October is National Orthodontic Health Month

Maybe not all of us have braces, but we surely know someone who does. And perhaps not everyone is as celebratory about orthodontics as we are.

Keeping with our October  dental awareness series over the past week or so, we wanted to also promote a little ortho love.

How many degrees of separation are between you and your nearest orthodontic overachiever?

Give a hoot this October, and pass along some beneficial social local dentistry as it relates to orthodontics and braces.

School is back in full swing, and orthodontic options for everything from our favorite sports team colors to ultra-thin invisibility, are available right at our local dental or ortho office!

Our orthodontists and dentists have many fashionable ways to straighten our crooked teeth, correct our bad bites, and realign any misalignment of our jaws.

Just don’t tell your teenage…of course, with advanced options comes increased cost.

In honor of National Orthodontic Health Month, here are some more orthodontic FAQs, courtesy of braces.org.

Kids

Can I play sports while wearing braces?

Yes, but make sure you wear a protective mouth guard.

Can I play musical instruments while wearing braces?

With practice and a period of adjustment, braces typically do not interfere with the playing of wind or brass instruments.

What are my options if I don’t want braces that show?

Should your case warrant it, you might want to consider lingual braces, which feature brackets that are bonded behind the teeth. Ceramic braces are another option to lessen the visibility of braces; they blend in with the teeth for a more natural effect. Additionally, the use of a series of invisible aligner trays (invisible braces) instead of traditional braces may be used to correct some problems.

Will a stud in my tongue interfere with orthodontic treatment? 

Exercise caution with tongue-piercing jewelry. It can contribute to breakage of braces appliances and to tooth and gum damage from contact with the stud.

Parents

If my teeth have been crooked for years, why do I need orthodontic treatment now?

It’s never too late! Healthy teeth can be moved at any age. Orthodontic treatment can restore good function, and teeth that work better usually look better, too. A healthy, beautiful smile can improve self-esteem, no matter your age.

Can I afford orthodontic treatment?

Most orthodontists have a variety of convenient payment plans. Many dental insurance plans now include orthodontic benefits.

I am pregnant and want to begin orthodontic treatment. Is this OK?

Discuss this question with your medical practitioner/physician and orthodontist before you start any orthodontic treatment, as pregnancy brings on bodily changes that may affect the mouth. Soft tissues such as gums become much more susceptible to infection.

Do teeth with braces need special care?

Yes, clean, healthy teeth move more quickly. Patients with braces must be careful to avoid hard, sticky, chewy and crunchy foods, or hard objects, such as pens, pencils and fingernails. Keeping your teeth and braces clean requires more time, precision and must be done every day if the teeth and gums are to be healthy during and after orthodontic treatment.

I see ads for perfect teeth in only one or two visits to the dentist. Will that give me straight teeth?

Quick-fix veneers temporarily cover crooked teeth. Teeth straightened by an orthodontist are good for life. That’s because only orthodontists receive an extra 2-3 years of education beyond dental school to learn the proper way to align and straighten teeth.

How may I distinguish an orthodontist from a general dentist?

Visit our Find an Orthodontist section to find AAO-member orthodontists near you. AAO membership is the best way to confirm a doctor’s status as an orthodontist because the AAO only accepts orthodontists for membership. Additionally, visit the Questions for Your Orthodontist section for questions that you can ask to help determine if you’re getting your tooth-alignment procedure from an expert.

For more national health awareness days, weeks, or months, click here.

How Do You Find a Good Dentist – Part Deux?

In one of our previous socially sharing local dentistry blog posts, we mentioned patient word of mouth often times being the most popular way to find a new trustworthy and qualified dentist for our families.

This, and most of the info we’ll communicate here is more empirically experienced than scientifically set in stone.

Sometimes we even may notice a friend or family member’s elective dental services, such as veneers or teeth whitening, and ask them how they got that smile to sparkle so bright.

With virtually everyone we know logging into Facebook multiple times a day; sometimes before they even get out of bed, we figured this word of mouth thing might be going digital.

Check out some more staggering Facebook stats!

From localized Yelpers to Foursquare fanatics, existing dental patient word of mouth has gone digital.

We just want to know HOW viral it is…how much are we actually sharing the good information?

Trusting the Source

We say good information, meaning positive info assisting you in reaching your dental determinism.

How often are we sharing our trusted reliable dentist with our ever-growing social circles, networks, flocks, and links?

Sure, passing along a useless FW link of a photoshopped primate smile is fun and funny – for 1.5 seconds.

But we’re talking about passing along beneficial positive information allowing someone you know to make a decision when on the hunt for a quality, caring, professional, respectful, pain-free, technologically adept, socially connected…dentist.

That way, the person receiving the info can trust the source – you already know each other!

When it comes to making dental health care decisions for your family, or choosing a reputable and qualified dentist for cosmetic dentistry or other elective services, we’re pretty sure the Internet comes in handy.

