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Adults generally desire consider orthodontic treatment for two reasons: esthetics to align their teeth and create a better smile and hygiene concerns to help keep their teeth longer. They are usually interested in achieving the most correction in the least time and with the most esthetic appliance. For those reasons, treatment plans for adults address these concerns and considerations are made for special circumstances. Adult treatments are not necessarily longer than a child's treatment. The difficulty of the problem and the goals of the treatment are more important in determining the length of treatment than the patient's age. Through new and improved techniques, orthodontists have developed treatments to correct malocclusions and crowding in adults that address their unique concerns. Invisalign is a system of removable appliances that can correct many orthodontic problems. The concept is that a series of clear, removable appliances are made using a computer program which simulates small, incremental tooth movements that over time effect most of the same changes that can occur using normal braces. Besides the esthetics of being removable, this technique allows the patient and Dr. Berko to see the predicted result before treatment begins. Using conventional orthodontic treatment (braces), adults may choose to have clear bonds placed on their teeth. The improved esthetics from clear bonds is dramatic and the newest bonds are very color stable (they do not yellow) and treatment friendly.
For Your Information: Use of Panoramic Radiography Among an Ambulatory Dental Population to Detect Patients at Risk of Stroke. "Panoramic radiographs of 3.6 percent of 1,175 newly accepted dental school patients displayed calcifications in the area of the carotid vasculature. The authors interviewed the patients with calcifications to determine whether they exhibited any recognized atherosclerosis risk factors. One patient had symptoms of atherosclerosis and a statistically significant correlation was found for obesity among the patients interviewed. The authors concluded that panoramic radiography is useful for identifying some asymptomatic patients with carotid calcifications. These patients should to their physicians promptly for a cerebrovascular work-up as part of an active stroke-prevention strategy." JADA, Vol. 128, July 1997.
Floss or Die: Implications for Dental Professionals "Floss or Die' is a phrase coined by Dr. Raul Garcia, a research periodontist from Boston, Mass, at a recent dental research conference. The phrase was picked up by the Associated Press and received extensive news coverage this past summer. Since the original AP news release, a large number of newspapers and magazines have run related stories on the possible association of periodontal disease with a series of potentially life-threatening disorders." Dentistry Today. July 1998. Vol. 17 #7.
Full articles are available upon request by contacting Dr. Berko's office. |
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