As I have mentioned before, the AAO recommends that children be examined by an orthodontist starting at the age of 7. For young kids that need early Phase I intervention for one reason or another, this is great. But what about the majority of the kids who don’t need anything right now? In our office we have a complimentary Junior Observation program. Children who do not need a Phase I intervention are followed on a regular basis- often times yearly or every 6 months depending

Baby teeth (primary teeth) are meant to come out on their own. So then why would an orthodontist recommend extracting baby teeth? There are a variety of reasons why it might be recommended to extract a baby tooth. I generally leave it up to the patient’s pediatric dentist or family dentist to extract a tooth based upon decay. But, if there is a space issue, or if the adult tooth underneath is not developing straight and appears to be at an angle, it can be highly recommend

I cannot speak for all Orthodontic offices, but in our office we understand that everyone has a different budget and different monthly expenses. That is why we have very flexible payment options so that a comfortable payment option or plan can be made for each patient or family. Some of our patients prefer to make one payment at the start of braces. Some of our patients like to receive points back on their credit card or have flex spending accounts that make this option very

Congratulations! You have braces! You are on your journey to a beautiful smile. Now, how do you get through this first week? The braces may feel scratchy or sharp at first because you aren’t used to them. Also, your teeth may start to feel sore or achy. If not very sore or not very uncomfortable, you don’t need to do anything special. But, for those patients who do experience soreness or sharp/scratchiness, here is some advice on how to make things better! Soreness: Feeling s

What are the different parts that make up braces? Having braces involves more than just the braces themselves. There are many ‘parts’ that work together to move and align teeth. The first part of course are the braces themselves. Braces is plural for a whole set of ‘brackets’. Individual braces are called brackets. A bracket is bonded to each tooth with a special tooth cement. The brackets themselves cannot move teeth. The second part that is critical for proper movemen

Adults will often say that they had braces as a kid, and for a while very nicely aligned teeth… But then those darn wisdom teeth started to grow in and crowding ensued. Can we squarely put the blame on the wisdom teeth? Some years ago, many theorized that this was the case. Then, new research came out that actually showed that wisdom teeth aren’t the reason why teeth crowd. One such study looked at tooth alignment of former braces patients. These patients were placed into 3 c

How long should I wear retainers? Not that many years ago, the recommendation for wearing retainers was to wear them for a few months after orthodontic treatment and that was about it. Well, we know a lot more now than even 10 or 20 years ago and the new recommendation is to anticipate Retainer for Life. We all know that skin sags down and wrinkles form over time. Much in the same way, teeth have a tendency to shift forward and inwards over the course of a person’s lifetime.

Invisalign treatment consists of clear aligner used to orthodontically move teeth. A consultation first is always required to make sure you&

"An orthodontist is a dentist who has completed an additional 2-3 years of schooling beyond dental school to become a specialist. This means