Ortho Braces History and Types

Ortho braces for short, are used to straighten teeth and fix bite issues.  Traditional metal braces have been around for many decades and are still used in today’s practice.  There are many different types of braces available on today’s market, with invisible braces being the latest trend in offerings.  Most orthodontist are slowly experimenting with the latest ortho braces on the market to give their clients a vast amount of choices before undergoing treatment.  They are now able to explain to patients how each type of braces work.

History

In the mid-18th century the French physician Pierre Fauchard (credited as the father of modern dentistry) witnessed and treated several dental deformities very common among citizens in Paris during the pre-revolutionary France. Historians believe that two different men deserve the title of being called "the Father of Orthodontics." One man was Norman W. Kingsley, a dentist, writer, artist, and sculptor, who wrote his "Treatise on Oral Deformities" in 1880. Kingsley's writings influenced dental science greatly. Also deserving credit is dentist J. N. Farrar, who wrote two volumes entitled "A treatise on the Irregularities of the teeth and their corrections". Farrar was very good at designing brace appliances, and he was the first to suggest the use of mild force at timed intervals to move teeth.

Types of braces

Modern orthodontists can offer many types and varieties of braces:

    * Traditional braces are stainless steel, sometimes in combination with nickel titanium, and are the most widely used. Many stainless steel brackets are offered by various orthodontic supply companies. These include coventional braces that require ties and newer self-tying (or self-ligating) brackets, like Time brackets by American Orthodontics, SmartClip™ Brackets by 3M Unitek, SPEED, or Damon brackets.
   
* Ceramic braces offer a less visible alternative. They blend in more with the natural color of the tooth and are arguably more visually appealing. Some ceramic brackets are not as strong as metal and may require longer treatment time. Some ceramic brackets are also slightly larger than metal ones and may be more difficult to adapt to.
  
 * Gold-plated stainless steel braces are for people allergic to nickel (a component of stainless steel), but may be chosen because they blend better with teeth, and some people simply prefer the look of gold over the traditional silver-colored braces.
   
* Lingual braces are fitted behind the teeth, and are not visible with casual interaction. Lingual braces can be more difficult to adjust to, since they can hinder tongue movement.
  
 * A new concept under development are braces using so-called smart brackets. The smart bracket concept consists of a bracket containing microchip capable of measuring the forces applied to the bracket/tooth interface. The goal of this successfully demonstrated concept [3][4] is to significantly reduce the duration of orthodontic therapy and to set the applied forces in non-harmful, optimal ranges.

Source: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia