Design - Making Lives Better

I love reading. I love ideas. I love learning from other people. I ran across a new book the other day from a review in the Winnipeg Free Press. The book is "Glimmer: How Design Can Transform Your Life, Your Business, And Maybe Even The World" by Warren Berger.

You can check out the book at Chapters:  http://tinyurl.com/Glimmer-at-Chapters

I have just started the book, but it is a fascinating look at the design process, which is really just solving problems for people. We all design things from our wardrobe, to our bedrooms, to our lives. In my office I want to design the best experience for patients, parents, dentists, dental hygienists and dental assistants - everyone who comes into contact with us. I want to design healthy and confident smiles to last a lifetime for my patients.

Design is important - it matters. The design of my office makes me happy every day I come into work. The thought that went into our office shows up in so many ways. The design of our office helps us to be better in our job. The design of the Ipod makes you want to touch it and use it. The design of a restaurant experience can bring you more pleasure than the food alone. The design of the interaction you have with the clerk at 7-11 can brighten your day.

"Glimmer" is about the design process for people like you and me. We may not think of ourselves as designers in the same way Tommy Hilfiger is, but we are very much designers, of our own lives. Cool book - I am looking forward to getting into it more. I am sure I will have more to say in future posts. I think the book is intended to inspire us to all look at ourselves as designers. I know it has inspired me.

Halloween, Teeth, and Braces

Halloween is an exciting time - dressing up and free candy. Life is good. Dentists and orthodontists are not huge fans of eating a lot of candy. We were young once ourselves and you have to have some fun.

The sugar from candy will make your teeth dirtier, faster. With braces, cleaning your teeth is more of a challenge, but totally doable. Cleaning your teeth is not that hard when you are young and healthy, even with braces.

We recommend that you clean your teeth for 2 minutes before you go to bed and for 2 minutes when you wake up in the morning. Concentrate on brushing by the gum line. Those gums have to feel the bristles. This is important even if you do not have braces, but with braces, those bristles have to get by the gums to clean your teeth. Its not that hard - it is really important.

One more thing - be gentle when you eat your candy. Your braces are not permanent - they are semi-permanent. When your teeth are nice and straight with that great smile, we will remove the braces without hurting you or your teeth. The braces are designed to come off your teeth with the correct kind of pressure. Chomping into any food with enough force will snap a brace off or bend a wire.

That damage can slow down your treatment. As we tell all of our patients - eat softer, slower and smaller to reduce the pressure on your braces.

Our number one advice is to have fun. Happy Halloween.

Begin With the Future in Mind

As orthodontists, we are often reminded of this. When we first see a patient, we are thinking about the final result - that gorgeous smile. And of course in our office, we are also thinking about how quickly and comfortably we can give you that great smile.

As we have been talking about, time is a big issue. Teeth do require time to reach that smile and we do our best to minimize your time in treatment.

It is helpful for you to consider what is coming up in your life and think about how orthodontic treatment can fit into that. It is common for me to see kids who are 12 or 13 years old - grade 7 or 8. There are orthodontic problems, and I can see that we are ready to treat them.

The family or the patient may be thinking that the problems may get better on their own or its not that bad. They are not ready to start orthodontic treatment. No problem - you are ready when you are ready and that is totally alright. My job is to inform and provide people with options.

Now most orthodontic problems do not get better on their own, particularly when you are 12 or 13 years old. Time goes on and one morning you wake up and decide you want to get your teeth straightened - you want that great smile. If you wait until 16 or 17 years old - grade 11 or 12, you may not be able to get your teeth straightened and the braces off for grade 12 graduation.

There are always options and we will have more in the future, but it is nice to get that great smile and get past the braces sooner rather than later.

Smile and Laugh Your Way to Health?

I just ran across this on the web. I can't vouch for all of the advice here, but it seems pretty clear that smiling and laughing are two wonderful ways to improve your health and well-being. Orthodontic treatment is not necessary to smile - you should show off your smile regardless. Your smile will make you and those around you happier and healthier. What could be better?

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2003/10/11/laugh-smile-part-two.aspx

Time in Orthodontic Treatment

Every orthodontist hears one question from their patients more than any other. When am I getting my braces off? It turns out that no one wants to wear their braces any longer than they have to. Everyone wants their treatment to move along as quickly as possible to that happy day when the braces come off. Then you can show off your great smile to its fullest.

We understand that feeling. Braces have never been more comfortable and they have never worked better at giving you a great smile. But a shorter time in braces is always better as long as you get that great result. Shorter orthodontic treatment time is better for the person wearing the braces - obviously. But shorter treatment also makes the parents happier - fewer visits to our office. Dentists and dental hygienists like shorter treatment times - less time with the braces interfering with tooth brushing.

