Dental Braces

Dental braces (Also known as orthodontic braces or simply braces) are a device used in orthodontics to align teeth and their position with regard to a person's bite. They are often used to correct malocclusions such as underbites, overbites, cross bite and open bites, or crooked teeth and various other flaws of teeth and jaws, whether cosmetic or structural.

Teeth move through the use of force. The force applied by the archwire pushes the tooth in a particular direction and a stress is created within the periodontal ligament. The modification of the periodontal blood supply^[2] determines a biological response which leads to bone remodeling, where bone is created on one side by osteoblast cells and resorbed on the other side by osteoclasts.³³

Braces. The wire is not broken; rather the orthodontist is intentionally using a "segmented technique."

Inspire Ice^TM System

Unlike ceramic brackets that are opaque and colored to mimic a particular tooth shade, “Inspire ICE™ brackets are crystal clear and virtually disappear regardless of tooth shade.

Advances in heat-treatment technology allow us to produce brackets that are twice as resistant to breakage as other ceramic appliances.

Inspire ICE has an ultra-smooth, heat-polished surface that dramatically reduces friction.³⁴

Damon System

The Damon appliances are an innovative clinical technology that makes orthodontic treatment more efficient and more comfortable than ever before. The traditional treatment involving tying arch wires in with elastic ties causes friction. This involves heavier forces to move the teeth resulting in a longer treatment time.  Self-ligation appliances have a built-in “sliding door” that holds the wire in place while allowing it to slide freely back and forth.

The Damon System uses very light forces in conjunction with passive self-legating brackets to provide remarkable advantages over traditional orthodontic approaches -- faster treatment time, very few auxiliary appliances and greater patient comfort.³⁵

Invisalign

Invisalign is a series of clear, removable teeth aligners that both orthodontists and dentists use as an alternative to traditional metal dental braces. As of April 2008, more than 730,000 patients have completed or are currently in treatment.

The most obvious advantage of the treatment is cosmetic: the aligners are completely transparent, therefore far more difficult to detect than traditional wire and bracket braces.

An orthodontist begins by taking dental impressions, x-rays and photographs of the patient's teeth and sending them to Align Technology. The impressions are put through a CT scan from which a computer creates a three-dimensional model. Technicians then individualize the teeth in the computer model and move them to their final position as prescribed by the orthodontist.³⁶