F.A.Q.

• From the Greek “ortho” meaning straight and “odontos” for teeth, orthodontics is a specialty of dentistry aimed at the diagnostic, prevention and treatment of dento-facial anomalies and dental malpositions.
• The technical term to describe these problems is “malocclusion”.
• Practicing orthodontics requires professional aptitudes in diagnostics, treatment planning, insertion, use and control of different corrective appliances used to align teeth, lips and jaws, all contributing to dento-facial harmony.

Practically anyone with occlusal problems can benefit from orthodontics. If the tooth supporting tissues (gingiva and bone) are healthy, there are usually no contra-indications to undertake orthodontic correction.

• There is no age limit to consider orthodontics.
  Even if the majority of orthodontic patients are children or adolescents, more than 25% of Canadians under orthodontic care are adults. In our practice, this proportion is even greater.
  We regularly and successfully treat patients between 40 and 70+ years of age. The oldest patient we saw was 81!
• The basic biological process allowing the teeth to move is the same for all healthy individuals, regardless of their age.
• In adults, the absence of growth may make it necessary to use different treatment modalities or to have different treatment objectives than with a growing population.
• The recent technologies that we introduced in our practice in the past few years are particularly suited for adults by making treatment more efficient, accessible and comfortable than ever before for the adult population.
• It is never too late to improve your dental condition with orthodontics

It may be a new word to you. “Malocclusion” is a technical term for crooked, crowded, malaligned or protruding teeth which do not fit together properly. Literally, the word means “bad bite.”
The term “occlusion” refers to the relationship of the teeth with one another when the jaws are closed. For a “bite” to be functional and esthetic, not only must there be a precise arrangement between the teeth but there must be a harmonious relationship between the jaws as well.

Any deviation from this “ideal” relationship is considered a “malocclusion”. It refers to any inadequate relationship between the teeth and/or jaws.

The most common malocclusions have crooked, crowded, rotated teeth, excessive overbite, teeth that are “sticking out”, teeth that do not touch one another when biting, “scissor bites”, etc.
You can find more details about malocclusions in the section Treated cases – Before & After

• Most malocclusions are inherited. These include crowding of teeth, too much space between teeth, extra or missing teeth, cleft palate and a variety of irregularities of the jaws and face. Some malocclusions are acquired.
• They can be caused by thumb-sucking, tongue thrusting, dental disease, premature loss of primary or permanent teeth, accidents or some medical problems.
• Left untreated, these orthodontic problems can become worse. Crooked and crowded teeth are hard to clean and maintain. This may contribute to conditions that may cause tooth decay, eventual gum disease and tooth loss.
• A bad bite can also cause abnormal wear of tooth surfaces, difficulty in chewing and excess stress of the supporting bone and gum tissue.

NO, this is very unlikely.

• In most people, once the first permanent molars have erupted (at around age 6-7), the available space for the anterior teeth will not increase, even in the presence of growth. In fact, this space will decrease over the years and the situation will worsen.
• Studies have demonstrated that most occlusal and dental problems have a tendency to deteriorate with time if they are not treated.

NO, this is very unlikely.

Although growth helps the orthodontist in treating skeletal imbalances (jaw size discrepancies), growth alone will not solve the problem.
Using orthodontic appliances during treatment allows us to optimally utilize the growth potential to try to obtain better jaw relationships.
In certain cases where the growth pattern is realy unfavorable or abnormal (such as when the lower jaw bites in front of the upper jaw), any supplemental growth may in fact worsen the problem. It is therefore important that such problems be evaluated early by an orthodontist