The In-Treatment-Presenting Posterior Crossbite
Pickles can be sweet, tart, bitter, or sour. “Dr. Chris, when do I get my braces off?” “Let’s look,” I say to the pretty teenage girl in the orthodontic chair. She has worn her elastics well, kept her plaque under control, and wants to be finished with orthodontics. Back to the beginning. The way it works is, an awful lot of young patients today want braces. Either their teeth and smile are not ‘Hollywood’ beautiful, OR all their friends have braces and they want them too. No matter, the two questions asked by these young people are,
Two Q’s with easy answers. “As soon as you get your records done, give me a few days, your mom and I can conference - sit down and review what’s going on with your growth, bones and teeth, then as soon as it’s ok with your parents.” And, “Yes.” Not many months later, sometimes only 4 or 5, the Q is more difficult to answer: “When do I get them off?” I formulate the answer from two areas of information. The first, I pick up the chart, and study the original treatment plan, with time estimate, goals, and steps of treatment planned, as well as look at the original or most recent pano. The second, I give the assistant status notes. She is charting the information, as to alignment and spacing, overbite, overjet, all teeth erupted and accounted for, canine relationship and molar relationship. And this pretty, sweet teenage girl is waiting expectantly for my answer, hoping it is some version of “Soon or very soon.” (She can always hope, can’t she?) On our treatment plan, the time estimate is on the same page as the parent’s signature. That can help them, because the child or parent notices the signature and hopefully familiar page, when I say, “Our estimate was in February to May next year,” though the eager patient is disappointed, they handle the un-hoped-for answer better. But - what if your estimated time is about now? And what about if the patient is looking pretty darn good? And what if, as you are calling off the status to the assistant, “alignment good, overbite 3, overjet 3, no spaces left, right molar and canine Class I, left molar” - UH OH!. You notice a lingual cross bite of the left six year molars. Your mind races. “Where did that come from? She’s about done, she and her mother want the braces off, and we have a crossbite. In this case, perhaps the lower molar is kicked out buccally a bit….” It’s a crossbite. Or, you have done Class II correction and distalized upper molars in reference to lowers, and the lower arch width is wider “back there”. What to do?? What options are there? Here are three for you:
Just sayin’.
Images and text © 2018 Dr Chris Baker
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Dr Chris BakerAmerica's most-trusted teacher of orthodontic continuing education, Dr. Chris Baker has practiced and taught for more than 30 years, and is a current or former faculty member of three U.S. dental schools. She is a pediatric dentist, author, blogger, dental practice consultant, and mentor. Dr. Chris is also Past President and Senior Instructor of the American Orthodontic Society. She is based in Texas, USA, but lectures around the world. Categories
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