Visible Braces

From fixed to removable, from visible to invisible braces. Every smile has its own requirements. Also, every tooth and jaw misalignment has its own symptoms: from worsened oral hygiene, due to teeth that are too close together, to muscle tension, back pain, jaw joint discomfort and premature tooth loss due to overloading of the masticatory system. It is easy to find out which braces are most likely to lead to the best solution during a personal consultation.

However, the same applies to any correction of malocclusions: You have to stabilize the result permanently afterwards. For this purpose, either fixed retainers, i.e. thin wires that are not visible from the outside, are attached directly to the tooth on the tongue side, or removable retainers in the form of transparent splints that have to be worn at night.

Types of misalignments

Jaw misalignment: Is a discrepancy in position between the upper and lower jaws. Tooth misalignment: Is a misalignment of the teeth on the dental arch. Roughly we distinguish the following malocclusions: Forebite, backbite, open bite, deep bite, crowding and crossbite.

Visible fixed braces

These braces are divided into fixed - the classic braces with metal or ceramic brackets, which are individually glued to the teeth. The teeth are aligned by regularly changing a wire that is fixed in the brackets. Ceramic brackets have the advantage of being less visible:
In difficult cases, necessary especially for patients who suffer from severe aesthetic losses due to a strong forward or backward bite (i.e., very severe jaw misalignment), conventional fixed braces are not sufficient: with braces alone, only the teeth are aligned to the dental arch, but not the dental arches to each other. In order to align the upper and lower jaws, either surgical support or the so-called Multiple Edgewise Appliance according to Prof. Sato is required.

Success stories with visible, fixed braces

Modified SATO method

With the classical braces treatment according to Sato, difficult to treat malocclusions such as open bite, or strong forward or backward bite can be treated quite effectively with the use of a special wire and good cooperation (see picture gallery).

This method is named after Prof. Sadao Sato from Japan and has already saved many patients with severe malocclusions from surgical intervention.

In our office we have transferred the idea of the Sato method to modern treatment with invisible braces. This means the elimination of the multiple bent wire (MEAW- Multiloop Edgewise Appliance or loop wire), but still requires the consistent use of so-called elastics, which must be clamped between the upper and lower jaw in addition to the invisible splints.

This results in a so-called chewing plane tilt which causes a shift of the lower jaw to the upper jaw and thus leads to a correction of the jaw malposition. A large profile change, as is often typical in surgical-orthodontic cases, only takes place to a very limited extent and must be assessed individually. However, for patients who want an aesthetic profile or facial change, an oral and maxillofacial surgery would be recommended in addition to the shaping of the dental arches with braces.

Perfect cooperation of the patient is the most important condition for the implementation of the SATO method with invisible splints.

Success stories with the modified SATO method

Invisible Braces

Invisible braces offer an alternative to classic visible braces.
This refers to an almost invisible form of tooth correction: invisible braces in the form of transparent splints that are attached to the teeth. With these special aligners, almost all malocclusions can be corrected.

Success stories with invisible braces

Surgical intervention

In patients with extreme bite positions (open bite, mandibular recession or protrusion) with considerable esthetic and functional losses, so-called osteotomies are used. In this case, the upper and lower jaw teeth are brought into a perfect arch shape and the jaw bases are surgically placed in the correct position in relation to each other and in relation to the face. A significant profile change can also be observed at the end of treatment, which is expressly desired by some patients. This requires an operation under general anesthesia and a hospital stay.

Permanent stabilization

The following applies to any correction of malocclusions: The result must be permanently stabilized afterwards. For this purpose, either fixed retainers, i.e. thin wires that are not visible from the outside, are attached directly to the tooth on the tongue side, or removable retainers in the form of transparent splints that have to be worn at night.

Scanner Impression-free braces | Dr. Carina Wick

Braces without impressions

Gone are the days of cumbersome impressions.

YES WE SCAN... digital impressions are made with the help of an intraoral camera. This means that we scan the jaw arches to create a digital model which we can use to produce removable braces for children as well as invisible braces for adults, so-called aligners.

Especially for children or adults with a stronger gag reflex, this variant is usually more comfortable than the classic trays with impression material.