Orthodontics

Orthodontic Treatment in San Jose and Sunnyvale

Orthodontics is a branch of dentistry that deals with correcting wrongly positioned or crooked teeth or jaw. This practice allows you to keep a healthier mouth, sport a more pleasing appearance and will also likely increase the overall age of your teeth.

Who should undergo orthodontic treatment?

It’s very difficult to realize who and when orthodontic treatment should be taken into consideration and only your dentist or orthodontist can determine for sure whether or not you can benefit from orthodontics. Dentists usually use a variety of diagnostic tools to come to a conclusion. These include a full medical history, a clinical examination, plaster models of your teeth and jaw setup, X-rays and photographs et cetera.

How can orthodontics benefit you?

Crooked teeth and teeth that do not fit properly together are very hard to keep clean, increasing the risk of decay, periodontal disease and eventually tooth loss. They also increase the stress on the chewing muscles leading to headaches, shoulder, back and neck pain, and TMJ syndrome. Moreover, your smile is hugely affected by such teeth.

How do you know if you should consult an orthodontist?

There’s no sure-fire way of determining the necessity of an orthodontist without actually consulting a dental specialist. But if you have any of the following conditions, you may be a potential candidate for orthodontic treatment:

Overbite, also called "buck teeth": Here the upper front teeth lie too far forward over the lower teeth.

Underbite: A "bulldog" appearance where the lower teeth are too far forward or the upper teeth too far back.

Crossbite: This happens when the upper teeth do not come down slightly in front of the lower teeth when biting together normally.

Open bite: The space between the biting surfaces of the front and/or side teeth when the back teeth bite together.

Misplaced midline: This occurs when the center of your upper front teeth does not line up with the center of your lower front teeth.

Spacing: Occurrence of gaps or spaces, between the teeth as a result of missing teeth or teeth that do not "fill up" the mouth.

Crowding: This can be observed when there are too many teeth for the dental ridge to accommodate.

How does the treatment take place?

Orthodontics employs various different appliances that are used to move teeth, retrain muscle and affect the growth of the jaws. There are basically two types in this—removable and fixed type. These appliances are gently placed on the teeth and jaws and will overtime fix the problem with your teeth or jaw.

Fixed appliances include the likes of braces, special fixed appliances, and fixed space maintainers. Whereas aligners, removable space maintainers, lip and cheek bumpers, headgear et cetera include removable appliances.

Depending on the severity of your condition, your orthodontist will decide which kind of appliance needs to be fitted onto your mouth.

Dr. Rita Mitbavkar has a state-of-the-art dental practice, UniSmile Dental, in Sunnyvale and San Jose, California. Give us a call at 408-226-1600 or 408-732-5300 to book an appointment!