Achieve straight teeth and jaws with our Central Coast orthodontics team.
Looking to achieve the perfect smile? At Advance Family Dental, we’re here to help with the latest orthodontic treatments on the market. Our dentists have spent many hours training in the art and science of orthodontics, so we can effectively treat both children and adults with all kinds of dental problems and concerns.
Our Central Coast orthodontics team can assess the current positioning of your teeth and jaws, then provide educated recommendations about the best treatment option for you.
Using state-of-the-art technologies, we will take x-rays and photographs of your teeth and jaws, then track the progress of your treatment over time. We can also make adjustments to your treatment to ensure we achieve your cosmetic goal in the end.
Let’s create the smile you’ve always wanted. Book an orthodontic assessment online now and we’ll discuss the right treatments to improve the look and health of your smile.
What is an orthodontist and what do they do?
An orthodontist is a dentist with additional masters degree training in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of dental and facial irregularities including misaligned teeth, uneven chewing, under or overbite, jaw pain. Orthodontists also specialise in facial growth, development, biology, and biomechanics.
Orthodontics is an overarching term for the treatment of dental or facial irregularities. A dentist may be able to perform some orthodontic procedures, but they are not classed as an orthodontist.
In Australia, there are two different types of dentist who may carry out orthodontic diagnoses, planning and treatments:
- Specialist orthodontists. These are dentists who have completed additional university masters level training specialising in orthodontics. This full time course completed over several years equips the orthodontist with the broadest and deepest knowledge and training in orthodontics, allowing them to treat a wide range of complex orthodontic problems.
In our practice, the most difficult orthodontic conditions are often referred to orthodontists because of their superior experience in treating difficult cases. - General dentists who also perform orthodontic treatments. General dentists can gain orthodontic qualifications through a variety of training from one weekend courses to multi year part time courses.
When there are so many orthodontic training options it can be difficult as a patient to judge the quality of training your prospective dentist has.
Among our Central Coast orthodontics team, our dentists have completed countless hours of postgraduate orthodontics training, with our dentists having completed one of the most world-renowned training programmes available to general dentists, a two-year part-time programme with extensive theoretical and practical training. [Name of the programme?]
This training coupled with continual updates and shorter training courses allows us to treat the vast majority of orthodontic problems. We have a great working relationship with local specialist orthodontists and often refer patients with complex or difficult treatment needs outside our scope of practice to them for specialist treatment.
A third orthodontic treatment option has recently emerged in the form of direct to public companies selling clear aligners. These services are often provided without any dentally qualified staff directly assessing the client and with a greatly reduced level of planning and diagnosis. The Australian dental profession looks very unfavourably on these providers due to the lack of professional monitoring of patients. What treatment supervision does occur is done remotely with photos via smartphone. Many problems would be impossible to detect in this manner, so it’s possible that incorrect movements and damage to teeth and gums may continue without detection.
