Orthodontics

Your Orthodontic Provider in San Jose, CA

For most people, achieving a healthy, beautiful smile is the reason for choosing to receive orthodontic care. If you’re self-conscious about your smile, having braces will greatly improve the way you look and feel.

When your treatment is complete, you will have the smile you’ve always dreamed of and the confidence to show it off! We also want you to feel comfortable and confident throughout your entire orthodontic experience and our practice is dedicated to making sure that you receive the quality care you deserve.

How Orthodontic Treatment Works

Orthodontic appliances are made of metal, ceramic, or plastic. They may be removable or they may be brackets bonded to the teeth. By placing a constant, gentle force in a carefully controlled direction, braces slowly move teeth to the proper position.

Gone are the days when a metal band with a bracket was placed around each tooth. You can now choose from brackets that are clear or metallic, and in some cases, the color of your appliance. Wires are far less noticeable, and the latest materials are designed to move teeth faster with more comfort. Today, any age is a great age to wear braces!

Duration of Treatment

Treatment time varies, and can last between one and three years, depending on several factors including age, treatment method, and how minor or severe your case is. A big factor to a successful treatment is you, the patient! The more involved and diligent you are, the quicker and more efficient your treatment will be. For children, receiving interceptive, or early treatment, can also help provide a quicker treatment time.

Before beginning your orthodontic care, your doctor will discuss all of your options and provide an estimate for how long your full treatment may take. Please contact our practice to schedule an appointment, and learn more about orthodontics and the treatments we provide.

Types of Braces

Traditional Metal Braces

Traditional metal braces are the most common type of braces and are more comfortable today than ever before. Made of high-grade stainless steel, metal braces straighten your teeth using metal brackets and archwires. With metal braces, you have the option of adding colored elastics (rubber bands) for a more unique and colorful smile.

Self-Ligating Braces

Self-ligating braces are made from the same materials as traditional braces. However, self-ligating braces do not require the use of elastics, meaning fewer appointments and less friction being placed on the tooth. Self-ligating braces come with traditional metal, ceramic, or clear brackets. They are the same size as metal braces but use a specialized clip in place of elastics to help the archwire guide teeth into place. The clip helps reduce the amount of pressure being placed on the tooth and requires fewer adjustments because there are no elastics to replace.

Clear (Ceramic) Braces

Ceramic braces are made of clear materials and are therefore less visible on your teeth than metal braces. For this reason, ceramic braces are used mainly on older teenagers and adult patients who have cosmetic concerns. While they are visually less prominent, they do require more attention to oral hygiene as ceramic braces are larger and are more brittle than their metal counterparts. For these reasons, ceramic braces tend to be used more on upper front teeth than on lower teeth.

Clear Aligners

Clear aligners are a series of invisible, removable, and comfortable acrylic trays that straighten your teeth like braces. Not only are the aligners invisible, they are removable, so you can eat and drink what you want while in treatment, plus brushing and flossing are less of a hassle. The aligners are comfortable and have no metal to cause mouth abrasions during treatment.

Gold Braces

Gold braces are similar to traditional metal braces in many ways. They are made of stainless steel, but are uniquely coated in gold. The gold coating may be considered a more cosmetic option than traditional metal braces. And, the cost of gold braces is surprisingly comparable to most clear braces.

Orthodontics with a difference

Orthodontics is about more than the cosmetic repositioning of teeth. It also includes correcting "bad" habits that have caused the orthodontic condition. Research has shown that genetics are not the only culprit when it comes to crooked, crowded teeth. Poor myofunctional habits such as a tongue thrust, thumb or finger sucking, mouth breathing, and reverse swallowing all influence growth and dental alignment. Fixed orthodontic braces are designed to straighten teeth but they do not correct myofunctional habits.

