Attachments are small ridges made of orthodontic material that are bonded to your teeth. They are tooth-colored, so they blend in well with your enamel, and come in various shapes and sizes depending on their function. Your aligners will fit snugly and smoothly over them.
The standard method for fixing orthodontic attachments has become polishing the enamel with fluoride-free pumice followed by acid etching using phosphoric acid. However, bond strength to structurally affected enamel or to restorative materials is problematic. Many researchers reported lower bond strength of orthodontic brackets to fluorosed and whitened enamel and to different restorative materials.
Several methods have been tried to improve the bond strength including etching the enamel for longer, use of adhesion promoters, and deproteinizing agents. Studies have also investigated improving the bond strength after teeth whitening using antioxidant or amorphous calcium phosphate. Until now, hydrofluoric acid has been the standard for ceramic conditioning; however, air abrasion and lasers have more recently been investigated. Composite, amalgam, and gold can be roughened by bur roughening and air abrasion.
Orthodontic headgear—sometimes referred to as an “extra-oral appliance”—is a treatment approach that requires the patient to have a device strapped onto his or her head to help correct malocclusion—typically used when the teeth do not align properly. Headgear is most often used along with braces or other orthodontic appliances. While braces correct the position of teeth, orthodontic headgear—which as the name suggests is worn on or is strapped onto the patient’s head—is most often added to orthodontic treatment to help alter the alignment of the jaw, although there are some situations in which such an appliance can help move teeth, particularly molars.
Whatever the purpose, orthodontic headgear works by exerting tension on the braces via hooks, a facebow, coils, elastic bands, metal orthodontic bands, and other attachable appliances directly into the patient’s mouth. It is most effective for children and teenagers because their jaws are still developing and can be easily manipulated.Thus Headgear is typically used to treat a number of jaw alignment or bite problems such as overbite and underbite.