Adult
Adults have special needs in their orthodontic treatment as the rapid facial growth that occurred during childhood and adolescence is no longer present and therefore cannot be incorporated into a treatment strategy. Adults generally have a dentition that has been modified (sometimes extensively) by wear and tear, previous dental or orthodontic procedures, disease and other factors such as trauma. The health of the soft tissues which surround the tooth (periodontium) requires careful assessment to ensure that future problems do not arise. Time pressures with work and availability for treatment are also a greater concern to many adults. Therefore there are many additional intrinsic and extrinsic factors which modify the treatment options that are available to correct their malocclusion.
Generally it has been our experience with correct diagnostic and treatment planning procedures, that adult orthodontic treatment progresses smoothly. Due to a high level of acceptance and motivation most adults are more cooperative than adolescents, which results in treatment duration of 18-24 months for many procedures. The use of aesthetic tooth coloured braces can further improve the experience as these appliances are considerably less noticeable than traditional stainless steel braces. For mild crowding problems it is possible to use invisible clear aligners which are not detectable to correct the alignment of your teeth.
As a general rule an adult dentition will require extractions to relive moderate to severe crowding or bite discrepancies. Where orthopaedic expansion or a large correction of the bite is required, surgical assistance is usually required. When extractions are needed, the pattern chosen often has to be modified to take into account existing fillings or complex dental restorations such as bridgework.
Another important area of adult orthodontics is "adjunctive" to other dental procedures. When complex, multidisciplinary treatment is needed, orthodontics can be used to streamline and simplify the treatment and significantly improve the outcome, both functionally and aesthetically. One example of those types of treatment is the opening of space orthodontically to enable the proper placement of an implant where a tooth has been previously lost from the arch.
