mouth and dental disorders
Malocclusion
Treatment of Malocclusion
Braces or tooth aligners Sometimes removal of teeth Sometimes surgery Most often, the main reason to correct misalignment is to improve appearance. However, treatment of severe misalignment may be needed to prevent tooth damage and improve speaking and chewing. Correction of the misalignment requires braces, or for some people, dentist-prescribed tooth aligners. Forbraces, dentists attach (bond) brackets to the teeth. The brackets are connected to each other by wires and elastic bands that apply force to slowly and gradually pull teeth into proper alignment. By pulling slowly, the underlying bone of the tooth socket actually reshapes, resulting in a permanent shift of the teeth. Sometimes teeth must first be removed to allow room for realignment. Sometimes one or more teeth need to be slightly ground down or built up so they meet better. After the teeth are properly aligned, braces are removed and people wear a plastic and wire retainer to keep teeth from shifting back. First the retainer is worn 24 hours per day, then it is worn only at night for 2 or 3 years. Tooth alignersare sometimes referred to as clear braces or invisible braces. Tooth aligners are a set of clear plastic appliances (similar to retainers) that are used in a specific order to gradually move teeth (up to 0.3 mm per aligner). Each aligner is worn for about 2 weeks and then changed for a new one until the misalignment is corrected. As with traditional braces, a retainer is used to keep the teeth from shifting back. Sometimes birth defects of the jaw and improperly healed jaw fractures must be corrected with surgery. 