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Life with Braces

Posted on by Dr. Thomas Weber

Life With Braces
Congratulations on beginning your orthodontic journey! We are excited to be taking this step with you. We are here to make sure this is an amazing experience for you and your family. Here is what you can expect to feel immediately after getting braces and throughout your treatment. You are on your way to achieving the beautiful, healthy smile you deserve!

General Soreness

When you get your braces on, you may feel general soreness in your mouth and teeth may be tender to biting pressures for three to five days. Stick to a soft diet until your teeth do not hurt when chewing. Rinsing your mouth with a warm salt-water mouthwash can relieve this soreness. Dissolve one teaspoonful of salt in 8 ounces of warm water and rinse your mouth vigorously. If the tenderness is severe, take Acetaminophen (Tylenol). Aspirin, Ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil) and Naproxen Sodium (Naprosyn, Anaprox) slow the tooth movement, so it is not advisable to use them frequently while wearing braces.

Your lips, cheeks and tongue may also become irritated for one to two weeks as they toughen and become accustomed to the surface of the braces. You may use wax on the braces to lessen this.Read More

Retainers After Orthodontic Treatment

Posted on by Dr. Thomas Weber

Retainers
You’ve worked hard for your beautiful smile, so let’s keep it that way! After your braces are removed, the next step is to keep the teeth in their new position, which is done with retainers. Dr. Weber will recommend how often and for how long you will wear your appliances. It’s important to follow his recommendation, to ensure your teeth alignment after braces removal is maintained. Orthodontic treatment is an investment, and retention is for life.

Types of Retainers

Weber Orthodontics offers both fixed and removable retainers to keep your smile beautiful and your bite healthy.

  • Hawley Retainer: Removable, and made of hard plastic, with wires that wrap around your teeth.
  • Essix Retainer: Removable, and made of clear plastic. They fit over your teeth, and look similar to Invisalign® trays.
  • Permanently Bonded Retainer:  Fixed — they are bonded to the back of teeth, and are not visible to others.

Damon Smile Self-ligating Braces

Posted on by Dr. Thomas Weber

Damon Smile Self-ligating Braces

Dr. Weber is Proud Provider of Damon Smile Self-ligating Braces

The Damon Smile System of self-ligating braces is not just about revolutionary braces and wires, it’s a whole new way of treating our patients. Traditional metal braces are often less comfortable, and may require removal of healthy teeth and/or the use of palatal expanders to make space. The Damon System does not require any of these treatments. It also allows for a shorter treatment time, meaning you get your braces off sooner.

Results, The Damon Way

As a Certified Damon Smile System doctor, Dr. Weber combines three key components to deliver faster treatment, greater comfort, and consistent, high-quality results:

  • Damon Smile System of passive, self-ligating braces eliminates the need for elastic or metal ties. No tightening is necessary with Damon braces, which means fewer appointments.
  • Light, high-technology shape-memory wires move teeth faster and require fewer adjustments.
  • This new, clinically-proven approach aligns your teeth with significantly less friction, usually allowing treatment without teeth extractions or rapid palatal expanders.

What is the difference between clear aligners and clear braces?

Posted on by Dr. Thomas Weber

If you search the web for “clear braces,” you’ll probably get mixed results, and some conflicting information on what clear braces actually are. Let’s delve into this, to clear up any confusion and help determine which treatment may be best for you.

When someone talks about clear braces, they will be referring to one of two orthodontic treatment options: traditional braces that utilize clear (versus metal) brackets, or Invisalign® clear aligners. Technically, Invisalign® is not braces, but this treatment does get lumped into the same category, since it can correct all the same orthodontic problems as braces.

Traditional Braces Utilizing Clear Brackets

metal-braces-colored-elasticsWe are all familiar with braces. With traditional braces, metal brackets are glued to each tooth, then connected together with a metal archwire. Silver or colored elastics are then placed around the brackets, to provide friction for the wires that are threaded through each one. All these metal and colored components in your mouth are going to be very noticeable.Read More

PROPEL to Decrease Orthodontic Treatment Time

Posted on by Dr. Thomas Weber

Dr. Weber offers an innovative option for enhancing your orthodontic treatment, called PROPEL Orthodontics. PROPEL is “a patented, FDA-registered medical device specifically designed to create micro-osteoperforations.” Basically what this means is that very tiny punctures are created in your jaw with this device. These tiny punctures cause a localized inflammatory response, increasing blood flow and cytokines to the area. Increasing cytokine activity increases “bone remodeling activity.” Bone remodeling activity simply means teeth moving.

Not surprisingly, the word “puncture” is probably enough to make you cringe and say, “Nope. No way!” But, let’s dig a little deeper, before making final a decision on being for or against PROPEL.

First off, if you do have PROPEL treatment done at Weber Orthodontics, you will always have either a topical anesthetic or a novocaine injection, similar to getting a filling at the dentist. This means you’ll be numb and ensures you won’t feel any discomfort during the procedure. PROPEL can be performed at any of your regular appointments.Read More

Add AcceleDent to Lessen Orthodontic Discomfort & Treatment Time

Posted on by Dr. Thomas Weber

Weber Orthodontics offers an innovative add-on option for orthodontic treatments, called AcceleDent®. Let’s take a look at how this product works, and then delve into whether or not its claims are substantiated by actual users.

How does AcceleDent® Work?

You start orthodontic treatment because your teeth need to move. They may need to move up, down, left, right, forward, backward, or even rotate! When your teeth move, it’s because of something called bone remodeling. Force is applied to the teeth, which mobilizes osteoblast and osteoclast bone cells in the teeth’s roots. This mobilization = teeth movement.

AcceleDent® utilizes a bite tray that delivers micropulses to your teeth and jaw bone, for 20 minutes a day. The vibrations put the activity of those bone cells into high gear, speeding the rate at which teeth can move.

AcceleDent®-Aura-how-it-works
Makes sense, right? The cellular activity is what makes the teeth move, so if you increase the activity, you increase the speediness of the movement. Which means less time in braces or Invisalign® clear aligners, and who isn’t thrilled about that concept?Read More

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