As one of the important organs of the human body, the oral cavity not only has primary digestive functions such as chewing, secreting saliva, and swallowing food, but also plays an important role in assisting pronunciation, maintaining normal facial appearance, and conducting daily social interactions.

As people pay more and more attention to oral health, more and more adults begin to consciously maintain and care for the oral environment. However, compared with maintaining oral hygiene, some oral problems such as tooth arrangement and jaw deformity that require professional doctors to perform orthodontic correction are the worries of many adults. This article will answer the oral health questions that adults are more concerned about.

Misaligned teeth that just don’t look good?

Some friends don’t care much about their appearance and feel that it doesn’t matter if they do or not, since their teeth will fall out sooner or later.

In fact, in addition to affecting the aesthetics, misaligned teeth are also a great threat to health.

Misaligned teeth can easily hide food debris and plaque, and it is difficult to clean the dead corners of hygiene. These problems can lead to swollen gums, periodontal inflammation, bleeding and, if delayed, can lead to serious oral disease.

If there are occlusal problems such as buck teeth, protruding mouth, and pocket chin, it will affect the chewing function in severe cases, increase the burden on the stomach, and increase the risk of gastrointestinal diseases.

Therefore, the problem of misaligned teeth is not only a problem of appearance but also a health problem!

Is there an age limit for orthodontics?

The principle of orthodontics is to use the mechanism of tooth movement and alveolar bone growth. The dentist applies an external force to the teeth to make the teeth move slowly in the alveolar bone and then fix them.

Many people feel that they are getting older and their teeth are fixed, and they will not change much if they go to straighten them.

It should be considered in two stages. Before the age of 12, 5 to 8 years old (dental replacement period) is the best period for functional correction. At this time, oral correction, especially the underbite phenomenon such as sub-jaw, can be very well improved.

Orthodontics after adulthood has nothing to do with age but is related to periodontal conditions and oral health. If your periodontal and oral health is not very good, you need to treat periodontal problems before you can do orthodontics.

Healthy teeth can move at any age. Whether it’s a 70-year-old adult or a 12-year-old child, the force applied in orthodontics has the same effect on tooth movement.

Therefore, the sooner the uneven teeth are treated, the better, and the best time for adult correction is: now!

Loose teeth after straightening, easy to lose teeth when you are old?

Those who say that it is easy to lose teeth after straightening are mostly friends who do not understand the principle of tooth movement.

Straightening not only will not loosen the teeth but can make the teeth more stable! The real killer of loose teeth is periodontal disease. For example, if teeth are compared to big trees, the alveolar bone is the soil that protects our teeth from collapsing.

Some friends have uneven teeth, and a lot of plaque is hidden between the teeth. These problems will cause the alveolar bone to become inflamed, bleed, and loose, which will lead to loose teeth.

Correct orthodontic treatment is like this. By guiding the teeth back to the right track through the proper force, the alveolar bone will remain healthy and the teeth will be more stable.

Therefore, after the teeth are straightened, the teeth are loose, and it is easy to lose teeth when you are old. You don’t have to worry about it.

About the misconceptions about orthodontic treatment, you may have these doubts

Teeth straightening must be painful

The fear of pain makes many people afraid to straighten their teeth. Orthodontic treatment is not terrible, and the braces worn for straightening are not a curse. The development of today’s correction technology is more and more inclined to light correction. Many techniques can provide safe and comfortable correction so that patients feel no pain or only slight discomfort. During the treatment, the soreness of the teeth and the weakness of the bite are also temporary phenomena. Occasionally, there will be pain caused by mucosal ulcers, which are generally tolerated.

Orthodontics can only solve dental problems

Orthodontics can change the position of the teeth, the lips and teeth are interdependent, and then the front-to-back position of the lips can be changed, resulting in changes in the profile of the soft tissue. In addition, changes in the relationship between lips and teeth can also bring about changes in smile aesthetics. Therefore, orthodontic treatment not only solves dental problems but also brings beauty to a large extent.

How long does orthodontic treatment take?

The timing of orthodontic treatment differs between adolescents and adults:

1）The period of adolescent non-extraction orthodontic treatment is about 1.5 years, and the period of adolescent extraction and orthodontic treatment is about 2.5 years.

2）The period of orthodontic treatment for adults is generally about half a year longer than that for adolescents, that is, the period of orthodontic treatment without tooth extraction is about 2 years, and the period of orthodontic treatment with tooth extraction is about 3 years. If orthodontics is difficult, the treatment time will increase accordingly.

Regardless of adults or adolescents, the follow-up period is similar: fixed orthodontic treatment is generally once a month, and invisible orthodontic treatment can appropriately extend the follow-up interval, just follow the doctor’s advice.

Can orthodontics straighten the top teeth?

Generally not.

Orthodontics not only needs to arrange the teeth neatly but also adjust the occlusal relationship between the upper and lower rows of teeth so that the upper and lower teeth can just bite together and not be messy. Therefore, it is necessary to straighten the upper and lower teeth at the same time.

What should I pay attention to in my diet after orthodontic treatment?

There are not so many precautions in diet, and it is relatively free. However, it is still recommended not to eat too hard things. After all, during the correction period, it is still necessary to treat the teeth better.

Remind:

For friends who do invisible orthodontics, there will always be some food residues on the surface of the teeth after eating. If you don’t brush your teeth and wear braces directly, these food residues will become a “breeding paradise” for bacteria, which can easily cause dental caries. , This is the reason why the braces will have a slight odor after wearing them for a long time, so after eating, use an interdental brush to clean the food residues to maintain oral health.