Orthodontics

The decision to undergo orthodontic treatment can greatly improve the appearance of your smile, oral health, and self-confidence. For patients with over and under bites, crooked teeth, or overcrowding, traditional braces are for you. Whether your case is moderate or severe, you can rest assured that our dentist can provide you with the highest level of orthodontic care possible to provide you with a smile you will love.

Dr. Darren Tkach is a Certified Specialist in Orthodontics and visits our office on a regular basis to provide comprehensive orthodontic treatment to patients in our area. Whether you or your child requires early intervention, full treatment, limited or single arch treatment, or retainers, Dr. Tkach will be able to help you. Orthodontics is used to correct issues related to crowding, spacing, or missing teeth. Bite issues such as an overbite, overjet, open bite, deep bite, or a cross bite can all be corrected with orthodontic treatment.



Dr. Tkach also has a full-time practice in Lethbridge - Downtown Orthodontics

Typically, for patients who require serious correction, wire braces are recommended since they can carry the necessary force to drastically shift teeth into proper alignment. However, for more discreet treatment, we may suggest ceramic braces or clear aligners, depending on your individual needs. The greatest advantages for most patients is that braces can transform their smile, restore their self-confidence, improve their appearance, and offer many oral health benefits. By correcting crooked, overlapping, and crowded teeth, you can brush and floss more efficiently, chew more easily, and smile more confidently. As your bite becomes properly aligned, it can also relieve tension on your jaw which often causes pain if your teeth are not properly aligned.

To begin treatment, we attach brackets to the front of each tooth. Rubber bands are then wrapped around the brackets to place tension on your teeth. Finally, a metal wire is inserted to connect the brackets. Together these pieces shift and guide your teeth into proper alignment. Once your treatment goals have been met, your braces can be removed. You are then provided with a retainer which should be worn regularly to prevent your teeth from shifting out of place. Wearing your retainer as recommended is especially critical in the first few months after removal of your braces, since the hard and soft tissues supporting your teeth are not yet stabilized. Typically, you can reduce the frequency of how often you wear your retainer over time, eventually only wearing it at night or a few times each week.

Overcrowding

Overcrowding is quite common in children as they begin to loose their baby teeth and their adult teeth start coming in. Because adult teeth are quite a bit larger than baby teeth, and because a child's jaw is still growing, extractions due to overcrowding are quite common, especially when it's coupled with orthodontic treatment. Everyone wants a straight, perfect smile. Unfortunately, only a select few are born with the perfect smile genes, the rest of us need a bit of help to get there. Luckily, we help all those in need for a dental extraction, should your case call for it. Our goal is to evaluate all patients and determine the best course of action. Children's cases can be slightly more complex than adults because a child is still growing, so we need to monitor their progress before any drastic steps are taken.