Dr. Snyder in Braces

HOORAY! The braces are off!!

2007-02-01T11:03:00.000-08:00

Dr. Snyder has been debanded! His treatment lasted 8 months. Dr. Snyder's temporary build-ups have made quite a difference and his smile sure looks nice!

Right and left buccal photo's

2007-01-31T11:53:00.000-08:00

Here are Dr. Snyder's final buccal photos taken on 1/25/2007. Dr. Snyder's teeth have settled and his bite is looking great!

Before and after

2007-01-31T11:45:00.000-08:00

These are the before and after photos of Dr. Snyder's smile. The first one was taken on 2/15/2006. One month after his braces came off, we took more photos. The second center photo was taken on 1/25/2007. Pay close attention to the size of Dr. Snyder's upper anterior teeth.

Side view of Dr. Snyders teeth.

2006-11-29T12:05:00.000-08:00

These pictures were also taken on 11/21/2006. They just give another look at how Dr. Snyders teeth fit together.

So close to getting his braces off!

2006-11-29T11:41:00.000-08:00

This is an update center photo of Dr. Snyder taken 11/21/2006. He is getting closer and closer to getting his braces off. As you look at the midline you'll notice that the midline is off just a bit, but the rest of Dr.'s teeth are starting to fit together beautifully. Once the fit is done and we take his braces off he will be getting Veneers on the upper anterior teeth. At the moment he has build-ups on so that when aligning the teeth he can get the best fit so that his veneers look good. He is quit pleased with the appearance of his teeth especially since his braces have been on for only 8 months.

Dr. Snyder getting his braces on

2006-09-19T10:38:00.000-07:00

This is Tracey placing Dr. Snyders braces on. I just wanted to show everybody what it looks like when we place the brackets on indirectly. Traceys fingers are holding the tray of brackets in his mouth that he had premeasured on the stone models of his teeth, so we could make the tray holding the brackets . First we polish the teeth, then we prepare each tooth of the arch we are working on with a blue gel that sits for 1 minute. While the teeth are being prepared we place an adhesive material on the brackets that are in the tray then we rinse the gel off of each individual tooth and then dry the teeth. After all that is done we place another adhesive material on the teeth and this allows the bonding material on the back of the brackets to stick to the teeth. Once all those steps are complete we place the tray in the mouth and hold it for 3 minutes. The last step that is completed with the tray being in the mouth is we cut the tray in half (right in the middle of the brackets where the slot is) and peel it off. This is how Dr. Snyder was able to get all his brackets on without holding a mirror up and try to measure each individual tooth in his mouth. That sounds pretty hard and time consuming, doesn't it?

Dr. Snyders build-ups

2006-08-30T12:29:00.000-07:00

After 5 months in his Suresmile wires and springs to create space Dr. Snyder was ready for his build-ups. Dr. Mark Nelson from Rosemount, MN had Dr. Snyder come in with his top wire out. The build-ups were able to be done with the braces still on. Dr. Nelson just worked around the braces and used bonding material to make Dr. Snyders teeth the appropriate size. To the left is a photo taken of Dr. Snyder before his braces went on and to the right is a photo with his braces on and the build-ups placed. Dr. Snyders future perfect smile is really starting to come along nicely.

2006-08-14T20:41:00.000-07:00

These are the doctors teeth just after the braces were placed and he was scanned for 3-D imaging…Now he will begin planning on the new positions of his teeth by utilizing the 3-D software created by Suresmile to virtually move his teeth….note all the tools at his disposal to optimize his final tooth positions…

With a simple click he can remove his braces from the virtual image…

With another click of his mouse he can measure the widths of all of the teeth and determine the ratio of tooth widths that will best fit with the lower teeth

With the zoom feature he can look close to the areas in need of decision making

once close to a final decision on the best fit he can compare his pretreatment braces positions (left) with his post treatment targeted positions (right)

Once he decides on a final set up of his teeth he has a virtual wire made to the final tooth positions (right screen). All this information is sent to the main office in Texas where the Robot will bend and manipulate the Dr.'s wires. This wire is a special wire made from material that is soft, it changes its properties upon cooling and warming of the wire, and it has shape memory…the wire is virtually superimposed on the original teeth on the left…Dr. Snyder can superimpose the wire to his orig inal teeth (left screen) note the displacements required to move his teeth to their final positions…

close up view of the displacements required to move his teeth in the very “crooked” area of his mouth

Dr. Snyder can virtually look at the wire from any direction…once he is happy with the set up and the wire he orders the robot to construct the wire to these precise dimensions…the wire is placed and away we go

Here is the robotically bent wire inserted on 3/9/06…note the springs present to begin ideal alignment of the upper anteriors for eventual build ups..