Again, no scientific data to back this claim up or bore you with – we just want to hear it from the dental patients.

And we all know what the Internet can claim…we won’t even touch that one.

For some of us, the days of thumbing through the phone book have been replaced by a quick keyword search of dental services, our location, and perhaps even the individual dentists’ name or practice name.

With all of this information at our fingertips we can now see where the dentist went to school, how long they’ve been in practice at the specific location, and even what actual patients have to say about their dental experience.

We’re not saying this new digital word of mouth is the only source of qualified dental information, but it sure seems to be a good indicator of how effective the dental practice is at gaining some online practice visibility.

How do you choose your dentist, do online reviews factor into the equation at all?

We’ll go out on a limb and say that those dentists that represent themselves best online will be quite popular within their local community.

If we add actual patient experience to the mix we’re pretty much covering all bases in our quest for a good dentist.

We can see, hear, and even feel what it’s like to be a patient in the chair.

A good dental website offers all of this info and more, but where else do you search?

With that in mind, we’d like to ask for your input again on what is your most trusted online source when searching for a good dentist.

Since we’re all getting more comfortable letting the world know our innermost thoughts on local restaurants, home electronics, or any other local product or service, we figure our dentists could use a little digital word of mouth examination.

If you ‘Like’ your dentist, let the world – or at least your local community and social circles – know just how much!

And be sure to let your dentist know too, we’re sure they’d appreciate the sentiments.

Choose your #1 online source for seeking out local dentist info, and please share your thoughts and comments.

Form Follows Function with Cosmetic Dentistry

Sure, dental veneers are a great way to snazz up your smile. And teeth whitening once or twice a year will certainly brighten up those stained and discolored teeth. But if things are not copacetic under the surface, then what’s the point?

Cosmetic dentistry has gotten a bad rap over the years, with most of us thinking most cosmetic procedures were generally reserved for the aesthetically inclined dental patient that can afford the seemingly expensive cosmetic procedures. Truth is, cosmetic dentistry is just the practical application of finishing the job and ensuring your smile is as dazzling as it can be.

Just like it makes no sense to slap a shiny veneer on an unhealthy tooth, it also is a disservice to not complete the job and give your smile the credit it deserves. After the drilling and filling, doesn’t there need to be some attention given to the contouring and appearance of your teeth?

A healthy smile is great…but a healthy and dazzling smile is better!

After all, we probably keep our regularly scheduled dental appointments in order to maintain optimal oral health; but we’re also concerned with how our teeth look to others. Call it vanity, or call it self-confidence. But whatever you call it, just don’t ignore the aesthetic value of cosmetic dentistry.

We all buy the latest and greatest techno gadgets, and don our automobiles with all sorts of after-market cosmetic adornments from rims to radios. We go to the gym to buff out our bodies and improve our overall health, cosmetic dentistry is the same thing. Ask your dentist how they can finish the job and you’ll be presented with an array of cosmetic procedures from efficient to extravagant. We spend money on products to grow hair, creams and gels to reduce cellulite; forget about the amount of money spent on make-up.

Don’t ignore your teeth any longer, it could be your ticket to new love or even a new job. Once your grill is prepped and patched, take advantage of the aesthetic value cosmetic dentistry provides. It doesn’t have to break the bank.

If you were doing some home remodeling would you leave the paint off the walls once the structural work was complete?

Of course not, so don’t continue to ignore the appearance of your teeth after the normal drill and fill is complete.

It’s already been proven, a healthy and dazzling smile makes for a more memorable first impression. Click here to see the Top 4 reasons why cosmetic dentistry will immediately provide a return on investment.

From bleaching to bonding, to tooth reshaping and contouring, most of us have at one time or another undergone some type of cosmetic dentistry procedure. After our dentist is finished drilling or scaling (or lasing) whatever oral malady befell us in the first place, there often needs to be some window dressing work to be done. Dental crowns, porcelain veneers, cosmetic bleaching, and tooth bonding are all procedures performed every day in your neighborhood dental office.

And here’s a news story from today involving the practical application of cosmetic dentistry. No matter which side of the fence you’re on, if cosmetic dentistry procedures can benefit our oral and overall health while simultaneously improving our appearance, that’s what we call a WIN-WIN situation!

When it comes to treating and correcting chipped, stained, broken, or missing teeth, our cosmetically-inclined dentists are there for us. To find out what option is best for you, ask your dentist.

Maybe they’ll even bust out the iPad to illustrate the before and after possibilities of your smile situation.

Is there an app for that?

And if you’re proud of the cosmetic work your dentist provided, let them know. Search them out on Facebook and post a comment to their wall!

Can you think of any other dental or cosmetic procedures that seem like pure vanity but are actually effective treatments to better our overall health?