[Orthodontic treatment in children and adults]

Orthodontics is concerned with the study of dental-maxillofacial development, and the analysis and treatment of anomalies in this development. The orthodontic approach commences with the monitoring of oro-facial functions as of the early stages of childhood (3 to 4 years). This first stage is chiefly preventative. Interceptive orthopaedic treatment is performed, if necessary, on young patients who have reached the mixed dentition stage. This treatment involves the use of fixed or removable braces to correct any irregularity in the maxillofacial development and dental malposition. The treatment for most dental malpositions commences as of the setting in of the secondary dentition (11 to 13 years). The movements of the teeth in the three precise spatial directions are defined with the use of fixed braces. Residual maxillary deformities (prognathism, retrognathism, laterognathism, etc.) are corrected at the end of the growth process or in adulthood through fixed orthodontic treatment combined with maxillofacial osteotomies. Adult patients are treated with the same fixed orthodontic techniques and according to a therapeutic protocol adapted to their specific dental or periodontal mutilations.