What you should know before you choose Orthodontic Treatment!

Many patients call our office inquiring about the difference between various orthodontic procedures now available.  Although there have been many advances in the field of orthodontics in the past 10 years, the basic treatments performed in the majority of dental and orthodontic offices remain the same.

If you are considering orthodontic care you should be aware of the many benefits as well as the few complications that must be properly addressed before you begin treatment.

Take for example these before and after photos.  This young lady came to our office with a desire to “straighten my teeth.”  Her medical history showed that she suffered with daily headaches since childhood.  She was also plagued with ear aches and jaw pain.  Further careful investigation led to a diagnosis of neck problems and dysfunction.  Before treatment began, all of her complaints were properly addressed through extensive testing and diagnosing.

Her orthodontic care could have been performed with many modern options, including Invisalign (which she desired.)  However, our final analysis concluded that she suffered with a severe jaw to jaw relationship which was causing her headaches, ear aches, and neck dysfunction.  The course of treatment was therefore based on her pain issues as well as her cosmetic desires.  You can see that the final outcome produced a beautiful end result. 

What the photos do not show is the fact that her jaws were realigned by over 4 mm. in order to cure her pain problems and establish proper harmony between teeth, jaws, muscles, skull, and neck.  This is accomplished through Functional Orthodontics, an integral part of our advanced orthodontic treatment protocols. Functional orthodontics takes into account the function of the jaws, jaw joint, muscles, as well as the facial beauty. It is the cornerstone of our modern approach to therapies for people suffering with headaches, migraines, ear aches, facial pain, jaw pain, sinus congestion, etc.

Likewise, orthodontic treatment that does NOT encompass functional therapy CAN worsen any of the above listed conditions.

Due to the innovative and advanced approach to our orthodontic treatments, we choose not to reveal the specifics of the actual treatments performed.