Webinar
Teeth Alignment for Teenagers
Saturday, May 30th, 2020, 2:00:00 PM
Ask Dr Enrica Sham about:
Some questions includes:
- Can teenagers use Invisalign?
- How do Invisalign Teen braces work?
- What age can I start with braces
- How long do I have to put Invisalign for?
Dr Enrica Sham completed her Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) from National University of Singapore (NUS) and graduated with a Dean’s List. Subsequently, Dr Sham completed her specialist training in Orthodontics at NUS and went on to pursue her Masters in Dental Surgery (Orthodontics) and Diploma of Membership in Orthodontics with the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh.
With over many years of experience, TLC Dental Centre boasts a friendly team that is well informed and genuinely pleased to help explain your treatment options and help you manage the cost of dental care. Their straightforward and honest treatment plans can help you manage the costs of your family dentistry. Their clinic has a peaceful and comfortable ambience with music, it doesn’t really feel like it’s a dental practice. They promise to treat all our patients with Tender, Loving, Care. We take dentistry seriously but have fun providing it.
Questions 10
Do I need a second braces treatment to correct shifted teeth due to my first set of braces?
It depends on whether the retainers are well treated as well.
What is the cost of Invisalign and are there any alternatives?
It is a lot more expensive, I would say the doctor's fee is probably the same across the board but I would say the difference is the laboratory fee. For Invisalign like I say is probably the longest-standing aligner in the market, it has invested a lot in Research and Development so the material you get is different from any other aligner systems that's why with this system have treated 8 million people so far as compared to maybe Zenyum, which only launched 1- 2 years back so the amount of cases you can treat with Invisalign is very different compared to other aligners system.
How do you keep your teeth straight following orthodontic treatment?
After treatment whether you are doing braces or Invisalign, you have to wear retainers.
What are self-ligating braces?
Self-ligating braces are a kind of a fixed on braces, the difference between self-ligating braces and traditional braces is how we tie the wire to the bracket itself, so, if you look at traditional braces, we are actually using a small wire or a little rubber, we tie those colourful things to hold the wire to the tooth, the wire is the one that is actually moving the wire in that sense.
Can a misaligned bite be due to breathing problems in children?
We do see that sometimes, especially if you notice that your kid has a very narrow upper jaw and it may be the upper front teeth not meeting each other, their face tends to be very narrow. You notice that they are breathing through the mouth a lot and their nose is always stuck, now this group of patients tends to develop some teeth alignment issues as they grow up.
What is the minimum age before getting Invisalign?
Invisalign has come up with this solution called "Invisalign first", so they just launched around somewhere last year. So that it’s a system tailored for younger children from age 7, at that age group sometimes we do see some conditions that we want to do some early treatment.
Can I use teeth aligners with pre-existing restoration?
Sure no problem at all. Basically, when we do aligners we are doing a digital scan of your teeth so if you have existing restoration, we are scanning your teeth according to the shape of the restoration, so it should not be an issue at all. In fact, it is easier for my restorative dentist to fix maybe tooth decay and things like that, during the treatment, in the case where you develop tooth decay or something because there is nothing joining your teeth together so they can easily perform any restoration during the course of treatment with aligners.
How do teeth aligners cause teeth movement?
Whether it is aligner or braces, it's all about force. We are applying force on the teeth to move the teeth in a certain direction, it is quite technical but aligners generally are good moving teeth backwards compared to braces which move teeth towards each other. That is why when you see an orthodontist for the treatment they say you need the wisdom teeth, we can use the wisdom teeth space to align your teeth to move it backwards.
How often do I have to go for follow-up visits for braces treatment and Invisalign?
Generally, for braces, we want to see them at an interval of 4-6 weeks, a maximum of 8 weeks. Invisalign we will keep about 6 to 8 weeks, you don’t need to see the dentist as often compared to having braces.
Can I get braces with a chipped tooth?
If you have knocked on the front tooth before, I think the most important thing is to establish the health of the tooth, any tooth that has been traumatized before there is a slightly increased chance of the tooth dying whether you are doing braces or Invisalign.