We know how much you, and your family, and your dentist want your orthodontic treatment to move quickly to that great smile. We want exactly the same things. We are not rushing, but we are doing everything we can to move things along quickly and efficiently to a great result. I often tell a person that their braces will be coming off soon - but not soon enough - we understand.

In later posts, I will be talking more about the things we do and our approach to shortening your time in treatment. It is one of the goals we are dedicated to in all of our orthodontic treatments.

Concerns? Call Us and Come On In

We just saw a patient earlier today who was concerned about some discomfort she was having. Her lower front teeth were a little sore all of a sudden. Her Mom thought it would be a good idea to have us check it out. We agree - if you have any concerns, give us a call and we will be happy to see you as soon as possible.

This person found it very convenient to see us since she works here at Polo Park. We were pleased to be able to reassure her that everything was going fine. Her teeth are looking great and her treatment is progressing very well. It is not unusual for teeth to be occasionally sore at times in treatment. It is not common, but it can be normal. It usually lasts for part of a day or perhaps one or two days.

Rinsing with cool water or taking some Ibuprofen or Advil for the discomfort can settle things down. The discomfort will pass. If it is lingering longer, or if you are concerned - call us - we are happy to see you.

My Favorite Thing

My favorite thing to say to our patients is: "everything is going really well - we are ahead of schedule in your orthodontic treatment - we should be able to get your braces off ahead of schedule".

When we give you an estimated time in treatment - we mean it. We are working toward moving your treatment along as comfortably and as quickly as possible. It turns out that steady gentle pressures on your teeth move them faster with greater comfort. Nature moves your teeth in the same way.

We do all we can to move your treatment along as efficiently as possible. We know you are eager to get your braces off as soon as possible to show off that healthy and confident smile. We are working hard to make this happen.

I will be talking a lot more about this subject in later posts. We know that time is very important to you - it is to us too.

We Love Our Office

It is colorful, bright and energizing. We love it. The most frequent comment we hear is “it doesn’t look like a dental office”. That is our goal. Dentistry has changed so much over the years – more comfortable, more civilized. Orthodontics has changed right along with it and we want an office that reflects that warm, comfortable, and relaxed environment. We want the visitors to our office to feel at home.

I like to think of our office as modern, but in a timeless way if that makes sense. I am not the designer though. Our office was designed right here in Winnipeg, by Rob Everitt. He is a great designer who is fun to work with but listens to his clients. When I think about it, that is the way I want to be for the people I serve. What goes around, comes around.

http://www.everittdesign.com/

Rob shows off our office on his website:

http://www.everittdesign.com/project.php?id=26

Tell us what you think.

Say Yes to Your Healthy Smile and Your Dentist

Our mouths are one of the most important parts of our bodies. Our mouths taste and eat the foods we take in to nourish our bodies. Our mouths communicate to our loved ones and the important people around us, with words and smiles - big smiles and little smiles - a thousand messages throughout each day.

If the eyes are the window to our souls, the mouth could be the doorway. Our mouths reflect our health and vitality. Few things in our bodies can remain as young and vibrant as our mouths when we take care of them. People constantly look to our mouths to see what they reveal.

Orthodontic treatment is not the most important part of that health and vitality of your mouth. Good dental care is. That includes seeing your dentist regularly. The return to you for your health and well-being is going to be huge.

If you have put off seeing your dentist, it is never too late to go. Please call for an appointment for a cleaning and check-up if you have not done so for a while. Your youthful and healthy mouth will thank you and your smile will return the favor a million times over.

If you don't have a dentist - no problem. Manitoba and Winnipeg are full of great dentists. Click on the Manitoba Dental Association to find the right dentist for you:

http://www.manitobadentist.ca/dentists.cfm

Braces Are Not All the Same

Braces are not all the same

Braces are really a system for moving teeth with 3 main parts:

1.
the actual brace – the handle on the tooth – glued to the tooth – by itself nothing happens – the brace needs the…

2.
the wire – the wire delivers the pressure to the tooth through the brace – it is removable and needs to be held into the brace to apply the pressure – now you have to hold the wire into the brace…

3.
the wire holding mechanism
You need a way to hold the wire into the brace to deliver that pressure from the wire to the brace, to move the tooth.
Now this is where it gets interesting – at least for orthodontists.

There are 3 main ways to hold the wire into the brace in modern braces:

a. elastic ligature or O ring – the traditional way
b. metal clip – newer way pioneered by a Canadian over 20 years ago
c. door – new technology developed by Dr. Damon

As the teeth move to get straighter, the brace must be able to move or slide along the wire. The door mechanism that was developed by Dr. Damon allows this movement to take place more easily. The elastic O ring or clip puts a drag on the wire that must be overcome with more pressure. Damon braces using the little built-in door, without the clip or elastic, let the wire slide more easily.

