. With these apparatus help you can increase teeth rows with special screws, different springs and arcs usage and also to impact onto the jaws growth. However, if the patient is not disciplined, he can take them of himself.

At older ages removable devices, the so-called bracket system which is fixed in the oral cavity for the whole period of treatment course, are used. In adolescence and older age brackets are used more effectively. They allow to change the position of each individual tooth in any direction. Actually, the orthodontic treatment with the non-removable technique usage can be performed at any age. Everything depends on the patient's teeth and periodontal conditions. After some examination, the doctor can determine whether the orthodontic treatment is possible in this case and which power of load can be used. Of course, with age compensatory capacity of the organism is decreasing and it becoming sometimes difficult to adapt for long-term treatment procedure. Although the patient gets used to brackets wearing very quickly and does not feel any discomfort, which can be felt during the first week of the course.

The patient himself can choose brackets which are more suitable to him by their appearance and price. They can be metal, plastic, composite, golden, ceramic and sapphire. The essence of bracket system method of treatment does not change.

So what are the types of bracket systems?

Metal brackets - are the most durable and have the most affordable price. The treatment with metal brackets usage is usually the fastest one, and includes the minimal friction between the bracket slot and an arc. With metal braces you can choose a darker ligature, on which are traces of food coloring and touch of smoke are not visible at all.
Steel brackets - are the simplest metal brackets. Sometimes they can be made of steel with the addition of nickel compounds. They are the most durable, reliable, and affordable. The only drawbacks of these brackets are their size and appearance: not every patient will agree to wear so much metal in his mouth! Titanium brackets - are used if the patient has an allergy on nickel. It is known that titanium is practically never entering into any chemical compounds, and it is completely harmless to the organism!
Golden brackets - are completely made of gold or have gold plating. As well as titanium, they do not cause allergy. Beside, many people choose golden brackets because they look more aesthetically comparing with other types of brackets, plus – gold can make braces look like a decoration.
Plastic brackets - are less visible than metal ones, because you can find the right color of plastic, which would be invisible on teeth background. Plastic brackets have little strength that is why the orthodontic treatment can last longer. There is a high risk of such type of brackets to be broken. It should be noted that there are models that are specially reinforced with other materials, so that now this problem is not so much prevalent. The disadvantage of plastic brackets is the susceptibility to food coloring. If you eat lots of berries, drink much coffee and smoke a lot, this bracket system can suit you not, because they change their color and your dentist will need to replace discolored brackets and put new ones.
Ceramic brackets - are more esthetic than metal and plastic ones because they simply blend with the color of teeth, of course, if you do not have perfectly white teeth. This type of brackets is resistant to food coloring, but the ligature is still changing their color.
Keep in mind that the problem of ligatures coloring is not that much serious, because the ligatures are changing during each visit to the orthodontist. The disadvantages of ceramic brackets are their cost and high friction between the arc and the bracket which can increase the duration of treatment. Some people believe that this type of brackets is much more comfortable than the metal ones and they less irritating to the gums, but it's probably a psychological effect only.
Sapphire brackets - are made of a single crystal artificial sapphire. Due to their structure, they have an excellent strength and do not change their color. This type of brackets is least visible, if you have white teeth. If your teeth have a yellowish tint, these braces will stand out from your teeth, and will look like a decoration.
Sapphire brackets have a rather noticeable aesthetic effect: they are not only visible on the teeth, but they also have a property to shine on a bright direct light like real natural gems. Well, what else we all can expect knowing that this is sapphire! Sapphire brackets are usually more expensive than metal and ceramic ones.
Lingual brackets - comparing with traditional bracket system are installed on the inner (lingual) surface of the tooth row, so they are invisible from the outside. Usually lingual brackets are made of metal. Some types of occlusion abnormalities (e.g. "deep bite") are better to treated with this system usage. This happens exactly due to the internal arrangement of this type of brackets.
The positive side of these brackets is their maximum aesthetics: other people will not notice them, of course, if they would not look into your mouth with a great attention and interest. However, with such advantage these brackets have also a list of disadvantages. This type of brackets reduces the interior in the mouth, so that in the very beginning of treatment a tongue is getting injured and it becomes difficult to speak.

Treatment with lingual brackets usage is the most expensive one because, first of all, of the brackets' aesthetics (one must pay for beauty!), and secondly because of the exclusivity of this kind of treatment (the orthodontic must have a special qualification in orthodontic treatment for such bracket system installation).
Treatment with lingual brackets usage is the most difficult one. It is very exhausting for both, the patient and the orthodontist. Lingual brackets will be not suitable in complex cases, and even during the simple treatment will last much longer than during classical bracket systems usage.
What are the terms of treatment with orthodontic technique usage?

Orthodontic treatment continues for at least a year, although in some cases it can take 6, 8 or 10 months. Of course, everything depends on the specific case. You shouldn't rely on less time because in such a case the result can be short-living (teeth will take their usual position they had before).

The psychological aspect.

Many patients are hesitating about orthodontic way of treatment with bracket system usage because of having to wear "ugly pieces of iron" on the teeth during long period of time.
Refutation:

- Bracket systems look very accurate and net. Ceramic and sapphire brackets are hardly visible on the teeth and they even give a special charm to their owners.

- In European countries and in the USA an aesthetic treatment (treatment with bracket system usage also refers to it) is considered to be very prestigious, and it is even a sign of prosperity.