“Prevention is better than cure”
INTRODUCTION
- “Action taken to preserve integrity of what appears normal for that age.”
- Preventive orthodontics includes procedure undertaken prior to onset of malocclusion in anticipation of developing malocclusion.
- Most procedures are carried out in patients who are 3-12 years of age.
AIM
- Ensure normal growth & development of teeth & jaws.
- Prevent /reduce severity of malocclusion.
- Promote good oral habits & hygiene.
PROCEDURE
- Parent Education
- Education before birth of child
- Proper nursing & care of child
- Maintain good oral hygiene-method of brushing
- Use physiologic nipple & don’t use conventional nipple which do not permit suckling movements of tongue & lower jaw
- Caries Control
- Proximal caries if not restored leads to loss of arch length
- Care of Deciduous Dentition
- Preventive measures like: application of topical fluorides, pit & fissure sealants etc
- Management of Ankylosed Tooth
- Absence of PDL membrane –hence root do not resorb in deciduous tooth-diagnose such tooth & surgical removal of tooth for proper eruption of permanent tooth
- Maintenance of quadrant wise tooth shedding time table
- Delayed eruption may be due to a cause find the cause & treat according to it
- Checkup for oral habits & habit breaking appliance if necessary
- Occlusal equilibrium if there are any occlusal prematurities
- Deviation in mandibular path of closure & predispose to bruxism
- Premature contact removed by selective grinding is carried out
- Prevention of damage to occlusion
- Extraction of supernumerary teeth
- Supernumerary tooth can cause malocclusion, hence extraction of those tooth is needed
- Space maintainers
- Premature loss of deciduous tooth cause drifting of adjacent teeth, hence space maintainers are used to maintain space for making space for eruption and prevents drifting of tooth
- Management of deeply locked first permanent molars
- Occasionally deciduous 2nd molar may have prominent distal bulge it prevents eruption of 1st permanent molar
- Slicing these distal surface helps in guiding eruption of 1st permanent molars
- Management of abnormal frenal attachments
- Maxillary labial frenum –leads to midline diastema
- Ankyloglossia/tongue tie
- These causes speech &swallowing problems –treat it surgically