What Are Preventive and Interceptive Orthodontics?

Your dental health is a vital component of your overall well-being. Our dentist recommends that you care for your teeth every day. The daily oral routine habits such as applying proper brushing techniques, flossing, and limiting starchy or sugary snacks can help prevent periodontal diseases and cavities.

But did you know that orthodontic issues could also be prevented? Visiting our dentist is very beneficial since you can take advantage of the dental exams that usually show if you need preventive orthodontics.

But if you already have orthodontic issues, you can seek interceptive orthodontics in Taylor or West Bloomfield, MI, to help get your smile back to its glory days.

In any case, let’s check out preventive and interceptive orthodontics in depth.

Preventive Orthodontics: The Basics

If you have long enough, you must know that prevention saves you from a lot of trouble that comes with correcting problems. As the axiom goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. In other words, it will cost you more to cure than to prevent something.

Preventive orthodontics entails using various techniques and practices that are all undertaken in anticipation of the development of orthodontic issues.

Diagnostic procedures are undertaken in preventive orthodontics to predict the appearance of malocclusion and create a treatment plan to prevent malocclusion.

Some of the procedures that can be undertaken in preventive orthodontics are:

• Parent education
• Cavities control
• Care of the deciduous dentition (milk teeth)
• Management of ankylosed tooth (a tooth that is permanently connected to the jaw)
• Checkup for dental habits and using appliances to break certain habits if necessary
• Prevention of damage to occlusion by other appliances such as the Milwaukee braces
• Extraction of supernumerary teeth (the addition to the normal series of milk or permanent teeth)
• Space maintenance after losing primary teeth
• Management of deeply locked first permanent molar
• Management of abnormal frenal attachment

You should note that the procedures undertaken in preventive and interceptive orthodontics are usually the same. However, the main difference between the two is the timings of the procedures.

In any case, here’s a brief look at what interceptive orthodontics is all about.

Interceptive Orthodontics, In a Nutshell

At times, issues get caught late or when they have already proceeded past the point of prevention. Therefore, our dentist has to find ways to steer your smile in the right direction. Hence the need for interceptive orthodontics.

In other words, interceptive orthodontics in Taylor or West Bloomfield, MI, is undertaken when the malocclusion is developing or has already developed. So, you can look at it as a curative rather than a preventive measure.

The procedures are the same as preventive orthodontics, but the timing is different, as mentioned earlier. Some of the procedures that you might encounter when undergoing interceptive orthodontics are:

• Serial extraction
• Controlling abnormal habits
• Correction of developing overbite
• Muscle exercises
• Space regaining
• Removal of bony barrier or soft tissue to enable teeth to erupt

Interceptive treatment is necessary since it helps prevent problems that could easily lead to severe dental issues. The idea behind interceptive orthodontics is to address the developing dental issues to reduce the extensiveness and length of later treatments.

Since there are several procedures involved in interceptive orthodontics, you will need to be mentally ready so that your kid will undergo several phases of the treatment. The treatment might even begin as soon as when your kid’s primary teeth come in.

Some of the Issues Preventive and Interceptive Orthodontics Prevent

You must wonder what interceptive and preventive orthodontics can do for your kid’s smile. Here are some of the dental issues that these treatments can correct or prevent:

Space Loss

Space loss usually occurs as a result of malocclusions. Malocclusions can cause imbalanced tooth forces that may lead to space loss. Space loss can also lead to other dental issues.

Chewing Problems

You can lose chewing efficiency because of poor bites. But it doesn’t end there. Chewing problems usually affect your overall health since food will be poorly broken down in the mouth leading to poor digestion. Poor digestion means that the body will not receive the necessary nutrients.

Poor Smile Esthetics

Poorly aligned teeth are not pretty, so kids may be ashamed to interact, laugh, and even smile. But these treatments will ensure that your kid has a proper bite that will transform their smile.

Consult with our dentist at Golnick Pediatric Dentistry if your kid needs optimal dental care.