Your expert guide to improving your smile for life.
Your smile is one of your most important attributes. Whether you’re meeting new people, starting school or making a presentation, it’s important to be able to feel confident in yourself, and a healthy smile is a great place to start.
At Nenagh Dental & Orthodontic Clinic, we understand the importance of creating that perfect smile. For a multitude of reasons, you or your child may feel that your/their smile could be improved – cosmetic imperfections such as discolouration, chipped/missing teeth or a crooked smile can all affect your self-esteem.
If you or a loved one is unhappy, you may want to consider a type of brace to help straighten your teeth naturally.
What are braces?
Braces have been used since 1000 BC, but the technology has developed considerably since then! Braces work by applying gentle, constant pressure on the teeth to move them in the desired direction, thereby straightening them up.
There are two main types of braces: fixed and removable.
Fixed braces are glued to your teeth and you cannot take them out. They consist of brackets which are cemented to your teeth and a wire which ties them together. This wire helps to gently push the teeth in the direction that they need to go.
Conventional metal braces are made from titanium or stainless steel. For a more esthetic option, the brackets can be made out of ceramic material.
Conventional braces are great, but they have their shortcomings. You have to be very careful with what you eat, as hard or sticky foods will break your brackets. Contact sport als will contribute to brackets braking. If a bracket breaks you will have to come to us for an emergency appointment in between your standard visits. It is also more difficult to brush your teeth, therefore you have to spend a little more time on daily oral hygiene. But really, none if this is a big deal if it doesn’t bother you.
Removable braces: Invisalign is probably the most common example of the removable braces. As their name states, they are removable. You wear them all the time, but remove them to eat, drink or brush your teeth. You can drink water with them in. This means that you can eat whatever you want without the worry of your braces breaking. With the Invisalign, you will probably never have an emergency appointment. These braces are clear, which means they are hardly visible.
Invisalign braces differ from conventional braces in that they are almost invisible against the teeth. This is becoming very important for the image conscious teenagers and Invisalign is definitely the brace of choice for adults.
They work using a thermoplastic material which has been moulded to fit your individual teeth.
Invisalign braces are similar to conventional braces in that they use force to push your teeth in the right direction, but we can control the timing and force of the movement. This is done using aligners which are changed every week or two weeks, with each aligner working to straighten different areas of the teeth.
Dr Czemko practises dentistry at Nenagh Dental in County Tipperary. She holds a BA from the University of Windsor (Canada), a Doctor of Dental Medicine from the Wroclaw Medical Academy, Poland as well as a Masters in Orthodontics from University of Warwick, UK. She also holds a position of an Honorary tutor in orthodontics at University of Warwick.