Braces at my Age? Yes!

Remember how you were interested in how many cavities you had when you were young (or maybe not so interested)? Now you have weathered periodontal disease, worn teeth, crowns, bridges, partials, often losing some teeth along the way. So it's not the same as it was. And just as we need to remodel our houses at times from the bottom up, we have to sometimes rebuild our bites.

As we age, the importance of comprehensive treatment planning increases. Where we were at one time accustomed to having the dentist fix one tooth at a time, that doesn't work as well as it did when we were younger because of the general deterioration that often occurs as the years pass.

In developing a comprehensive treatment plan, we often look at the changes that have occurred in tooth to tooth relationships. Teeth drift into spaces created by teeth that have been missing. So the teeth start to lean over. And just as the Leaning Tower of Pisa is not particularly stable, a slanted tooth may not be able to tolerate the generally vertical forces from chewing and the multiple forces that occur when we grind our teeth.

Sometimes teeth are never in the right position to begin with, but we live with it. The problem is that unfavorable tooth positions over time can result in loose teeth as the body can no longer bounce back from the adverse stresses that the teeth and the underlying bone can no longer tolerate.

As we age, teeth often become more crowded, particularly in the front. People often ask me why their teeth are more crowded in the front now, when they never used to. The answers are sometimes difficult to come by, but the fact is that teeth tend wo move toward the center as we age, causing crowding that we never had when we were younger.

Therefore, an important part of a comprehensive dental treatment plan is to look at these factors and make sure that our teeth are in the best possible position for appearance and for function.

If teeth are out of alignment, the treatment is now easier and quicker than ever before. You've probably seen commercials for a technique that uses a series of clear plastic trays that move teeth without anyone even seeing that your teeth are being moved. And if traditional braces are desired, there is a periodontal surgical technique that can be used at the beginning of orthodontic treatment to make the treatment up to four times faster than traditional braces called "Periodontally Assisted Osteogenic Orthodontics."

The point is clear. Proper tooth alignment can help your teeth be more comfortable and more functional. Orthodontic tooth alignment is worth assessing as part of any full dental treatment plan.