Skeletal anchorage

What is skeletal anchorage?

An orthodontic treatment is in the first place a way of moving teeth into a better position. This will improve their appearance as well as the way the teeth bite together. To move teeth back into line, many sorts of appliances can be used.

The most progressive is bone anchorage, where a bone anchor is used. The bone anchor consists of a mini plate and a fixation unit. This unit can be:

• hooks;
• tube;
• bracket.

The plate will be fixed to the bone with screws. The bone anchor only provide with hooks will be connected to the fixed orthodontic appliance by elastic bands. To connect the other bone anchors to the fixed orthodontic appliance, a wire can put in the tube, in the bracket or in the fixation unit fixed with the blocking screw. With orthodontic expedients, such as springs and elastic bands, following treatments can be performed:

• forward movement of a single tooth or a small group of teeth
• backwards movement of a single tooth or a small group of teeth
• retaction of an outgrown molar
• up righting of impacted molars

Bone anchorage offers an alternative to a headgear, which shorten the time of treatment substantially.