Orthodontics
Our Centre provides orthodontic treatment to children, teenagers and adults.
Orthodontics is our field of expertise.
We specialise in prevention and treatment of malocclusion as well as in therapy of difficult orthognathic defects and clefts. Our Centre provides therapy to all patients – children, teenagers and adults.
If you find your teeth to be misaligned, overlapping, excessively advanced or retruded, you have a problem with flossing as your teeth are too crowded, you find it difficult to pronounce some sounds, you or your child lisp, make an appointment for an orthodontic consultation. Sign up for an orthodontic consultation.
During the first appointment, the doctor will:
- thorough dental examination of the patient and diagnosis of malocclusion
- impressions of the dentition on the basis of which orthodontic models are made
- X-rays: computed tomography or pantomogram and cephalometry
- digital intraoral and extraoral radiographs
Orthodontic
therapy
Based on the casts and images, the doctor will prepare the plan of the orthodontic treatment and propose an appliance best-suited to your occlusal defect. Fitting of an orthodontic appliance is a painless procedure. For 2 or 3 days after placement, you may feel discomfort and slight pain caused by the pull on the teeth – this is completely natural.
A therapy with a fixed appliance usually takes about 2 years, yet its precise duration depends on the type and severity of defect. Throughout the orthodontic treatment, you should pay check-up visits every 4 to 6 weeks. Once the fixed appliance has been removed, the doctor will provide you with a retention appliance in order to sustain the effects of the completed orthodontic treatment.
A fixed orthodontic appliance is composed of four elements:
Orthodontic brackets
are metal, porcelain or crystal elements bonded to the teeth, holding in place an active archwire which applies force to the teeth.
Orthodontic bands
are cemented on molars in order to hold the orthodontic archwire or extraoral headgear (if needed).
Orthodontic archwire
can be made of nickel and titanium, steel, molybdenum. There are also white-coating versions, providing an excellent aesthetic effect with porcelain or sapphire brackets.
Orthodontic ligatures
the so-called elastic rubber bands, are put on brackets. They come in a variety of fashionable colours. Sometimes metal ligatures are used.
Effects of orthodontic treatment
Orthodontics case studies
Patient 22 years old with twelve retained teeth in the bone and two additional teeth located palatally behind the upper ones. The patient is undergoing orthodontic treatment and insertion of the retained teeth into the arch for orthognathic surgery and final bite alignment. Read more
Patient 9 years old with a retained upper one. 3D images show the difference in tooth position after 3.5 months of orthodontic insertion of the retained upper right one into the arch.
Patient after treatment with fixed braces.
The patient lost her upper right sixth at the age of 17 due to inflammation. During orthodontic treatment of the malocclusion, the seventh and eighth were displaced, closing the gap left by the missing sixth, which saved the patient from having a dental implant inserted.
Patient aged 9 years, bone defect - underdevelopment of the upper dental arch. Status after initial orthodontic treatment with facemask for 9 months.
Patient 14 years after orthodontic treatment with fixed braces.
Patient 7 years treated with partial fixed braces to close diastema and align anterior teeth.
Patient with unilateral cleft lip and palate after orthodontic treatment with fixed braces.
Patient after orthodontic treatment with fixed braces.
Available options of
orthodontic treatment
Orthodontic treatment may involve the use of various fixed appliances, e.g.:
Crystal appliances
Brackets are made of transparent crystal and hold a white archwire, which, together with transparent ligatures (bands) make the appliance almost invisible.
Porcelain appliances
Brackets are made of milk-coloured porcelain. We also offer a white archwire and transparent ligatures (bands) to make the appliance as invisible as possible.
Metal appliances
Brackets and archwire are made of metal and ligatures (bands) are available in multiple colours.
Maintenance of fixed
orthodontic appliances:
Tips after wearing orthodontic appliance
You may also use special accessories to clean places with difficult access:
Maintaining proper oral hygiene when wearing a fixed appliance may be difficult and time-consuming at the beginning. A fixed appliance installed in your mouth may intensify formation of dental plaque and calculus build-ups as the very structure of the appliance makes it difficult to properly brush the teeth. Therefore, at first, it requires more time and effort to thoroughly clean all the dental surfaces and elements of the appliance.
Maintaining
hygiene
Tips after wearing orthodontic appliance
Persons wearing a fixed appliance should remember to clean their teeth and the appliance several times a day (especially after eating). They should avoid eating sweet and sticky food which may damage the appliance and increase the risk of dental caries.
If you wear a fixed appliance, you should get a handy cleaning kit (dental brush, spiral brush and tooth paste) to clean your teeth and appliance after every meal, wherever you are, at school or at work.
