Teeth that are crooked are difficult to keep clean, do not take their share of the biting load and may be unsightly. Minor tooth movement may correct these problems and create a healthy environment. In some cases, orthodontically moving a tooth may actually reduce a pocket depth and lessen the need for periodontal surgery. Using another orthodontic technique, forced tooth eruption, teeth will decay near the bone and may be extruded so the decay is visible, helping preserve a cosmetic result by reducing the need for bone recontouring. Generally these small orthodontics procedures take only a few months to complete.

A new method for patients who would have declined conventional orthodontics strictly due to the length of treatment now is a viable alternative. Wilckodontics is a combination of orthodontics and periodontics and is an accelerated osteogenic orthodontic procedure.

The procedure is feasible for most patients, as long as their permanent teeth are present. Wilckodontics utilizes the physiology of bone and redirects the emphasis of tooth movement to the supporting bone which responds to orthodontic forces rather than concentrating on the forces applied to the teeth.

By stimulating the innate potentials of living bone, through bone grafting, the teeth can be made more mobile and move through the bone very rapidly. When the tooth movement is completed the bone around the roots of the teeth will rebuild itself. Therefore the time in braces can be reduced to 7-10 months.

Sometimes certain teeth, like canines, fail to erupt into a patient’s natural dentition. We work in conjunction with an orthodontist to surgically expose this tooth, facilitating orthodontic movement and speeding up completion of treatment through braces.

Canines may not erupt into place due to a variety of reasons.  The canine erupts downward and forward from its origin in the upper jaw.  When this pathway is blocked by an existing tooth, the canine becomes impacted on the root of the existing lateral incisor.  Other times, the bone does not properly remodel as the canine advances, leaving it buried under gum tissue and bone.

A canine exposure is performed to remove any bone or gum tissue that hinders the canine from properly erupting.  The area is anesthetized, then a small incision is made over the position of the tooth.  The gum tissue is reflected to visualize the tooth.  Any bone that is blocking the pathway of eruption is then removed to expose the crown of the canine.  An bracket may or may not be bonded to the tooth at the time of surgery, depending on the nature of the impaction.  This area is allowed to heal for 2-3 weeks, at which time the patient can then return to their orthodontist to continue treatment to move the to into the correct position.

The Orthodontic Temporary Anchorage Device (TAD) is a miniature screw that is temporarily fixed to the bone to accomplish difficult tooth movement. In certain cases, TAD’s may reduce treatment time or provide an alternative to surgical correction or implants. Once orthodontics treatment is completed the TAD is removed. the placement and removal of a TAD is a short, simple prcocedure with very minor discomfort afterwards.