Oral health goes beyond cleaning teeth, filling cavities, or treating gum disease. While a dentist handles the essential care of your teeth and gums, certain treatments are outside their expertise.
An orthodontist specializes in correcting misaligned teeth and jaw issues, focusing on the structure and function of your bite. These two professions complement one another, but their roles are not interchangeable.
Understanding the unique treatments offered by an orthodontist helps you recognize when specialized care is necessary. Here are 5 treatments that an orthodontist offers but a dentist does not. Read on to find more!
Comprehensive Braces Treatment
Braces remain the most recognized orthodontic treatment, but their application and management are far beyond what a dentist can provide. While a dentist may address cosmetic concerns with veneers or bonding, they are not trained to systematically move teeth into alignment.
Braces correct deep-rooted alignment problems such as overcrowding, overbites, and crossbites. An orthodotist creates a treatment plan based on X-rays, molds, and digital scans of the teeth and jaw.
Braces consist of brackets, wires, and elastic bands that apply steady pressure, gradually shifting teeth into their proper positions. This process requires careful monitoring and frequent adjustments that only an orthodontist is trained to handle.
Clear Aligners and Advanced Appliances
Clear aligners, such as invisalign and other advanced systems, are designed and supervised by orthodontists. While a dentist may provide whitening trays or simple cosmetic appliances, aligner therapy involves detailed planning and continuous evaluation.
Each set of aligners is custom-made to gradually reposition teeth, and this process requires specialized knowledge of movement patterns that dentists do not typically possess.
Orthodontists use advanced software to map out the exact sequence of tooth movements. This planning ensures that aligners deliver precise and predictable results.
Jaw Growth Modification
Orthodontists specialize not only in moving teeth but also in guiding the growth and development of the jaw. Jaw growth modification is a unique area of orthodontics that dentists do not address. This treatment is especially important in younger patients, where the jaw is still developing.
Functional appliances such as headgear and mandibular advancement devices are commonly used in growth modification. These appliances apply controlled pressure to influence bone growth, ensuring the upper and lower jaws develop in harmony.
Surgical Orthodontics
In certain cases, orthodontic treatment alone cannot correct severe jaw irregularities. This is where surgical orthodontics, also called orthognathic surgery, becomes necessary. Surgical orthodontics is a highly specialized area that combines orthodontic expertise with oral surgery.
It’s a treatment pathway that goes beyond the scope of a dentist. Patients with extreme overbites or asymmetrical jaw structures may require surgery to achieve proper alignment. Orthodontists work closely with oral surgeons to prepare the teeth with braces that ensure they fit together correctly after the surgical adjustments.
Retainers and Long-Term Bite Stabilization
After orthodontic treatment, teeth have a natural tendency to shift back toward their original positions. Preventing this relapse requires retainers, a treatment uniquely designed and managed by orthodontists.
While a dentist may provide basic mouthguards or whitening trays, retainers serve a very different purpose and require careful planning to maintain results. Orthodontists create custom retainers based on the patient’s final tooth alignment, ensuring the bite remains stable after braces or aligners.