THE NATURAL APPROACH
W L
DENTISTRY
THE NATURAL APPROACH
BY RICHARD GIBSON
Richard Gibson, Principal of Wallasey Orthodontics and Consultant to Liverpool University Dental Hospital talks to us about dentistry.
Dentistry can be an emotive concept. For many people, it conjures up memories of childhood encounters and bank holiday problems. Much of this is related to how we’ ve viewed and used dental services over the last couple of hundred years, but also how dentists have been taught and practised.
For years, we were mostly reactionary and through volume of experience and demand, became very efficient at diagnosing and managing dental disease. There was the odd slightly strange nod to prevention in the history of dentistry – for example, the prophylactic extraction of teeth at adulthood to prevent future problems with tooth decay and to get used to dentures nice and early! Thankfully, the concept of prevention has developed and with our knowledge of dietary risk factors and scientific weight to support the use of preventative medicaments like fluoride, we are able to push the boundaries.
Today, we can afford to be more forward thinking and at my new patient consultations we can be aspirational in terms of the outcomes we aim to achieve. What would we like the smile to look like? And how do we achieve that by keeping the natural teeth in good condition?
As an orthodontist, I’ m concerned with the growth of the teeth, jaws and face. I use a variety of appliances to guide, develop and position the teeth to maximise their appearance alongside the support they offer to the lips and cheeks.
Orthodontics is proven to have a positive impact on emotional and social well-being in both adults and children. But is it for everybody? Well the answer is yes! If the teeth, gums and bone are in good health, braces can be used at any age to successfully improve the way the teeth look and work.
It’ s true that the majority of orthodontic treatment in the UK is carried out on teenagers. A recent systematic review conducted in Sheffield amalgamated evidence from several studies which allowed them to identify significant improvements in the oral health related quality of life( OHRQoL) of under 18’ s who had been through orthodontic treatment. The same gains are possible for adult patients as well, with the exception of growth.
In good health, adult teeth move predictably and reliably allowing correction of alignment, prominence, crowding and to either avoid the need for restorative dentistry or facilitate it to maximise outcomes. The advances in dental materials only serve to further open this avenue for adults who aren’ t prepared to compromise their teeth to achieve the perfect smile.
If you’ re invested, as we are, in maintaining your natural teeth but are unhappy with the way they look or work together – why not give a thought to orthodontics.
For more information on the types of treatment we offer or the results we can achieve, please visit our website www. wallaseyorthodontics. co. uk or the British Orthodontic Society’ s page www. bos. org. uk which has great sections for adults and children alike.
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