Everyone wants a beautiful & of course a healthy smile. Orthodontics is the branch of dentistry, that achieves both by correcting irregular, crowded or improperly placed teeth. It is the science that aims at diagnosis, prevention and treatment of dental & facial irregularities for maintaining structural balance, for restoring functional efficiency and for achieving aesthetic harmony. The practice of orthodontics requires professional skill to design & use braces (corrective appliances) to bring teeth, lips and jaw into proper alignment. The word orthodontics is derived from Greek words "Orthos" meaning correct, "dons" meaning tooth.

Need For Orthodontic Treatment
There are various reasons, why one needs to undergo orthodontic treatment. Most important being medical illness, which follow due to difficulty in cleaning & maintaining crooked and crowded teeth. This may contribute to conditions, which cause not only dental caries, but eventual gum disease & tooth loss at an early age.
    Second most important aspect is that, the children who are having "malocclusions" (a technical term for irregular teeth) may be subjected to ridicule by other children, which may interfere with psychological development of the child.
    Finally the importance of an attractive smile should no be underestimated in this new era, which emphasizes on the best looks & designer clothing, then why not have a "designer smile" – sounds great, isn’t it? Anyway, the bottom line is pleasing appearance which is vital asset to one’s self- confidence. A person’s self-esteem often improves as treatment brings teeth, lips and face into harmony. In this way orthodontic treatment can be beneficial to social and career success as well improve one’s general attitude towards life and the quality of life itself.

Irregularities in occlusion before treatment(fig 1)


Ideal occlusion after treatment(fig 2)



Last updated on 24-04-2001