The difference with these Damon braces is huge in my experience. We use lighter wires delivering less pressure on the teeth, to move teeth faster and more gently. I have been using the Damon brace system for more than five years now. I love what they can do, and the way they do it.

Damon braces are certainly not the only way to straighten teeth. I used regular braces myself for many years and I was pleased with the results. Braces work to straighten teeth – they all do the job.

I found that as time went on, I wanted to move teeth better without having to remove teeth to make the space for that movement. I wanted orthodontic treatment to be more comfortable than it was with regular braces. I was not satisfied with regular braces.

There are lots of good orthodontists who use regular braces with the O rings or the ones with the clips and achieve good results. Some orthodontists do not believe that the Damon braces are any better. I rely on my experience with regular braces for over twenty years and what I am seeing now with Damon braces. I would not return to the way I used to straighten teeth.

Getting the most out of Damon braces requires learning many new techniques and skills. It has been a challenge to use them to their full advantage, but my staff and I agree that the work we have done to learn the Damon System has been very rewarding. We love our Damon braces, but more importantly we love what they can do for our patients and their smiles.

Check out the Damon brace website to learn more:

http://www.damonbraces.com/index.php

Hey You Didn't Tighten My Braces

No. We do not routinely “tighten” your braces.

First what is “tightening” the braces? It is not turning a screw. You may be relieved to know this.

You can think of tightening the braces as making a change to the braces that increases or changes the pressure on your teeth. Your teeth are not sensitive so much to pressure, but CHANGES in the pressure. Of course when you first get braces, the change in pressure is large even though we are starting with very gentle wires. Your teeth feel it.

Quickly, your teeth get used to that pressure and it becomes normal. Your teeth are now much more comfortable, but they are still getting pressure from the braces and wires. They are moving lots, even though your teeth are now used to the pressure and there is little discomfort.

One of the big advantages of Damon braces (the ones we use) is that we do not have to change the wires as often. The wires work for longer periods of time to keep the teeth moving. When we do change the wire, or make another change to your braces, you will likely feel that change in pressure. You will call that “tightening” the braces, and it is a good way to describe it – your braces do feel tighter. Quickly, the teeth will get used to that change and the discomfort will go away.

When we do change the wire with the Damon braces, the change in pressure is less than with traditional braces. This means less frequent and gentler “tightening” of your braces.

Good news all around. So rest assured. We will see you for appointments to check your progress with the braces. We want to see how you are doing and how your teeth are moving, but in a number of cases we will not have to tighten the braces. In some cases we may only change one of the wires.

As the captain of the ship says “steady as she goes”, and I might add “comfortable as she goes”.

So What is the Best Way to Straighten Teeth?

New technology is everywhere. We live in a wonderful world where new ideas pop up everywhere and are made into reality faster than ever.

Braces have been around a long time. With all that modern technology, what is the best way to move teeth to achieve that great smile? Short answer – braces. Good news though – braces have never been better. Technology has moved braces into high gear.

A brace is really a handle that is placed on each tooth. It allows us to precisely and efficiently move each tooth into the best position for that great smile. You need that precision for the best smile, in the shortest time

A retainer is a removable plastic, or plastic and wire appliance. It does not stay in permanently, which can be an advantage, but it has huge limitations. Aligners are a variation on retainers. There are new aligner systems that take this old technology and make it more useful to move teeth, but braces remain the best way to move teeth.

Why are braces the best?

The best way to move teeth is the way nature moves teeth – with steady and gentle pressures. Moving teeth is not like moving a heavy box across the floor. With our braces we are applying light pressures on the teeth that tell the body where we would like the teeth to move. The teeth move when the body tissues, bone and ligaments, begin to adapt to allow the teeth to move. These adaptations need gentle forces to occur. Heavy forces do not work as well and neither do forces that are not steady. You can play the trumpet for a few hours a day and not move your teeth even though the pressure to your front teeth is high. Teeth are designed to stay put with such pressures that are high and not constant.

Retainers and aligners do not move teeth as well because they tend to use higher pressures and the pressures are less steady. They work, but not nearly as well as braces. Retainers and aligners do not give us the same precise 3-dimensional control that we get from braces. And if retainers or aligners are not worn enough during the day and night, the teeth will not move.

I love the idea of clear retainers and aligners to move teeth. I remain convinced that so far, braces remain the best way to achieve the best smile. I am committed to being the best I can be, using the best tools I can find. That is why I use braces to move teeth, but not just any braces.

Tomorrow I will discuss the different kinds of braces.

Question-Who Puts the Braces in Your Office?