2006-08-02T20:30:00.000-07:00

The accurate 3-D images of Dr. Snyder's teeth are digitally scanned photos made possible by Suresmile.

These are Dr. Snyder’s teeth before treatment. Note that the midlines are off and his upper front teeth are small with spaces.

His models are made and his braces are ready to be put on. Note that when we made plaster models to evaluate his bite there is more to the problem than meets the eye…his lower jaw can assume more than one position where the side teeth do not fit very well in this position….this multiple jaw position permitted the drift of the midlines, the shift of the midline, and contributed to the spacing in the upper.

Note that the lower front teeth are also quite worn due to this bite issue.

Again there is more present than meets the eye…note how small the lateral incisor truly is and the rotation of the premolar due to the bite permitting tooth drift over time.

The wear on the lower teeth is likely due to his strong eastern European facial type…strong chin/strong lower jaw. With strong lower jaw and a bite jaw permitted to assume multiple positions he doesn’t have a true home for his bite, especially if he grinds or clenches teeth at night. With strong jaws and bite without a true home the tiny lower teeth can get hammered over time and even wear down to little nubs.

The SureSmile software permits this view which superimposed the exact 3-D replica of his teeth over the side X-Ray. This shows the other important problem as to why he is straightening his teeth….his strong lower jaw is due to genetics and in his case this facial type also has strong lip muscles…these lip muscles are a tight band in front of his upper front teeth. The muscles have uprighted or pulled back the upper front teeth putting them in harms way for the wear seen on the previous images.

FAQ's

2006-07-26T09:58:00.000-07:00

The most common questions that the public ask are “why are you straightening your teeth? I thought that they looked pretty good,” and “how are you doing this?” Most people are visualizing an intense orthodontist cranking on his own teeth in front of a mirror (which in fact, is wrong). The how and the why of his treatment give tremendous insight into the wonderful advances in the speciality of orthdonitcs in the past 5 years. These questions can be answered quite simply.

How?
Dr. Snyder takes pride in his method of braces placement for all patients, including himself. Once the staff makes accurate models of the teeth, Dr. Snyder places the braces directly on the model. Although this takes more lab time, this method permits Dr. Snyder time and access to place the braces as accurately as possible on each individual tooth. Once on the model, several laboratory steps occur for a rubber tray captures these exact positions. All of the braces are then transferred to the patient at one time. This process is extremely accurate and easy on the patient. Although advocated by some of the finest orthodontists in the world, this method is only done by a select few, likely due to the precision required by the team and the labartory expense. Nevertheless, this method has permitted Dr. Snyder to place braces in perfect positions on himself. The teeth are moved by a precisely-made wire off a computer model and he is off and running. This is technology at its finest!

Why?
The answer is simple: because he can! With the new technological advancement used in Dr. Snyder's office, the time that may seem like forever in braces is cut down. The new system called Suresmile, used in Dr. Snyder's office, is far more accurate and effieceint than anything Dr. Snyder has seen in his field in the past 19 years. He has finished over 125 patients and has seen his treatment times in braces drop by an astounding 37.5%. What was a 24 month treatment time has become, on average, 15 months. As he continues to refine this technique, he expects to see treatment times in braces drop below the 12 month mark.

Note the shortness of his upper front teeth due to wear. He has a strong lower jaw in a forward position that carries his lower teeth forward. The teeth are more prone to wear in a more forward position. Next his lateral insicors are small with asymmetric spacing. Finally his midlines are way off due to some asymmetries in the back bite. All in all, his bite is off and he has small front teeth which doesn’t fit well with a strong (big) lower jaw.

He only went into braces because he can finally treat himself …today’s technology has made such vast improvements that Dr. Snyder is able to have his teeth scanned to generate a 3-D computer model of his teeth. He then moves the teeth virtually to their final positions and has a robot bend an orthdodontic wire that has properties of shape memory and fabulous elasiticy. These wires are inserted by his staff and away we go!!!