ABSTRACT
@#Dental quackery has been a problem for decades and is becoming a major concern in many countries, including Malaysia. Recent development of a new service offered by quacks in Malaysia is “fake braces”, which alarmed dental professionals. The fake braces appear similar to the professionally fitted orthodontic appliances comprising of archwires that are secured on brackets by coloured ligatures except they are fitted by unqualified individuals who have no formal clinical training. In addition, the orthodontic materials and dental equipment used for this illegal service were substandard and unregulated. Therefore, such fitted appliances are harmful to the teeth and oral health. Efforts to record the extent of fake braces practice and its oral health consequences have been challenging as they are marketed through the social media, and the victims were either reluctant to come forward or did not know the appropriate channel to file a complaint to the health authority. This is an expert opinion paper with the aims to highlight typical presentation of fake braces, modus operandi of fake braces providers, the harmful effects of fake braces on the patient’s oral health, the role of social media advertising in promoting fake braces, and the impacts to the illegal providers.
ABSTRACT
@#Fixed functional appliances are non-compliance dependent devices, which can assist the correction of Class II malocclusion. The mechanics of the fixed functional appliances may vary depending on the type of device used. We report the observed biomechanical effects of using the ForsusTM Fatigue Resistant Device (FRD) fixed functional appliance. The patient was a 14-year-old female presented with a Class II division I malocclusion on a Class II skeletal base. The malocclusion was complicated by a 10mm overjet and increased traumatic overbite. She was treated with the ForsusTM FRD appliance worn for 5 months after the alignment with fixed appliances (0.022” X0.028” MBT prescriptions) and finished on a non-extraction base. Dento-alveolar changes were the main contribution to the correction of the malocclusion and simultaneously improved the patient’s profile in the end of treatment. In conclusion, ForsusTM FRD appliance can be suggested to effectively correct Class II malocclusion.
ABSTRACT
@#This report aimed to describe an effective biomechanics to control the upper incisors inclination during the correction of gummy smile with bimaxillary proclinations. A 14-year-old female presented with a Class II division I incisor relationship complicated with bimaxillary proclination on a Class 2 skeletal base. The lips were incompetent, showing 7 mm of upper incisors at rest and 5mm maxillary gingival display on smiling with normal upper lip length. Treatment involved extraction of all first permanent premolars followed by upper and lower fixed appliances. Intrusion of the upper incisors with controlled labial crown torque was accomplished with mini-implant anchorage placed bilaterally on the infrazygomatic crests with the retraction forces above the centre of resistance using 0.019x0.025-in stainless steel archwire in 0.022-in slot. The 0.019x0.025-in stainless steel archwire in 0.022-in slot provided the vertical play to favour lingual crown tipping despite having forces above the centre of resistance for concurrent anterior segment intrusion.