Esthestics

Flossing Braces

Keeping braces clean is so important to moving teeth that it bears repeating.  Keeping braces clean is so important to moving teeth.

Why is it important you ask?  To completely correct a badly positioned tooth, the tooth must slide the brace along the wire in the brace only a few millimeters.

That is NOT very far!  Two years to move something the thickness of a pencil!

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Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 Braces, Esthestics, Prevention No Comments

Invisible Braces for Teens

Invisalign allows teens to straighten their teeth without having to show any metal.  These are particularly good for spaced teeth.

This week, a patient from Gresham asked me what would be best for closing his spaced front teeth.

I told him that the Invisalign trays would cover up the spaces as soon as he put them in and make them look much smaller.

Advantages of Invisalign treatment:

  • nearly invisible

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Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 Braces No Comments

Spotty Teeth

Many kids or their parents ask me about spots they see on teeth.

There are several different types of spots found on teeth:

  • white spots
  • chalky yellow spots
  • chalky brown spots
  • dark brown spots
  • black spots

Each of these have different causes but most have similar treatment: Treatment is either leaving it, polishing off the surface of the tooth or placing a filling of some sort.

White spots can be caused by:

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Thursday, August 6th, 2009 Esthestics No Comments

Invisalign for Teens

More teens can be treated with Invisalign now.  Techniques for treating patients with more complicated orthodontic problems were recently discussed in a lecture near Portland.

Invisalign trays move teeth step by step by wearing a series of slightly different aligner trays that push teeth into new positions.

When Invisalign was first developed, it was directed only at adults.  Now teens can be treated and even be treated for significantly crooked teeth, even for teens whose teeth must be extracted.

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Monday, July 6th, 2009 Braces No Comments