(NAPSA)—Worn, broken or misaligned teeth may indicate a much more serious underlying problem, says Dr. L. Douglas Knight, a leading orthodontist. Often, a person’s teeth and jaw joints are not in the properrelationship with each other and sim- ply straightening the teeth alone may not provide long-term stability and dental health. In the vast majority of cases, restoring “dental facial harmony” is fundamen- tal to correcting these and other problems, and the best way to accomplish this may be a “team approach.” Dental facial harmony often yields a beautiful smile. The dental team’s goalis to cre- sult an oral surgeon or a restorative dentist, depending on the is not only more aesthetically pleasing, but also more permanent than regular cosmetic dentistry. “Your oral health and physical well being are connected,” explains Dr. Knight, a consultant to orthodontic appliance manufac- are gum problems, a periodontist maybe consulted as well. The end result of their combined efforts: ate a balance between the face, jaw joints and teeth. The outcome turer GAC International. “Problems with jaw alignment often are the root cause of headaches, facial pain or unexplained tooth aches. Individuals who suffer from TMJ syndrome, for instance, can suffer excruciating headaches.” Dental facial harmony may be evaluated as early as seven years old. The “bioesthetic” approach begins with a comprehensiveeval- scope of the problem. Also, if there an attractive smile, a more well- balanced face and, hopefully, an extremely happy individual. According to Dr. Knight, the good newsis that the actual orthodontic treatment is generally accomplished in less time using a coordinated team approach. If braces are required, today’s virtu- ally invisible braces, like Mystique made by GAC, yield excellent results without the embarrassmentof the old metal alternatives. “The bottom line,” says Dr. Knight,“is that arranging teeth to uation by a specially trained work in harmony with the alignment of the jaw always yields ments. If problems exist involving the underlying skeletal structure helps us reach our goal: beautiful, natural smiles that last a lifetime. tist may advise the patient to con- www.gacmystique.com. orthodontist to determine if there are bite problems or jaw misalignor form of the teeth, the orthodon- more satisfactory results and For more information, visit
