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Thursday, September 2, 2010

ENT and Orthodontics???


This may sound like an odd combination, but should your child primarily use their mouth for breathing your Orthodontist may advise that you take your child for an evaluation with an ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat) doctor. Mouth breathing can influence how the teeth develop.

Breath to humans is as similar in necessity as sunlight to a tree. But, if a tree receives sunlight from only one direction, the trunk and branches grow toward the light source, and the tree will become permanently deformed. If a child is unable to maintain a consistent, healthy nasal airway, the body will automatically program the system to take breaths through the mouth. Whenever a child cannot breathe through the nose, a mouth-breathing mode of breathing occurs.

When the change is made from nasal to mouth breathing some unhealthy things can occur:
~ Chronic middle ear infections
~ Sinusitis
~ Upper airway infections
~ Decrease in oxygen intake into the lungs, which can lead to lack of energy
~ Abnormal swallowing pattern

In adapting the mouth for breathing, two basic changes takes place; the upper lip is raised and the lower jaw is maintained in an open posture. The tongue, which is normally placed near the roof of the mouth, drops to the floor of the mouth and protrudes to allow a greater flow of air into the back of the throat. This alters the normal muscular activity of the face and jaw during critical developing years.

The largest increments of growth occur during the earliest years of life. By age four, the facial skeleton has reached 60% of its adult size, and by 12, when most parents think of orthodontic treatment, 90% of facial growth has already occurred. Consequently, if a child has chronic untreated nasal obstruction during the early critical growing years, facial deformities result... some subtle, some more noticeable.

We CAN help influence proper facial growth and maximize quality of life for a child. How your child breathe should not be taken for granted. When parents take early orthodontic action, not only can the existing problems be corrected, the physical and emotional pain the child may experience is prevented.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Tools for a Healthy Smile:

~ Limit snacking to less than three episodes a day

~ Offer your child a nutritious, balanced diet that includes a variety of foods to give their body all the nutrients it needs

~ Remind them to brush thoroughly twice a day with fluoride toothpaste and clean between teeth with floss or inter-dental cleaner once a day to remove plaque

~ Make sure you child has regular dental checkups and teeth cleanings

~ If teeth are crowded, crooked or overlapping it is harder to clean between the teeth resulting in increased chance of decay. Straight teeth are not just for looks but for good health as well. Therefore....

~ Have your child evaluated by an Orthodontist between the ages of 7 and 9 as recommended by the American Association of Orthodontists (www.braces.org)...timely intervention may provide advantages that are not available later.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Do You Like Your Smile ?

It seems like an easy question. How many of you are truly 100% satisfied with the smile you face the world with? Beautiful, healthy smiles are only the most obvious benefit of orthodontics. Another outcome--increased self-confidence--may be less evident. But orthodontics can be credited for dramatic improvements in the careers and personal relationships of millions of people in the United States according to the American Association of Orthodontists (AAO).

the aesthetics of your smile has a tremendous effect on the perception others have about you, and even affects our outlook about ourselves. There are several key compon
ents to a dazzling smile; it is a mixture of personal appeal, a healthy appearance of the teeth and face, and a positive outlook that comes from within the individual. In a recent survey by Harris Interactive, the following results were found concerning smiles:
*94% said that a smile is the first thing they notice when meeting someone.
*71% believe people with a nice smile make friends more easily then people with crooked teeth.
*75% of adults believe that an attractive smile is important for succeeding at the workplace.
*45% believe that bad teeth are a sign of bad personal hygiene.
*Over 1/3 of people polled agree that bad teeth overshadow the rest of a person's appearance.
*86% think people with good teeth are more attractive to the opposite sex.

The photos below are an outstanding example of the tremendous impact orthodontics can have on your smile, and your life. This patient start
ed treatment at 21 and finished a little more than a year and a half later with an entirely different smile, face and attitude.











Whether you are a teenage boy competing in high school, a college graduate about to begin your professional career, a young executive striving to establish your position in the business world, a young mother attempting to create an ideal image of your children, a child standing on the threshold of a lifetime or whether you are a grandmother who is enjoying a senior position of respect and dignity within the family circle...a beautiful, healthy smile translates into happiness, invites communication, and opens the doors to success and fulfillment. At Bhatia Orthodontics we believe that a warm smile is the universal language of kindness and so our credo is "Building kindness...one smile at a time!"

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Why Age 7 ???

Your child should have their first orthodontic screening between the ages of 7 and 9. At this time a panoramic x-ray will be taken to allow us to see if the child is crowded or not. If the child is not crowded we will continue to monitor their growth and once their permanent teeth have exfoliated we will begin traditional braces to better align the teeth. Should the child be crowded we are able to intervene and treat the patient without having to remove permanent teeth and a more aesthetic and stable result is accomplished.

You might be wondering how we are able to achieve this with crowding. What the x-ray shows us is the bone size is smaller than what is required by all the permanent teeth. Fitting all the permanent teeth onto the bone requires increasing the size of the bone. This orthopedic change requires a degree of force to the bone that braces alone cannot do. This may sound frightening, but it is a simple appliance placed on the roof of the mouth attached to the molars. In the middle of the appliance is a small jack-screw that will gradually be turned over time prescribed by the orthodontist to accumulate the space required for the permanent teeth. Braces can only tip the teeth out to make space, but in order to have a stable bite it is necessary for the teeth to sit as close to the middle of the bone as possible. Extractions of permanent teeth to resolve the crowding can be avoided by increasing the total width of the bone with an Expander. Studies have shown that treatment with an Expander, in addition to braces, results in a significantly favorable long-term increases in upper and lower arch measurements.