You may also use special accessories to clean places with difficult access:
- Orthodontic brushes with a groove in the middle are specially designed to clean the entire tooth surface and the outside of the bracket,
- electric brushes, with a special tip for cleaning teeth with fixed braces attached,
- toothpastes with a higher fluoride content,
- orthodontic picks of various thicknesses or interdental brushes - single-bristle,
- the thread with a hardened tip, characterised by the fact that it has a rigid end enabling the thread to be passed through the interdental space under the arch of the instrument
- mouthwashes, antimicrobial effect
- Dental irrigator, removes dental plaque from interdental spaces using a jet of water
Dietary guidelines
While wearing a fixed appliance it is not recommended to eat sticky foodstuffs, especially sweets, e.g. fudge. You should also reduce the amount of hard foodstuffs which may damage the appliance by, among others, removing a band. Chewing gum is also inadvisable.
Dislodged bracket
If a bracket or a band has been dislodged, loose elements will not fall out from your mouth as they have been fitted to the archwire with special ligatures. However, they may move and shift slightly, which will cause discomfort. In such a case, see your orthodontist without delay.
Sport
An orthodontic appliance may be dangerous when doing some of the sports, such as riding on a mountain bike, skateboarding, or practising various types of martial arts. It is recommended to use protective splints.
Benefits of
the orthodontic therapy:
Orthodontic braces - effects
Wondering what the effects of wearing braces are? Here they are:
- improved smile aesthetics, straight beautiful teeth
- improvement of facial features
- correction of speech disorders
- reduction in crowding of teeth - correct positioning of teeth, which reduces susceptibility to periodontal disease and decay
- widening of the dental arch, giving better support to the soft tissues, which slows down the formation of wrinkles and shallows nasolabial furrows
- straightens teeth, eliminates abrasion and improves chewing function (biting of food)
- correct bite alignment, eliminates temporomandibular joint abnormalities
- in older people, orthodontic treatment combined with implant and prosthetic treatment gives the effect of neat and healthy teeth, resulting in a younger appearance
Frequently asked questions
FAQ
1. How long do I have to wear an orthodontic appliance?
The duration of the therapy depends on the severity of the defect, but it usually takes from 1.5 to 2 years.
2. Do I have to take extra care of my teeth while wearing an orthodontic appliance?
Yes. You should brush them thoroughly and use floss to clean interdental spaces. Producers offer numerous items dedicated for patients with orthodontic appliances, i.e. toothpaste with increased fluoride content, dental floss, orthodontic toothbrushes with special shape and single-tuft brushes.
3. Does an orthodontic appliance increase the risk of dental caries?
Unfortunately, yes, which is why it is so important thorough dental hygiene after every meal Unfortunately, yes, it does. Hence a thorough cleaning of the teeth after every meal is so essential – during an orthodontic therapy, a dental cleaning kit is indispensable in daily oral hygiene. Food residues, if left on the elements of the appliance, stimulate the development of plaque on dental surfaces.
4. I’ve heard that a patient feels toothache after fitting of an appliance, the gums and cheeks inside are injured, is it true?
Pain sensation depends on the pain threshold of every patient. Some patients feel pain for a few days and have to take painkillers, others do not feel anything. Every patient is different, but if pain occurs, it usually passes after a few days. The same applies to cheeks and lips inside your mouth – they need time to get used to the orthodontic appliance. During the first appointment, we provide our patients with orthodontic wax to apply over the appliance in places where it irritates the buccal mucous membrane. Patients also receive detailed instructions how to deal with the appliance.
5. Can I eat hard foodstuffs while wearing an orthodontic appliance?
You can eat normally during the orthodontic therapy, i.e. eat what you used to eat before, you should, however, avoid “biting into” hard foodstuffs, e.g. apple – cut it into pieces and then eat, do not take bites of an apple. We recommend avoiding such hard foodstuffs as hazel nuts, walnuts, almonds and hard sweets, as well as sticky foodstuffs which may adhere to the elements of a fixed appliance, i.e. toffee, fudge, honey etc.
Gaps may appear between the teeth during the therapy and this is a part of the treatment. Teeth move as intended during specific stages of the therapy , hence the gaps – smaller or bigger. At the end of the therapy the teeth will be on their proper places, well-aligned and without any gaps.
Gaps between teeth occur during treatment and this is a normal process. Teeth move in line with stages of treatment creating gaps - smaller/larger gaps, so that at the end of orthodontic treatment the teeth are positioned in the correct places, straight, without gaps, in an even row.
Our Doctors
paediatric orthodontics, orthodontics for children, comprehensive dental consultations, aesthetic medicine, treatment of difficult bone defects, treatment of cleft defects in the facial part of the skull
Price list
of the orthodontics
Once you have completed the form, we will respond within 60 minutes during clinic hours.
- Opening hours
Mon-Fri: 8:00 - 21:00
Saturday: 8:00 - 15:00
- st. Grzybowska 85
00-844 Warsaw