New Orthodontist With International Experience Has Joined Our Team - Interview with Dr. Avin Houman
You graduated in 2010, why did you choose orthodontics?
After working for 7 years as a general dentist, gaining experience in Hungary, Norway, United Stated and Iran, I had gathered enough knowledge to know what I really wanted to focus on. It was clearly Orthodontics!
Orthodonticts is a very interesting branch of dentistry in which the specialist doctor has to imagine, plan and predict the future movements, just like the game of chess. Every movement will cause a series of other movements. You have to be prepared, ready and expect all changes. Orthodontics requires a lot of patience.
The creativity, the imagination, planning ahead, executing those plans one after the other and see the results over a long period make it very interesting to me. In addition, Orthodontics can well be combined with Pediatric dentistry, which is essentially, treating the patients under the age of 18.
So I had no other choice but to become an Orthodontist!
What has been your most memorable case so far and why?
Making beautiful smiles is a privilege and I am grateful to help everyone. For me treating the challenging cases on growing patients give me a lot of positive feedback. Because our treatments can bring huge positive changes to our patients’ profile and smile. Those are lifelong improvements and I am happy to be a part of their journey.
You also have international experience, how do domestic customs differ e.g. from what we have experienced in Norway, if we talk about dentistry in a broader sense, and orthodontics in a narrower sense?
In Norways, the focus is on prevention and early treatments plays an important role. In Hungary, we invite everyone for annual check ups and prevention to circumvent avoidable complications. In my experience patients in Norway loose less teeth due to bad oral hygiene compared to patients in Hungary. Loosing the teeth early, especially in younger patients will cause a series of other unwanted changes in mouth, which can complicate the treatments.
What do you think of invisible braces? When do they have a right to exist and since when is it recommended to use a fixed device?
I like them very much and I think the future of Orthdontics will go more towards invisible aligners.
They are being developed to be used in more and more wide range of cases. Therefore, we can expect using them in many cases. But in general, if you have minor issues with your front teeth, the Orthodontic aligners are an excellent choice!
If you are very conscious about your smile, orif your work and education does discourages you to wear braces, then you can probably wear the aligners instead. There are many factors to consider. So, please consult with your Orthodontist first.
You also have serious results in orthodontics for children. What are the most common necessary interventions for children?
In Hungary, most young patients are Caucasians. Among that group, the upper jaw constriction and lower jaw retro position (backward) is the most common. Other problem is the crowding among teeth.
Common treatments are usually removable or fixed expanders and making space to have the teeth in their right place.
You also use a microimplant for more complex movements. In what cases is this necessary, and in what percentage of cases can a correction with "normal" devices lead to results?
In my opinion, miniimplants are the current revolution in Orthodontics. The use of these temporary miniimplants has unlocked the traditional teeth movements. We can essentially move one or multiple teeth to the extent and direction that we want.
We use them when we can not get the excellent results by only relying on classic Orthodontic braces.
Miniimplants essentially help us get the great results without much side effects. The treatment period becomes shorter and they also limit the usual orthodontic movement side effects.
Giving a percentage is difficult because every case is different. If you have a complex case and do not want to have a surgery, then perhaps miniimplants can be an alternative. It is also true when you are missing a tooth and do not wish to have an implant in place. We can use pull the next tooth to be where you are already missing the tooth.
I feel very grateful to have mastered the use of miniimplants under guidance of some of world’s best Orthodontists.
What do you think about aesthetics vs. functionality? When is the balance good?
They should both be present to compliment each other. I also would add stability to those two. Having a beautiful, functional and stable smile is what are after. Otherwise, the treatments can relapse, and you would need to be treated again.
What proportion do you deal with adults in your practice so far vs. with children? Can we say about orthodontics that it has become a demanding issue in this corner of the world today?
In Hungary, it is probably 50-50. In Scandinavian countries, there is more focus on the children`s dentistry and Othodontics.
Aesthetics and smiling demand have definitely grown exponentially everywhere and in Europe. Everyone should be able to have a beautiful smile. Today, our patients have a clearer vision of what they want. And we try to bring their wishes come true.
Typically, how long does an "average" orthodontic treatment last? Please specify what we can consider to be average here.
If your smile is missing some minor adjustments and you are a candidate for invisible aligners, then you can expect a shorter treatment time of 6-9 months.
For more comprehensive orthodontic treatments with fixed braces, I would say 1-2 years.
How would you encourage adults who want to change their smiles but haven’t taken the first step so far? Why are you chosen?
When you visit me, you can expect to have all of your questions answered. You will have a visual access to my previous cases to see how would your smile look like after treatments. You can ask your questions during the personal visit. If you have new further questions, you can reach me on social media, I am happy to help.
Thank you for answering the intro questions, hopefully your given insight will help some readers make an appointment soon and start this beautiful journey of orthodontics.
The profile of Dr. Avin Houman you can check here.