Reinforcement Treatment After Braces
What is reinforcement therapy?
Orthodontic treatment consists of two successive stages as active treatment and passive treatment.
In active treatment; brackets, wires, intraoral elastics, extraoral appliances, etc. force is applied to the teeth and (if necessary) jaws, thereby creating movements at the dental and skeletal level. Considering that the teeth and jaws are brought to the ideal position, the brackets are removed from the patient’s mouth and the active treatment is terminated.
Since the teeth are moved during orthodontic treatment, a certain period of time is required for the bone and surrounding tissues to adapt to the new position of the teeth.
What we call reinforcement therapy covers exactly this adaptation process.
At the end of active treatment, the tendency of the teeth to return to their original state is quite high. Therefore, if the teeth are left on their own without taking any precautions after the braces are removed, the teeth will begin to return to their original state in a short time.
In order to prevent this reversal, to preserve the current state of the teeth and to prevent deterioration, it is necessary to use retaining appliances for as long as the physician deems appropriate.
Reinforcement treatment Essix plate (movable transparent appliances), Lingual retainer (fixer wire adhered to the back of the teeth), Hawley appliance, etc. Although it is done with appliances such as the teeth, no active force is applied to the teeth in this process, it is only aimed to maintain the current positions. If enough attention is paid to the reinforcement treatment and the physician’s recommendations are followed, the teeth will adapt to their new positions in the bone and re-deterioration of the teeth will be prevented.
How do teeth move?
The teeth are not fixed in the jawbone in the way that a nail is driven into the wood. Between the teeth and the bone is a space called the periodontal space, and in this space there are thin fibrils that connect the teeth to the bone. Invisible fibrils, which we call the periodontal ligament, allow the teeth to be placed in a flexible and movable position within the bone.
Ni-ti alloy special wires are used in orthodontic treatment. The peculiarity of these wires is that they are flexible and must have a memory that will return to its former form no matter how much it is bent. The aforementioned wires are attached to the teeth by means of the brackets attached to the teeth, and the wire, which tries to return to its original state, moves the teeth towards the point where they should be, by pulling the tooth towards itself. Sometimes, the teeth can be moved in the desired direction with special tires attached to the brackets.
Bagcilar Hospitadent
Dt. Ilke ELGUN
