Orthodontics is a specialty branch of dentistry that diagnoses, prevents and treats crooked teeth and incompatible jaw relationships.

Why Do Orthodontic Problems Occur and How Are They Treated?

Jaw-related disorders (such as forward protruding lower jaw or abnormally small lower jaw) are often genetic. In this case, the treatment is planned considering the age of the patient. If the patient is adolescent and there is a problem in upper or lower jaw, it can be treated with orthodontic methods. If the patient is an adult, severe skeletal disorders are jointly managed by orthodontics and surgery. Jaw misalignments may arise out of functional disorders (such as mouth breathing). A patient who breathes through the mouth, upper jaw generally stays narrow and appears in V form.

Another cause of the crooked teeth is early or late loss of milk teeth. Each milk tooth falls at a specific time. For example, if a milk tooth that need to fall out at age of 10 years falls at the age of 8, the other teeth in the mouth will slide toward this gap, and the tooth that needs to erupt into this gap cannot find place. In this case, this tooth starts erupting in front of the or behind the curve of teeth or it may, sometimes, stay impacted.