My sweet em-brace-able you

A SCHOOLGIRL (15) who fell off a pogo stick while skipping in her school gym has been awarded €30,000 damages. Her lawyer told the Court she was a member of a school team whose speciality was skipping over a rope - on pogo sticks. He said the girl fell in the gym in October 2003 and had lost part of one of her incisor teeth and had loosened several others.
The school had made a settlement offer of €30,000, which included a sum of just over €18,000 special damages for past and ongoing dental and orthodontic treatments to realign her teeth. The judge approved the settlement and directed an immediate pay-out of almost €11,000 towards urgent orthodontic treatment.

The way that our teeth bite together is called the occlusion, and people who have crooked or crowded teeth have a malocclusion. The branch of dentistry that specialises in aligning teeth is called orthodontics. Orthodontic treatment usually involves wearing an appliance (brace). This puts gentle pressure on specific teeth to move them into the right place. At the initial appointment, your orthodontist will do a very detailed dental examination. If you have any decayed teeth, these will need to be treated by your family dentist before orthodontic treatment starts.

Although private dentistry prices in Ireland and the UK are sky-high, one should not go to Dentaprime for orthodontic treatment. Braces should be adjusted every 4 to 6 weeks.