Treatments
Common Treatments
The team at Grabowski Orthodontics are passionate about helping make great smiles. Meet the Grabowski team!
Your Teeth. Your Treatment.
The team at Dr. Kenneth Grabowski Orthodontics offers a number of common orthodontic treatments to its patients. Dr. Grabowski has more than 20 years of experience evaluating individual patients and prescribing individualized treatment plans to achieve and reveal the perfect smile!
Although each orthodontic treatment plan is specific to patient needs and desires, common treatment types used by Grabowski Orthodontics include:
For those unfamiliar with orthodontics or in need of a treatments refresher since their day in the exam chair, Grabowski Orthodontics provides an Orthodontic Dictionary as a resource.
Common Orthodontic Issues
No two patients have identical issues, but Dr. Grabowski has seen a number of common orthodontic issues over the years. These conditions are summarized below along with before and after images to demonstrate Dr. Grabowski’s expertise in achieving the perfect smile!
Sometimes teeth need extra help to align and fit within the mouth.
In this example, the patient started treatment at age 11 and wore braces for 26 months. He loves his new smile!
Extra space or gaps between teeth can cause discomfort and self-esteem issues.
This patient was bothered by the spaces between his teeth. Braces closed the spaces and gave him an ideal bite in 24 months. Special glued-in retainers help keep the spaces closed.
Overbites come in various forms.
At age 10, this patient had a big overbite with the top teeth protruding beyond the bottom. She had two phases of treatment. The first helped her jaws to grow more harmoniously; the second aligned her teeth and bite.
At age 13, she was proudly displaying her new smile.
This patient sucked her thumb as a young child and developed an openbite – a case in which the front teeth do not touch – as a result.
She started treatment at age 13. She had braces and a special appliance called a crib to retrain the tongue for 28 months. Now she can bite the lettuce out of a sandwich!
Occasionally, adult patients must undergo additional procedures to achieve the same result as children and teens due to delayed orthodontic care.
At age 25, this adult patient required braces and jaw surgery to correct his severe overbite. Treatment took 24 months. His problem could have been corrected without surgery if he had been treated before he was a teenager.
A misaligned bite pattern can cause pain and damage to the teeth.
This patient’s underbite was causing her jaw joint discomfort and creating excessive wear patterns on her teeth. After 30 months of treatment starting at age 32, she now finds smiling and chewing much easier!
Congenital and heredity factors can influence the need for orthodontic care.
This patient’s lateral incisors were missing since birth. She had braces for 20 months to move the teeth into the correct position, then the missing teeth were replaced with bonded “Maryland” bridges.
Sometimes the best course of action is a multi-phased treatment plan.
This patient’s parents were concerned about both aesthetics and the health of the erupting permanent teeth when they brought him to the orthodontist at age 8.
The lower front teeth were crowded and they touched the palate, and the upper front teeth were extremely displaced from their normal positions. After twenty months of
After 20 months of Phase I treatment with an expander and partial braces, the patient’s appearance and dental function was vastly improved.
Sometimes braces are not needed to get noticeable improvements in tooth alignment.
This patient was first seen at age seven for crowding of the lower permanent teeth. A procedure was performed to reduce the width of the adjacent baby teeth and the permanent incisors aligned on their own in nine months.
Treatment at any age
Dr. Grabowski and his team are professional smile makers treating children, teens, and adults. Dr. Grabowski combines new technology with extensive orthodontic experience to provide precise, effective orthodontics for patients of all ages.
Children
It’s best for Dr. Grabowski to see children by age 7 to advise if orthodontic treatment is required and it is the best time for that patient to be treated. The first permanent molars and incisors have usually come in by that time and crossbites, crowding, and other problems can be evaluated.
When treatment begins early, Dr. Grabowski can guide the growth of the jaw and guide incoming permanent teeth. Early treatment can also regulate the width of the upper and lower dental arches, gain space for permanent teeth, reduce the need for permanent tooth extractions, reduce the likelihood of impacted permanent teeth, correct thumb-sucking, and eliminate abnormal swallowing or speech problems.
In other words, early treatment can simplify later treatment.
Adults
Orthodontic treatment can be successful at any age and adults especially appreciate the benefits of a beautiful smile. One of every five patients in orthodontic treatment is over 21.
Adults also may have experienced some breakdown or loss of their teeth and bone that supports the teeth and may require periodontal treatment before, during, and/or after orthodontic treatment. Bone loss can also limit the amount and direction of tooth movement that is advisable.
Ready to take the next step towards your one-of-a-kind smile? Get to know more about our team and treatments today. Be sure to request an appointment, too!