To be effective, orthodontic treatment must address the underlying myofunctional problems causing the orthodontic disorder. The time to treat developing malocclusion (a "bad bite") is when the child is young (6-8 years old is ideal). Prevention of a poorly developing orthodontic condition is preferable to having to fix it later on. Don't watch teeth get more and more crooked and then hear that full braces with extractions are necessary. Functional appliances work best when there are some primary and some secondary teeth in the mouth (mixed dentition), essentially when baby teeth are being replaced with adult teeth.

Orthopedic effects of a functional appliance with a tooth guidance system plus a myofunctional training feature have been scientifically proven to reverse a deteriorating orthodontic condition, improve facial shape, realign the teeth and develop proper arch form.

ALF Appliances

ALF stands for Advanced Lightwire Functionals. It is a method to straighten teeth (orthodontic treatment). It addresses posture (how the patient stands; orthopedic treatment) using principles of cranial osteopathy. It brings about changes in muscle function to achieve stable results. ALF is a whole-body-and-mind approach to straightening teeth and improving the bite (occlusion).

ADVANTAGES are:

• cosmetics - barely visible from the outside
• cgentle - far less discomfort than with braces
• ctreatment visits only every 6 to 8 weeks
• cstable

In general treatment time ranges anywhere from 2 to 4 years and achieves:

1. correction of existing cranial strains
2. developing of the upper and lower dental arches by expanding them where needed
3. repositioning of the lower jaw relative to the upper
4. establishing the correct height of occlusion/bite (an over-closed bite creates muscle spasms and forces the jaw joints out of position)
5. retention of the new position to allow the bone and teeth to solidify and fully adapt to the new position

Treatment duration and technique vary between patients according to individual needs. Most of the treatment can be done with ALF appliances. The ALF appliances need to be worn all the time. They are hardly visible from the outside and therefore interfere very little with your looks. The initial period of adjustment to the appliance is short - usually about 2 to 3 days. Your tongue has to reposition and this will affect your speech a little bit in the beginning. Reading out loud to yourself is a fast way to adapt.

Special attention needs to be given to oral hygiene since food will get caught between the wire and your teeth. It is mandatory that you brush after each meal and minimize snacks, particularly sweet ones. You will still be able to floss between most teeth. Use of an oral irrigator makes home care much easier and is highly recommended.

Why ALF Treatment instead of Conventional Braces?

If straight teeth were only about looking good then orthodontic treatment would only be done for cosmetic enhancement. But treatment with an ALF appliance is about much more.

Dr. Darick Nordstrom designed the ALF appliance in the early 1980s and soon realized that his patients got relief from seemingly unrelated symptom:

• Ear problems: ringing or humming sounds in the ears, decreased hearing ability
• Vision problems: blurred vision, strained eyesight
• Headaches or migraines
• Allergies caused by restricted nasal airway
• Neck and back pain resulting from misaligned vertebrae and nerve impingement
• Developmental delays like learning problems in children due to decreased blood flow to the brain
• TMJ (jaw joint) dysfunction with pain and restrictions of movement
• Clenching and grinding of teeth
• Digestive problems
• Fatigue
• PMS and more

ALF Treatment Philosophy

ALF treatment works with the body's innate movement which is called, in osteopathic terms, is called 'cranio-sacral motion'. The bones of the head are not rigidly fused together! In good health there is a minute, rhythmical movement between the bones. Several causes can lock the bones up and impair this movement:

• Trauma during birth, particularly if forceps are used
• injuries / accidents involving the head, e.g. whiplash
• 'Imitation food' (fast food that lacks nutrients and enzymes) repressing normal jaw development and thus leading to crowding of teeth and a wrong bite
• Tooth loss without adequate replacement or severe tooth abrasion due to grinding or clenching
• Dental treatment (extraction of wisdom teeth or teeth replacement) or orthodontic treatment which leaves the jaws in an unfavorable position

If the bones of the head are locked up we see a distortion or 'cranial strain'. This brings about

• Compromised function
• More wear and tear

The effects are similar to those of a sprained ankle. Due to the pain the body tries to protect the injured part and comes up with compensatory mechanisms: for example, overusing other muscle groups to guard the injury. In the long run this will create new problems.