On Monday, AAO President Dr. Chris Roberts was quoted in an article from Fox Business entitled, “Some orthodontists fearful of coronavirus closures’ ‘detrimental’ effects on patient progress.” An excerpt from Dr. Roberts is below:
American
Association of Orthodontists President Dr. Chris Roberts explained that
orthodontics is often different from general dentistry because the treatment
for the former “continues in between appointments.”
“Say you
need a filling done. You go in and they do the filling and you’re done.
Orthodontic treatment, the treatment lasts over a longer period of time – a lot
of times treatment plans are up to two years,” Roberts told FOX Business. “And
when we see patients for appointments, the appliances that we use, either that
are fixed braces that are on the teeth or whether it be clear aligners… the
appliances are still active, and a lot of them are not self-limiting – they
will continue to be active.”
Orthodontics
practices in parts of the nation are beginning to reopen their doors. And for
those that have not yet been given the green light to do so, the AAO follows
the American Dental Association’s determination
as to which circumstances warrant an emergency appointment, Roberts said.
“Sometimes teeth can move beyond where we want them to go. They can cause problems with the supporting structures,” Roberts added. “If you continue to move the teeth, move teeth in one direction, they can move too far. That can cause gum problems; that can cause bone loss around the teeth, things that you just don’t want to have happen.”
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