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| Look at the way braces were
when our parents were kids and you will understand why so many more people
wear braces now than they used to. Instead of the brackets being
cemented on teeth, every tooth had bands around them. Look at how
thick the arch wires used to be. Now we have stronger and lighter
metals, ceramics and plastics so we don't need such heavy braces.
We want to thank the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research for letting us use these pictures from the About Faces exhibit shown at the Smithsonian Museum in 1998 |
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| The American Association of Orthodontics notes that "people are finding that todays high-tech materials are more comfortable. This is mostly due to the sophisticated engineering of the tooth moving wires developed through NASA and activated by body heat. They have increased tensil strength and flexibility which adds to their comfort and speeds up the treatment time. |
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Dr. Grove explained to us that orthodontics in Europe in the past was done by removable acrylic retainer like appliances. Now Europeans use the same braces as Americans plus retainers. Orthodontists in the United States learned what could be done with the removable retainers so we use these appliances too. Not nearly as many Europeans have braces as in the United States. They don't consider it as important, and that they are "just for looks" Visit our List of Appliances Page to see different types of retainer like devices. Dr. Grove just got a digital
x-ray machine (FDA approved 1998) but in use in Europe for 3 years)
for pan-o-ramic x-rays, cephalometric and TMJ images that are imediately
available for viewing on a computer. The x-ray machine uses sensors
instead of film. It emits 40% less radiation to the patient than
regular x-rays. The images can be changed. The images can be
put on floppy disks, sent by e-mail to other offices and printed.
The images can be downloaded to a software program called Quick Ceph to
create a treatment plan.
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| The American Association of
Orthodontists, called the AAO, estimates that more than 4
Million people in the United States and Canada
are wearing braces every year. The number of people is increasing
every year. Braces are much more comfortable now than they used to
be and there are many new designs in orthodontic appliances and braces.
We received some information collected by the AAO and put it in a bar graph to show you how the number of people with braces is growing. These statistics don't go past 1996. They found out about people over and under 18 years old. They need more research on the number of kids with braces but they think most people under 18 years old with braces are between 9 and 14. There is a big increase in the number of Adults with braces. We interviewed the librarian in our neighborhood and found out that she decided to get braces too when her kids went to the orthodontist. One of the teachers in our school has braces. If you look on the Celebrities Page, you'll see lots of celebrities who had braces as adults like the singer/actress Cher and the quarterback for the Greenbay Packers Brett Farve. |
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