Teeth for Life
Schedule a consultation today, call us on (03) 9435 2966 or visit us at 68 Main Street, Greensborough, VIC 3088.
What is Orthodontics?
How Does This Work in Practice?
How Can Early Orthodontics Help?
What is Orthodontics?
Orthodontics uses various appliances to create a more balanced relationship between the teeth and jaws, aligning them correctly to achieve the best level of occlusion. Occlusion is the way the upper and lower teeth occlude or bite together.
It is important to make sure teeth bite together in the correct relationship as this ensures the teeth wear down evenly through spreading the forces created during biting and chewing across all the teeth.
A correct bite also protects the jaw joints (temporomandibular joints) against excessive wear and tear that could otherwise lead to a painful disorder called TMD.
How Does This Work in Practice?
Our dentist in Greensborough will regularly assess the way your child’s teeth and jaws develop, and we can often detect potential issues before all the adult teeth are fully erupted and the jaws are properly developed.
Sometimes problems may be due to childhood habits such as thumb or finger sucking as these can cause changes to the shape of the jaws.
If we do think there are problems with your child’s jaw or tooth development then we may suggest they have a full orthodontic evaluation to see if early interceptive orthodontics in Greensborough will be useful. This can take place around the age of 7.
How Can Early Orthodontics Help?
During early childhood the teeth and jaws are still growing and it is possible to use orthodontic appliances to guide this growth so the jaws will develop a more normal relationship.
This can help to improve a child’s facial profile, and may reduce the need for tooth extraction due to overcrowding problems.
Sometimes early interceptive orthodontics can help reduce the need for treatment later on, or may even eliminate it completely. The appliances used may be removable or fixed, depending on the issues requiring correction.
