Care for the crooked

INTERVENE BEFORE YOUR CHILD’S TEETH BECOME MAL-ALIGNED OR CROOKED

Orthodontics means straightening of teeth. It is the treatment required when one has crooked set of teeth or mismatch in the size or position of jaws. Most common causes of malocclusion/crooked teeth are genetic inheritance, early or delayed loss of milk teeth, few habits like thumb sucking, lip sucking, tongue thrusting and so on and so forth.
According to Dr (Prof) Keval Shah, Founder of Fine Feather Dental Clinics, the general perception about the crooked teeth only affecting the smile, appearance and self-esteem of the person is just a halftruth.The mal-aligned or crooked teeth causes much more damage to the overall dental health, in the sense the way teeth come together during chewing, the transfer of chewing forces to the teeth and bone, the health of the gums around the teeth and also the cleaning of the teeth becomes a problem. All these lead to a myriad of problems that can be avoided by having a harmonious set of teeth.
The old adage was to let all the permanent teeth erupt and then correct the mal-alignment. However, the new school of thought propagates early detection and timely interception for overall improvement in facial growth, function and smile in totality.This new trend is called as “Interceptive Orthodontics”.
The problem with old school of thought was, it was teeth centric and did not take into account, the growth of the jaws and the overall health of the oral cavity. Another drawback was that, as one would wait for all the permanent teeth to erupt before starting the treatment, the patient would have reached a stage whereby one cannot influence the growth of the jaws to compensate for the mismatch in size of the teeth and jaws. As a result, to align the teeth, the Orthodontist would have to extract the sound, normal teeth and create space for the alignment. However, in case of Interceptive Orthodontics which can usually be started from the age of 7 to 8 years, one can influence the growth of the jaws and thereby increase or decrease the space as required for alignment of teeth.Thus timely intervention can save the normal sound teeth from being extracted. Also, the overall facial proportions can be remodeled to give a more aesthetic and pleasant appearance.
The Orthodontics specialist team at Fine Feather Dental Clinics has been using various interceptive Orthodontic techniques on children who are likely to have crooked teeth when they turn 12 – 14 years of age. The team has been using twin block appliance for jaw lengthening, blue grass appliance for habit breaking, rapid palatal expansion appliance for arch expansion etc, in various patients.
If your child has habits such as thumb sucking / tongue thrusting, improper jaw growth, or extraordinarily bigger teeth size, you should consult Orthodontists who practise Interceptive Orthodontics. Interceptive Orthodontics will either eliminate the need for wearing braces or shorten the duration for which a child will have to wear the braces.

Speciality: Diagnosis and Oral Medicine and Radiology

Another important aspect of this changing dental scenario in Gujarat/ India is the increase in demand for cosmetic dentistry. More & more people are opting for procedures like teeth whitening, smile designing, smile make-overs & other such cosmetic dental procedures to look more youthful & have a charming smile. Whiter, brighter & beautiful smile is an important feature of one’s personality.

Thus a dentist is no longer looked upon as someone who relieves your tooth ache or removes your wisdom tooth but someone who makes your teeth straight(Orthodontic treatment by Orthodontist) or someone brings smile on your face & if you don’t have a good smile, don’t worry, he can make one that’s just right for you.

“WISH YOU HAPPY DENTISTRY”

The incidence of dental caries (tooth decay) amongst children is on the rise due to multiple reasons such as change in the diet patterns as well as negligence towards the oral care and lack of awareness and motivation for the same. On the other hand, dental caries is definitely preventable. A number of preventive as well as treatment strategies are available in the modern times to deal with tooth decay.

