One of the many important advances in orthodontics has been the development of Temporary Anchorage Devices, or TADs. Made of a bio-compatible titanium alloy, TADs are miniscrew anchors which are inserted into specific places in the mouth to provide additional stability (anchorage) when moving teeth. Orthodontists have used various devices (ex: headgear) in the past to try to avoid anchorage loss, but none of them were truly absolute sources of anchorage like TADs.
We now have options of closing missing tooth spaces, reducing gummy smiles, correcting openbites, and other corrections that were often only possible with a jaw surgery. Also, the TADs are simply removed when finished with the desired movement.
Temporary anchorage devices are typically not required in most orthodotnic cases. Contact us if you’d like to know more about TADs and how they can potentially improve your othodontic treatment.