Orthodontic Appliances – Which One Are You Familiar With?

Are you wearing some kind of orthodontic device right now? People who are in a certain treatment for correcting their teeth and jaw irregularities find that wearing appliances can be very uncomfortable.

A highly skilled orthodontistSpokane can help ease the discomfort if you know how to follow instructions provided by this practitioner. There's still life after the braces, you know. But for now, you have to avoid eating sticky, hard, sweet and crunchy foods if you don't want to cause damage to those expensive appliances.

If you haven't had your check up yet but are already planning to, it would help to familiarise yourself first with what you're expecting to get. As you know, orthodontic care and treatment involves the use of various appliances.

There are actually two main types, the braces and the retainers. The former are used during the active phase of the treatment. Attached to the teeth, these devices are used to move the teeth into proper alignment and fix the bite. They work by moving your teeth slowly through the application of precise amounts of light pressure over a lengthy period.

Generally, braces have four main functions:

1. Straighten teeth
2. Make teeth and lips properly aligned
3. Close unsightly gaps
4. Repair an irregular bite

Used during the retention phase, the retainer on the other hand, is for holding your teeth in their new positions for the long term.

Not all bites are the same. One is slightly different from others. For that, orthodontists use different treatment techniques. This professional may recommend the use of special appliances other than the typical metallic braces. The functional appliances are mostly used by children. Their main purpose is to direct the growth of the patient's jaw.

When the braces alone cannot fully fix your teeth and jaw problem, that's when the practitioner recommends the use of other special devices. Examples of these are the headgear, bite plate, Herbst, palatal expander, and many others, just to finish the case of improper bites.

Now that you have an idea of what to expect from various orthodonticservices, are you ready for it?