Plan Ahead: Braces and Orthodontics Evaluations
An orthodontic evaluation allows Drs. Reyes and Pham to assess your child’s oral development. During the evaluation, our Toronto dental team will inspect your child’s teeth and gums, as well as the bones and muscles in your child’s mouth to evaluate the need for correction with the help of braces.
An orthodontic evaluation will also give you the ability to plan ahead for your child’s future dental needs, including clear or metal braces.
Invisalign Braces For Adults and Teens
Aligning your teeth makes them easier to clean, but it also has a huge impact on your appearance. As an Invisalign provider, North Shores Dental can help you straighten your teeth without having to resort to traditional brackets and wires.
Clear, removable Invisalign braces make it easier for you to keep your smile clean and avoid problems like tooth decay and gum disease. The advanced system uses removable plastic trays that are easy to care for and comfortable to wear. No one will ever have to know they’re there!
ClearCorrect Braces
ClearCorrect is a clear aligner system used to straighten teeth instead of using traditional metal braces. The system straightens teeth using custom-made, removable aligners that gradually move teeth over time to give you the smile you want.
Six Month Smiles
Want a straighter smile without spending 12 months or more wearing braces? Dr. Reyes and his associates at North Shores Dental can help you do just that with Six Month Smiles!
Metal Braces
Metal braces are still the most common type of braces for orthodontic patients. Modern metal braces are much more comfortable than ones worn in the past, as they’re flatter and smaller. Our dental team may recommend braces if you suffer from crooked teeth, crowded teeth, jaw problems or a misaligned bite.
Phase I and Phase II Orthodontic Treatments
If our dental team conducts your child’s orthodontic evaluation and concludes that treatment is necessary, we will complete it in a two-phase approach. Phase I is usually between the ages of 6 and 10, while they still have most of their primary teeth.
Our Toronto dentist may recommend expansion, an active retainer or partial braces as part of the Phase I treatment. The goal of Phase I is to better prepare your child’s jaws to make room for their permanent teeth and improve the relationship between their upper and lower jaws.
Phase II occurs dependant on your child’s growth. The goal of this phase is to make sure each tooth is located in the best location possible to function properly. Phase II usually involves full upper and lower braces for your child and will not begin until all of your child’s permanent teeth have erupted. Phase II treatment usually lasts for a minimum of 24 months depending on the individual needs of your child.
Space Maintainer
Your child might need a space maintainer if they lose a tooth early or have a baby tooth extracted. If your child needs a space maintainer, your dentist will custom make it to fit your child’s mouth. Its purpose is to keep the space where the baby tooth was lost open in order to allow the permanent tooth to come into place.
Baby teeth are vital to the healthy development of adult teeth, jawbones, muscles. Often, if a space maintainer is not used, your child’s other teeth can shift into the open space and future, more invasive orthodontic treatment might be needed.
Risks of Braces
Though risks and limitations of orthodontics are highly individualized and largely depend on the wearer's oral health routines, they do exist. Enamel wear, cavities and gum problems, root resorption, canker sores and ankylosis are possible, though the probability of occurrence is low. At North Shores Dental, and in the larger dental community, the risks are generally regarded as marginal and the benefits to outweigh them significantly.
Post Orthodontic Treatment
Caring for your smile after orthodontic treatment is a vital part of making sure your teeth don’t move after your orthodontic treatment.
This is a critical follow-up stage that usually involves wearing a retainer to prevent orthodontic relapse. At North Shoes Dental we offer several different types, all of which are custom-made to fit your smile.
Ready to take the next step toward creating your best and brightest smile? Call North Shores Dental in Toronto to schedule your appointment!
We offer our patients a variety of sedation dentistry options to help you complete your dental procedures in a more relaxed frame of mind.