Goodbye to braces and dentures: the new trends in oral health

BarcelonaMinute 77 at the Santiago Bernabéu. Lamine Yamal scores a goal that goes into the corner, silences the stadium and celebrates by showing off his braces, decorated especially for the occasion with blue and red stars and designed by the TwoJeys brand. The image goes around the world, but despite the display of the young Barça idol, braces like his are becoming less and less common in oral health trends, which have changed a lot in recent years; from the point of view of aesthetics, with the proliferation of invisible tooth aligners and, in the field of treatments, with the era of dental implants that are pushing false teeth aside, for example.

José Nart, president of the Spanish Society of Periodontology and Osteointegration (SEPA) and professor at the International University of Catalonia (UIC), explains to ARA that the basis of the revolution in the care and treatment of the mouth, gums and teeth is digitalisation. "It has been a very important change. When a patient comes to the consultation, we scan their mouth and take a 3D X-ray that allows us to better plan and design the treatments," says the expert.

So, the tasteful paste with which dentists made moulds of their patients' mouths is now a thing of the past. Now patients can see how their teeth will evolve before starting treatment, since the digital programmes used allow models to be made that show "how the mouth will look once they finish," like a kind of render

For example, dental surgeries, to place an implant or to trim or add gum to a patient, are now performed with guides that are previously made with these tools. "They allow us to plan and execute better. This makes treatments much less invasive and less painful for patients, who now have fewer after-effects and need to take less medication after an intervention of this nature," says Nart. In addition, "more resistant and more biocompatible" materials are used to make the implants.

The fall of braces

A "very important change" that has taken place in the last five years in terms of dental aesthetics is the fall of braces and the rise of invisible aligners, recalls Nart, who estimates that currently 80% of users opt for the second modality, while before it was the other way around. "It is more comfortable for patients and aesthetically it is less shocking; it is not that metal extension of the teeth that accumulates food," says the expert.

They are long treatments, one or two years, so people opt more for invisible aligners, which can be removed whenever desired and allow for better hygiene, he insists. "Braces have less weight in this society that gives so much importance to aesthetics," he adds. In addition, it has allowed older people, who did not see themselves wearing braces at 50, to now correct their teeth with an invisible aligner. "Older people have lost their fear and stigma in the treatment," says Nart.

Bruxism is on the rise

Changes in lifestyle have led to the emergence of new diseases that were undetectable or very rare years ago. This also occurs in oral health and, due to the increase in stress and anxiety, cases of bruxism have skyrocketed. Bruxism is the involuntary friction of the teeth, which is usually more common at night, when sleeping. The friction of the teeth can damage them and put pressure on the jaw muscles, which can cause facial contractures, headaches, earaches and even insomnia.

To combat bruxism, which is not a disease but rather an involuntary bad habit, patients wear a night guard to sleep. They fit the teeth and what they do is minimize the side effects of bruxing episodes and improve the quality of sleep. According to Nart, the use of these guards has skyrocketed, as people's lifestyles are increasingly more stressful.

Goodbye to dentures

Years ago, toothlessness was much more widespread, whereas now the population that has lost all its clothing "has been greatly reduced"; people take better care of their mouth, teeth and gums and we hardly see patients without teeth anymore. There are people who may lose an occasional item of clothing, due to a fracture or a large cavity that has been poorly treated, but these can be replaced with dental implants. "False dentures are a thing of the past," says Nart, who explains that nowadays all the teeth can be replaced with implants. They are titanium pieces that can replace teeth that have fallen out or broken and they work better than the false dentures that were used before, says the expert. However, before any replacement is made, good oral health must first be ensured: that the patient does not have cavities and takes care of oral hygiene to prevent new teeth from falling out. Once the replacement is made, patients finish the treatment with support therapy to ensure that the tooth fits into its new place and that the implant has been made correctly.