Dental Crowding
Dental crowding is the most common reason to seek orthodontic treatment because of its inherent esthetic value to a pretty
smile. The most common complaint from parents of a child seeking treatment, or an adult seeking treatment, is that he or she does not like to smile. Dental crowding exists
mainly due to a discrepancy between the size of the dental arches and the size of the teeth themselves. Heredity plays a big role in the etiology of these malocclusions.
Depending on the degree of crowding, whether it affects one arch or both arches and the type of bite, the treatment can range from non-extraction to extraction of one or more
teeth.
Problem:
Class I crowding in 10y 2m old girl still in the mixed dentition.
Treatment: Phase I treatment with upper partial braces for 12 months and a
lower lingual arch for space maintenance in the lower arch.
Problem:
Class I Crowding in 11 year old adolescent.
Treatment:
Removal of four bicuspid teeth and full braces. Treatment time - 25 months.
Problem:
Class II Div 1 malocclusion with upper and lower dental crowding in a 13 year old girl. An active thumb habit is present.
Treatment:
Removal of four bicuspid teeth,
habit appliance for 5 months and full braces for 18 months.
Problem: Class III minimal crowding of upper teeth in 12y 6m old
girl. Several front and back teeth are in crossbite.
Treatment: Non-extraction treatment with full braces for 2 years (less 2 summers when patient went overseas).
Problem: Class I bite with crowding of upper and lower teeth in 15y
4m old boy. Impacted lower right 12 year molar.
Treatment:
Lower space maintainer placed at age 13y 5m for 2 years. Full braces treatment for 2 years after that, during which time the wisdom teeth had to be removed to
allow the impacted teeth to erupt.
Problem:
Class
II Div 1 malocclusion with upper and lower dental crowding in a 33 y old adult female. Her upper left lateral incisor has
idiopathic
root resorption with poor prognosis.
Treatment:
Extraction of three second bicuspid teeth and the lateral incisor that has a poor prognosis and full braces. Treatment
time was 24 months. Under normal circumstances, four bicuspid teeth will be extracted. However, it was not justifiable to remove a good bicuspid tooth when the
lateral incisor has such poor root length. It's extraction required that the adjacent cuspid teeth be moved into its space and reshaped to look like a lateral incisor.
Click on a Smile
Gallery link above
to view more before and after cases. |
