Abstract
There is a wide range of opinions on the best time to start orthodontic treatment but the vast majority is carried out on children who have lost all their baby (deciduous) teeth and have most of their adult teeth (except for wisdom teeth) present in the mouth. Stability of orthodontic discrepancy is one of the most important factors that determine when start orthodontic treatment of the dentofacial deformaties. This paper threw light on stability of orthodontic discrepancy, its classification, comparing between stable versus unstable orthodontic discrepancy and its impact on the timing of orthodontic treatment.
Highlights
Orthodontic treatment should be in harmony with modern medical thought: “It is better to prevent than to cure”
Orthodontists can accurately discern which discrepancies would benefit from early treatment and not fall into the trap of indiscriminately treating every patient they examine during the mixed dentition stage [1]
1) Stable Orthodontic Discrepancy: Spacing between teeth is one of the examples that demonstrates a type of orthodontic discrepancy which is considered stable as it doesn’t worsen by time especially if there is good interdigitation with horizontal growth pattern, the similar situation is in the mild displacement of contact points between teeth which is another type of orthodontic discrepancy as it is the least demanded for orthodontic treatment as shown in (Figure 3, Figure 8 and Figure 9)
Summary
Orthodontic treatment should be in harmony with modern medical thought: “It is better to prevent than to cure”. When a moderate skeletal discrepancy exists and there is no potential for further growth (or if more change is required than can be accomplished through growth modification alone), orthodontic camouflage should be considered. Extraction of some teeth will usually be required so that enough space in the arch can be created to allow significant movement of other teeth Such treatment cannot be considered successful if it results in a reasonable dental occlusion at the expense of facial esthetics. One answer to the question of “When is a problem too severe for orthodontic treatment only?” is “When the combination of tooth movement and growth modification does not have the potential to bring the patient to normal occlusion.”. In the non-growing patient, if the malocclusion is too severe to be treated with camouflage orthodontic tooth movement, a surgical treatment plan should be implemented to obtain a reasonable result. This paper is concerned with stability nature and the classifying type of orthodontic discrepancy which is the corner stone for successful communication and illustration for orthodontic patients regarding the sharing decision whether to start treatment or later
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