Very few parents are aware of the fact that their child’s first dental visit should be no later than his/her first birthday. Unfortunately, most parents approach the dentist only when their child suffers from toothache. Even more disappointing is the wrong belief of majority of the mass that decay in deciduous teeth need not be treated as they are supposed to exfoliate (fall off) sooner or later. Deciduous teeth are very important to be preserved till the permanent teeth erupt. When the deciduous teeth decay or exfoliate earlier than usual, it may result in lack of space in future for eruption of permanent teeth which is to occupy its place. This may lead to malaligned teeth and subsequent need for straightening of teeth (orthodontic treatment). Moresoever, any child who has habits like thumb sucking (beyond a certain age), mouth breathing or tongue thrusting may develop proclined (forwardly placed) front teeth/malaligned teeth and require teeth straightening treatment later. This scenario can be corrected in the making by a pedodontist by intercepting the habit. A pediatric dentist also specializes in treatment of children with special health care needs such as visually impaired child, autistic child, child with speech or hearing impairment and even the mentally challenged child.

The basic reason for the need of a specialist for treating children is the child’s mental set up, that has a fear of unknown as its inherent part. Often the parents are also afraid of the dental visit and they unknowingly instill the same fear in their children. More often than not, dental procedures involve some discomfort on the part of the patient. But when undertaken in a well equipped set up by a well trained dentist, dental treatment can be totally pain free. On the same lines, a pedodontist is trained to modify and manage the behavior of the child to the better by communicating and informing the child about the procedures so that both the parent and the child may experience an easy and a comfortable dental visit. Very young children and those who cannot cooperate despite multiple efforts have the option of undergoing dental treatment under sleepy effects of medications or general anaesthesia.

• Reception area
• Infection control
• Radiation Safety
• Transparent and Ethical treatments

 Reception area

The first thing one should notice when he/she visits a dental clinic is whether the reception area is neat and clean or not. It should not have a cluttered look. The waiting area should give homely and plush feel so as to make one comfortable and allay his/her anxiety. This is important as it might indicate the level of cleanliness, hygiene and care one might experience later on.

Infection control

Infection control is very important when one visits any medical or dental clinic, as no one likes to take home others infections. This is all the more important as some of the communicable diseases like HIV or Hepatitis are life threatening. One should not let the dental surgeon touch him/her without a pair of gloves and a face mask. The instruments to be used should be sterilized i.e. they should be stored in a sterilized pouch & opened only in front of patient. The areas on the dental chair that are frequently touched in between the patients should have disposable barriers to prevent cross-contamination. The patient should observe and immediately comment if the dental surgeon touches the contaminated surfaces & then again without changing gloves, touches the patient. The assistant helping beside the chair should also be wearing gloves & face mask.

Radiation safety

The patient should inquire whether the x-rays are being taken with an A.C X-ray machine or D.C. X-ray machine. This is important as A.C. X-ray machines generate low intensity X-rays requiring more exposure and also the secondary radiation by such low intensity  X-rays can get accumulated in the body and cause harm. The patient should also inquire whether the clinic is using digital X-rays or conventional X-rays, since digital X-rays reduce the exposure time by about 90% causing less harm to the patient.

Transparency in cost and ethical treatments

The patient should demand a written/printed treatment plan with charges up-front, so that he/she is aware about the total cost to be incurred by him/her. The patient should also be shown the x-rays & images of the problem on the screen.

The patient should be explained the treatment plan in detail with all possible complications if any. The patient should ask for videos/images of similar cases to assess whether he/she is being given a realistic post-treatment outcome.

The most important element one should look for is the trust that the doctor generates. Transparent charges and ethical treatment is what is difficult to get. These are some of the few consideration kept in mind while a visiting a clinic or hospital.

Specialty: Diagnosis and Oral Medicine and Radiology

In his previous Avatar, Manish was a Technology execute, who has worked at various companies such as Charles Schwab - A fortune 500 company, ProactiveNet(Now a part of BMC) - a silicon valley start-up,Tibco - a silicon valley start-up and Visa International primarily located in San Francisco Bay Area, USA. Manish loves playing Badminton, Swimming and reading. Manish is driven by urge to create a new business that touches life of millions of people.

Founding Director

In his previous role, Manish was a Material Scientist working in Techno-Commercial and product development. Manish has worked with General Electric, Bangalore and Brewer Science, Missouri, USA . In his free time, Manish loves to crunch numbers and play with financial models.  Manish has vision of creating world-class health infrastructure in India.