抄録
In clinical practice, we encounter many patients with various degrees of malalignment.
Malalignment causes impaired perfusion of saliva, inappropriate physical stimulation by the cheeks and tongue, food retention, or difficulty in oral cleansing, resulting in dental caries and periodontal diseases.
Depending on the degree of malalignment, problems arise in terms of mastication, talking, aesthetics, and function. In addition, shift in the intercuspal position and the centric position is observed in many patients, making the mandibular position unstable.
In the repair of malalignment in adult patients, active use of orthodontic treatment under appropriate conditions of the patient is useful for attaining a more stable intercuspal position and a stable mandibular position and also facilitates repair. A stable state can be maintained for long years.
However, since growth of the jaw bone has been completed in adults unlike children in the growth period, orthodontic treatment in adults involves only treatment of the teeth. In addition, translation requires time. Therefore, caution is necessary for the application of orthodontic treatment. Informed consent after adequate explanation should be obtained from the patient when surgical orthodontic treatment beyond treatment of the teeth alone is performed.
Since the application of orthodontic treatment to adults is difficult, guidance and management in the early stage of growth are important for appropriate function such as mastication and phonation.
