Many patients long for that perfect straight smile. It seems everywhere you turn; you see people with beautiful smiles as a result of braces. If you have crooked teeth, you may feel isolated and your self confidence is lost. Not everyone is born with perfect teeth, and some people will need help in order to get that beautiful straight smile. The good thing is there are many orthodontic options to help correct crooked teeth, and get you the smile of your dreams. At Edwards Family Dentistry, our doctors have years of experience in orthodontics, and creating beautiful smiles is our passion.

What Are the Common Causes of Crooked Teeth?

Genetics

Genetics is the main cause of crooked teeth in many patients. Unfortunately, we do not have control over how our teeth will develop. If a patient has a smaller mouth, their risk for overcrowding increases. Other causes can be related to jaw issues such as overbites or underbites.

Habits

Many children suck their thumbs or use a pacifier. This can actually do more harm than good, and the damage is typically noticed years later. These types of habits can lead to crooked teeth. If you thrust your tongue or breath through your mouth, this can also cause crooked teeth. Orthodontic treatment is typically recommended to straighten teeth, and keep your teeth aligned.

Injury

If you suffered from an injury in the mouth or jaw this can cause crooked teeth. When teeth are loose or lost, this can cause your remaining teeth and jaw to shift, and cause your teeth to become crooked. Seeking help from an orthodontist is important to help repair your mouth, and get your teeth back in place.

Keeping Primary Teeth

Taking care of a child’s baby teeth is important. Primary teeth help the permanent teeth erupt into the right place. If a child loses their primary teeth too early due to decay or trauma, this can directly affect how their permanent teeth erupt. This can cause a child’s permanent teeth to come in crooked.

What Are My Treatment Options?

Orthodontic treatment can help patients with crooked teeth at any age. If you start early, you can get the best possible results. Today, there are many options for orthodontic treatment such as traditional braces or clear aligners. At Edwards Family Dentistry, we discuss all of the orthodontic options during our detailed consultation process. Depending on the severity of the correction and health of your teeth, we help our patients choose the option that best fits their lifestyle. Your oral health is our priority, and we love to help patients achieve the smile of their dreams.

Looking for a Dentist Near You?

If you are looking for a dentist near you that offers orthodontic treatment, Edwards Family Dentistry can help. Our doctors have years of experience in orthodontics, and we provide the highest level of service to all of our patients. Don’t live with crooked teeth, let our team help you get on the road to a beautiful smile. Correcting your smile can boost confidence, and allow you to feel great around others.

To schedule your orthodontic consultation with us, contact Edwards Family Dentistry, and our friendly staff will be happy to assist you.

Modern designs for bite correction are represented by ligature and self-ligating braces. To understand the peculiarity of ligature braces and their differences from ligature, you need to know how braces are arranged. The orthodontic system consists of arches and locks that are fixed to the teeth. The locks themselves do not change the position of the teeth, but connect them to the arc. The arch, being fixed on braces, already strives to take its original shape and extends the dentition. The difference between ligature and self-ligating bracket systems, especially the fastening of the arc to the bracket locks. In the ligature braces, the metal rings from the wire or elastic rubber bands – ligatures are held in the bracket groove in the bracket groove. To remove or put on an arc in such braces, you need to remove or fix the ligature on each bracket. In the ligature-free braces for fixing the arc there are built-in covers that can be opened with a special tool.

Features of ligature braces

Ligature braces are considered a less modern design compared to self-ligating braces and are suitable for correcting simple cases like slight crowding.

Why is the use of ligatures less preferable in modern orthodontics?

First of all, ligature braces significantly extend the duration of treatment and make it less predictable, because the ligature, fixing the arc, at the same time creates an additional obstacle and friction for its movement. In a self-ligating system, the arc glides freely, so treatment is faster. There are 2 types of ligatures – elastic and metal. Elastic gum stretches quickly enough, lose their fixing ability, and can also break before a planned visit to the doctor. Because of these features, the frequency of visits to the orthodontist and their duration is significantly increased. Metal ligatures do not tear and do not stretch, but are less comfortable in the mouth.

An additional complication in the treatment of ligature braces is to maintain hygiene. Additional small elements in the mouth are difficult to clean with a familiar brush and cause a buildup of plaque. Wearers of such bracket systems are recommended to undergo professional hygiene at least once every 4 months. The advantages of ligature systems are a lower price than self-ligating systems (if we are talking about classic vestibular systems), as well as the ability to diversify their appearance with multi-colored rubber bands.

Types of ligature braces

By material

Metal ligature braces are created from hypoallergenic metals: medical titanium, gold, cobalt-chromium alloy. A significant advantage of metal braces is the reliability of the bracket itself (it will not break) and fixation to the tooth (less likely to peel off).
Inspire Ice sapphire ligature braces are aesthetic clear synthetic sapphire braces. It does not absorb tastes, does not respond to dyes and is completely hypoallergenic.

To preserve the full aesthetics of the treatment, sapphire locks are combined with white arcs and transparent or white ligatures. Sapphire is a very hard material, so these braces are resistant to chips and damage.
Ceramic braces are also used for aesthetic treatment, but they are more fragile than sapphire.

The disadvantage of aesthetic ligature systems is that, although the braces themselves do not change color over time, the ligatures darken and respond to dyes. To maintain their transparency, it is recommended to adhere to a special diet without strong dyes (red wine, beets, turmeric).

By location on the teeth

Vestibular braces are familiar clasps on the outside of the teeth. This is the most common and universal type of braces – they are suitable for the treatment of any malocclusion and patients of any age, starting with adolescence.
External braces can be metal or aesthetic (sapphire, ceramic).
Lingual braces are attached to the inside of the teeth. Their locks have a flatter fixation pad to which an arc is attached to the ligatures.
Confidence Clinic works with Win and incognito lingual braces, which have a similar design, are created individually for the patient and are distinguished by alloys.

What is The Main Cause of Crooked Teeth?