Along with my regular posts, I will be answering questions. These will be shorter posts.

So... who does put the braces on in our office?

I do. No one else is given this very important task. I have never delegated this job.

I have wonderful staff who are highly experienced in orthodontic treatment. They do wonderful work and help me deliver the best care.

My staff, Elena, Erin, and Erin (confusing I know - 2 Erins) prepare the teeth to be bonded, but I place the brace on the tooth in the proper position. Elena, Erin or Erin will then use the light to set the glue.

I want the brace to be in the best position possible. I do this because it is such an important part of achieving that great smile, in the shortest time, in the most comfortable way - you know - OUR MISSION.

Our Mission for You... and For Everyone

We believe that getting straight teeth and a great smile should be as short as possible and as comfortable as possible. That is our mission. We believe that our patients, parents and families, dentists, dental hygienists, and dental assistants believe the same.

We use this mission to guide our decisions in everything we do in the office. Now what do we mean in this mission? I want to look at the different parts of our mission and discuss what we mean by them. I will be talking a lot more about these things in the future. But briefly for now:

1. Straight teeth are well aligned with no crowding or spaces, with a good fit of the upper and lower teeth.

2. A great smile is one that fits the face beautifully. It is nice and wide, is youthful, and supports the lips.

3. Orthodontic treatment should not take any more time than necessary. We are not in a hurry like a racehorse. But we are trying to straighten the teeth and achieve that great smile as efficiently as possible. This means that we want to start your treatment at the best time for your teeth and jaw growth. And it means that during your treatment we are doing as much as we can to move the teeth efficiently toward that great smile.

4. We also believe that orthodontic treatment should be as comfortable as possible. We want to minimize your discomfort and inconvenience. We want your treatment to proceed as smoothly as possible.

I hope this gives you a better idea of what we mean by our mission. I have chosen this mission because it was one that we - I and my staff - can be passionate about. It fires us up and inspires us. It makes it easier for us to make decisions for your treatment. We use this mission to guide us in everything we do. Everything is a balancing act and we cannot always maximize everything in a way we would like. But this mission gives us the target we are aiming for, with no doubts.

I am going to be talking about this a lot more in future posts. This mission is really in my mind all the time, and for all the posts.

This mission is our guiding star. It is why we come to work every day.

Overview of Orthodontic Problems

So an orthodontist straightens teeth?
Yes.
So what are crooked teeth?
What can an orthodontist do?

To answer these questions, lets start at the beginning. What is a malocclusion? - a fancy word for crooked teeth.

A malocclusion can be thought of in three broad categories of problems:

1. Teeth that do not look good - appearance of the teeth and smile
2. Teeth that do not work well together - the "bite" or the occlusion of the upper
and lower teeth
3. Teeth that are hard to look after and keep healthy

These problems are often related. Many people have teeth that are giving them problems in all three areas. Sometimes not. Sometimes a problem is only showing up in one area and not so much in the other areas. And of course, these things can change with time. A single problem may spread into other areas.

Orthodontists help people in these areas by moving teeth to:

1. Make the teeth and smile look better
2. Move the teeth and change the way they fit together to make chewing easier
and more comfortable
3. Make the teeth easier to keep clean and take care of

That is the broad outline of orthodontic problems and what orthodontics can do.

I will be going into more detail about each of the three main areas and talk more about what orthodontics can do to make your life better and healthier.

Introduction and Welcome to my Blog

Welcome to my blog. I am an orthodontist who wants to have a conversation with the people I serve - patients, parents, dentists, dental hygienists, dental assistants, dental receptionists, and dental lab people - anybody connected with teeth, braces, and health. I guess almost everybody.

I want to teach people about teeth, smiles, braces, and orthodontics, from my view as an orthodontist. And I want to learn from you. I want to know your views and ideas on these things.

If you have ever had to write or even explain something, you soon realize that you learn a lot yourself from doing that. Just putting things down to paper (or computer) teaches you a lot. I am look forward to doing that and learning from the process.

And of course feedback from you will teach me a lot too. This leads to the conversation part - back and forth - learning as we go.

This is my first blog. I don't even have a website quite yet.

NO WEBSITE? No. I love the web - I love the chance to research things - find out about new things etc. etc I have always intended to have a website, but I wanted a unique website that reflected me, and my office. I never wanted a regular website. I am also a bit of a perfectionist - I wanted the perfect website.

Well I finally decided that perfect was going to take forever so now is the time for me to jump off the dock and plunge in - time to get started. In discussing my web presence with the great team I work with, I also realized that a blog is a perfect way to make my website informative and topical. It is the perfect tool to work with my website to have this conversation with you.

Here I am. I am looking forward to this.