Taking someone’s braces or Invisalign off is one of my favorite things to do as an orthodontist. All the hard work that our office and our patient has put into achieving the perfect smile finally comes to a grand finale. It is a fun day and a cause for celebration.
What most patients don’t realize is that they have a lot of control over when that happens. There is an aspect of every treatment that is controlled by the orthodontist and no one else. The interpretation of the x-rays, the development of a treatment plan, the placement of the appliances, and the design of the smile among others.
However, there is also an aspect of every treatment that only the patient controls. Whether their teeth are clean and healthy, whether they follow the guidelines to avoid candy that would break off braces, whether they wear their elastics (rubber bands) or aligners for the entire recommended time, and whether they consistently show up for their scheduled appointments. I often find myself answering the question of “When am I getting my braces off?” with another question like, “When are you going to wear your elastics?”. This response often gets an eye roll, but it is important to understand that there are some aspects of the treatment that the orthodontist cannot control yet are critical to achieving an ideal outcome.
If you are anxious to complete your orthodontic treatment, ask your orthodontist what things you can do to speed up the process. You might be surprised at how important you are to your own treatment. Give us a call today and let us help you smile with confidence!
When I was a child in about 7th grade, Michael Jordan was the talk of the NBA. He was the greatest basketball player I had ever seen. He signed a deal with Nike to create a new style of athletic shoes – the “Air Jordan” basketball shoe. I was an aspiring basketball player and would play every day in PE during free play and on the playground with my friends. I was convinced that these shoes would make me run faster, jump higher, and maybe even shoot better (all things that left a lot of room for improvement in my case).
However, my family did not have enough money to buy these expensive new “magic” shoes. Instead, when my existing shoes began to wear holes in them, I distinctly remember my mom bought me a pair of white Reebok shoes. I was so disappointed and every time I missed a shot or someone jumped higher than me to get a rebound, I looked down at my shoes and thought I knew the reason.
Years later, when I eventually bought my first pair of “Air Jordan” shoes, it became apparent that what mattered a lot more than the shoes was the person wearing them.
As an orthodontist, I am often asked what type of braces we use in our office. There are several orthodontic manufacturers of braces in the US market with an excellent reputation for quality that have been in business for several decades. There are certainly differences in the quality of manufacturing between a well-known and established manufacturer with excellent quality control and an Amazon reseller posting foreign made brackets with no quality control.
That being said - just like athletic shoes - when it comes to braces it matters a lot more who is putting the braces on your teeth than the name brand of braces being used. In our office, we use American Orthodontics, 3M Clarity Clear Braces, and Damon braces to give patients different style choices and because Dr. Budd has a preference for different brackets in different clinical situations. For aligners, we use Invisalign, but there are other reputable manufacturers out there including 3M Clarity Aligners and Spark Clear Aligners among others. However, as long as you are using a reputable manufacturer, there are no magic braces or aligners that can unleash the superhero powers in your chosen orthodontist. Dr. Budd is a board-certified orthodontist in the Phoenix and Scottsdale metro area – give us a call today and let us help you achieve your dream smile - even without magic braces.
At Budd Orthodontics, Invisalign treatment with clear aligners has become a popular orthodontic treatment in today’s digital world. The treatment is based off of the information taken from a 3D scan of your teeth with an iTero digital scanner and the corresponding computer simulation of the movements of your teeth.
Although the software used to create this digital simulation is very accurate, it cannot account for all of the variables that make each of us unique – tongue pressure, lip pressure, swallowing patterns, and differences in how well patients wear the aligners. Sometimes when we arrive at the end of the simulated orthodontic treatment, what you see in the mouth does not match exactly what you originally saw on the computer screen. We correct this by completing what we refer to as an Invisalign “Refinement”.
An Invisalign Refinement is completed by essentially repeating the process that was used the first time to create the Invisalign aligners. A new 3D scan is taken of the updated position of the teeth, and any movements that were not achieved with the first simulation are completed in the refinement aligners. It is a little fine-tuning of your smile to make sure that we get the best possible result. This allows us to overcome the limitations of the software simulation and create a smile you will love. A significant number of Invisalign treatments don’t require any refinement, but we always have that as an available option to make sure we deliver the best possible smile. Give us a call today, and let us help you smile with confidence.
Among the 330 million people in the United States, there are a little over 200,000 practicing dentists according to the American Dental Association’s 2021 data. However, only 6% of those dentists are orthodontists. Orthodontists are dentists who have completed a 2-3 year residency training at an accredited program in addition to the 3-4 years of normal dental training. Of the 6% who complete their orthodontic residency training, only 54% of them are board-certified orthodontists according to 2022 data from the American Board of Orthodontics. Based on these numbers, being a board-certified orthodontist in the United States is not very common.
American Board of Orthodontics board-certification is a voluntary credential. In other words, it is not required to practice orthodontics or to advertise orthodontic services like braces or Invisalign. It represents a commitment by an orthodontic specialist to the highest standards of excellence in the specialty and to life-long learning.
Dr. Budd is a board-certified orthodontist with the American Board of Orthodontics. He strongly believes in the value of the additional education and certification he has received to provide his patients with the best possible treatment outcomes in a friendly, welcoming environment. Orthodontics involves much more than just making teeth straight. It includes the complexity of facial growth, alignment of the jaws, correction of the bite, and the overall health of the teeth and supporting structures. A general dentist is ideal for providing regular oral health check-ups, comparable to your family doctor. Many dentists offer orthodontic treatment, but they do not have the same extensive education required of a board-certified orthodontist. This is an important distinction to understand when you are selecting someone to help you or your family with their orthodontic care.
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