Temporary Anchorage Devices | Soft Tissue Laser
Temporary Anchorage Devices
One of the many important advances in orthodontics has been the development of temporary anchorage devices, or TADs. Made of a bio-compatible titanium alloy, TADs are miniscrew anchors which are inserted into specific places in the mouth to be used as a fixed point from which teeth can move. Before TADs, orthodontists who wanted to move some teeth while keeping others still, or to achieve orthodontic movement in a mouth with missing teeth, had to rely on headgear for their fixed point. But TADs now provide an option for that fixed point that is smaller, more discrete, more efficient and requires significantly less work for the patient.
Temporary anchorage devices may not be recommended for everyone, and in fact, anchorage devices at all may not be needed in all cases. Contact us if you’d like to know more about TADs and how they can potentially prevent you from needing orthodontic headgear.
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Soft Tissue Laser
We use advanced lasers in our practice for soft tissue procedures. The lasers are narrow beams of light energy that can penetrate the tissue, producing the ability to vaporize, remove or shape soft tissues such as the gums, cheeks and tongue. This can be especially helpful in orthodontics when there are teeth that have yet to erupt from the gums that need to be moved to progress treatment. With these soft tissue lasers, we can quickly and comfortably remove the gum tissue around the tooth so that it can move into proper position.
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