Can Your Dentist Provide Braces or Orthodontic Care?

Dentists and orthodontists are both doctors who receive training and qualification in dentistry. Both professionals learn all aspects of dentistry during their time in dental school. Dentists are not orthodontists, but three percent of all dentists are orthodontists. Orthodontics is a department of dentistry specializing in diagnosing malocclusion and problems of alignment of the teeth and jaw. Professionals specializing in orthodontics spend another two to three years in a residency program learning about treating conditions leaving people with a bad bite and crooked teeth.

Although dentists are not orthodontists, they provide braces and orthodontic care for people that need them. Dentists either learn from fellow orthodontists how to treat patients with crooked teeth or a bad bite. In many cases, dentists refer patients to orthodontists if they cannot manage the situation themselves. Therefore if you need braces and orthodontic care, you can rely on your dentist’s knowledge and experience to obtain the treatment confidently from them.

If Dentists Are Not Orthodontists, How Can They Provide Appropriate Care?

As mentioned earlier, if dentists feel they cannot provide adequate care as needed by you, they give a referral to an orthodontist better equipped to manage complicated problems. The statement we make holds even to this day.

Dentists do not feel let down when they refer you to an orthodontist for treatment with metal brackets and wires to correct your dental imperfections whenever they are complicated. Dentists care for your oral health and will do everything necessary to ensure you receive the most suitable treatment from an experienced professional. However, if they cannot provide adequate care, they use the next best option available to them and refer you to an orthodontist for the treatment.

Don’t Dentists Feel They Are on the Losing Side When Referring Patients to Orthodontists?

Dentists feeling they are on the losing side when referring patients to orthodontists does not arise in present times. In the late 90s, a manufacturer called Align Technologies introduced clear aligners as an alternative method of straightening teeth without metal and wire braces. After that, many other manufacturers also developed clear aligners for straightening uncomplicated issues of orthodontic problems.

The aligners themselves did not make orthodontists out of dentists. Instead, it was a strategy of the manufacturers of alternative treatments that allowed dentists to provide orthodontic treatment even from cosmetic dentistry facilities. The manufacturers of the aligners invested time and money in training dentists in the know-how to provide orthodontic care without traditional braces.

Alternative methods of straightening teeth are discreet because dental-grade clear plastic helps make the aligners. If you are affected by mild to moderate problems with underbites, overbites, crossbites, open bites, gaps between your teeth, overcrowded teeth, or crooked teeth, you can confidently approach a cosmetic dentistry facility requesting the treatment.

The treatment with clear aligners is faster and comfortable because the aligners are removable for eating the foods you love, brushing and flossing your teeth, and socializing without the embarrassment of having traditional braces over your teeth. Orthodontic care provided by dentists does not require you to schedule appointments every month for adjustments and tightening of the braces. The clear aligners are created for use merely for three weeks, after which you receive replacements for them. You must visit the dentist treating you every six to eight weeks to assess your progress and to collect the new batch of aligners.

The alternatives for braces have revolutionized orthodontic treatment making it easier even for adults to seek orthodontic care from dentists without the fear of a mouthful of metal haunting for three years or more. As the alternatives are removable, the treatment from dentists also made it easier for people to maintain appropriate oral hygiene without being concerned about tooth decay and gum disease affecting them at the end of the treatment. If you are considered suitable for orthodontic treatment from your dentist, you must adhere to the professionals in sections and keep the aligners over your teeth for 20 to 22 hours every day. Any compromise with the timeline will delay the treatment time and may not deliver the desired results.

Dentists authorized as certified providers of the clear aligners are undoubtedly providing braces without metal wires and orthodontic care associated with them, helping you straighten your teeth. So long as you don’t have a complicated issue in your mouth, you can confidently approach your dentist for orthodontic treatment with clear aligners. As a result, you can have beautiful teeth and a straighter smile in approximately 18 to 24 months without undergoing the hassles of worrying about tooth decay and gum disease.