Orthodontic Services
Santa Maria Pediatric Dental Group & Ortho is excited to serve our patients. Our ultimate goal is to craft you a perfect smile that you are proud to show off. After your first examination and completion of X-rays, we will be happy to discuss all of your options. We are proud to offer several different treatment options for straighter teeth and a beautiful smile. We understand the importance of showing you all of our options and discussing them thoroughly with you. We want you to find the best treatment option for you, no matter what you choose.
We are proud to offer the following services to achieve the smile of your dreams:
Treatment for Teen
Braces are not as scary as most teens think. Technology has advanced a lot in recent years, providing us with newer styles of braces. The result is a faster, more comfortable, and more effective treatment. Braces come in different colors, styles, and materials, so your teen can customize their look and express their personality.
The first thing most patients wonder when they have to get braces is how long will they have to wear them. There is no easy answer to this question because it depends on several factors. For example, it depends on how early we catch the problem, what needs to be fixed, how your teeth respond to treatment, and how willing you are to follow directions.
It is typically recommended that children begin seeing an orthodontist at the age of seven. The earlier you catch a problem, the easier the problem can be to treat. There are also times when we find a problem, but may have put off treatment until they are older.
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Early Treatment
The earlier we catch problems with your child’s bite, the simpler they are to fix. The results are often better than if we wait and will require significantly less work. We may not need to keep braces on your child for as long when they are younger, which means less expense for you.
The American Association of Orthodontics (AAO) recommends that children visit an orthodontist as soon as their dentist notices that there might be a problem, or before they are seven years old. We may not have to do anything at this age, other than monitor the child’s mouth. However, if we continue to watch your child, we can start treatment right away if something arises.
Early intervention can be beneficial. We will watch how your child’s mouth and teeth grow and develop, so if we see something that needs to be done, we can do it as soon as possible. We will also know exactly when to start treatment, if needed.
Treatment for Adults
At Santa Maria Pediatric Dental Group & Ortho, we don’t only treat kids. We treat adults too! Healthy teeth can be moved at any age, and more and more of our patients are adults who either never had treatment or had it years ago and watched their teeth shift back. Crowding, gaps, a bite that feels off, and trouble cleaning between crowded teeth are all reasons adults come to see us.
Adult treatment is a little different. Because the jaws are done growing, some bite problems need orthodontics combined with other dental work, and we often work together with your regular dentist so everything fits into one plan. Adults also usually want the most discreet option, which is why we offer clear aligners and tooth-colored LightForce® braces as well as regular braces.
At your consultation we’ll examine your teeth and bite, take digital records, and go through every option that would work for you, including how long it would take and what it would cost.
Traditional Braces
Even though there are many types of braces, traditional braces are still the most popular option. Great strides in technology have been made since they were first used, so they are becoming more comfortable and effective.
Traditional braces use stainless steel brackets and archwires to move your teeth into their proper position. Many teenagers like to decorate their braces with different colored rubber bands to give them a colorful and unique smile. You can choose a new color (or colors) during every adjustment!
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Clear Aligners
Clear aligners are the newest and increasingly popular choice for aligning teeth. The aligners are invisible and removable, making them a top choice for teenagers and adults. The system uses clear, acrylic trays that straighten teeth just like braces and are much more comfortable.
Clear aligners are nice because you can remove them to eat, drink, brush, and floss your teeth as normal. Clear aligners need to be worn as much as possible and need to be cleaned and adjusted regularly for optimal results.
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LightForce Braces
Your smile is unique, and your braces should be too. LightForce® braces are fully customized and 3D printed. Instead of choosing from a limited set of stock sizes, we design a bracket for each of your teeth and have it printed in ceramic to match that tooth’s exact shape.
The process starts with a digital scan, so there are no impression trays and no putty. From that scan we build your treatment plan, mapping where every tooth needs to end up before a single bracket is made. Your brackets are then printed to that plan and arrive in a custom tray that seats the whole arch at once, instead of bonding one bracket at a time by hand.
The brackets are tooth-colored ceramic and come in clear or white, so they blend with your natural teeth and are far less visible than metal. Whether LightForce is the right fit depends on your case, and that is something we’ll go over together at your consultation.
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Expanders
An expander is a small appliance that widens the upper jaw. In children and younger teens, the two halves of the upper jaw haven’t fused yet, so gentle pressure over a few months creates real width instead of just tipping the teeth outward. We recommend one when your child’s upper jaw is too narrow for the lower jaw, when the back teeth bite inside the lower teeth, or when there isn’t enough room for the permanent teeth. Creating that width early can reduce crowding, fix a crossbite, and sometimes make later treatment simpler. Because the roof of the mouth is also the floor of the nose, some patients breathe more easily through the nose afterward.
Adults can be expanded too. Once the jaw has fused, a regular expander only tips the teeth, so we anchor the appliance to small temporary anchorage devices, or TADs, placed in the palate. This is called MARPE, or miniscrew-assisted rapid palatal expansion, and it lets us push against the bone itself rather than the teeth, which makes real widening possible in many adults without surgery. Placing the TADs takes a few minutes with the area numbed, and they come out once the new width is stable.
Most patients settle in within a few days. Talking and eating feel strange at first, and a small gap may open between the front teeth, which is a normal sign it’s working. We’ll show you exactly how to turn the appliance at home and how often, and we’ll see you regularly to make sure the width is developing the way we planned.
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Surgical Orthodontics
Surgical orthodontics, also called orthognathic surgery, is used for severe cases of bad bites, jaw bone abnormalities, and malocclusions. Oral and maxillofacial surgery is considered a dental specialty and helps complex cases involving the mouth, jaw, face, and skull. If your case requires surgical orthodontics, your orthodontist will work with an oral and maxillofacial surgeon to provide you with the best and most comprehensive care possible.
Surgical orthodontics helps patients improve their bites, though it can also help with other aesthetic concerns, such as facial structure and symmetry. Surgery can only be completed after the jaw is finished growing. This typically happens by age sixteen for females and age eighteen for males.
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Retention
After you have worn your braces for the appropriate amount of time, we move into the retention stage of your treatment. It is VERY important not to skip this step, or all of your hard work will not pay off as you had hoped. Your teeth may shift around or move back to where they were instead of staying in place.
During retention, you will have to wear retainers as your teeth adjust to staying in their new place without braces. You should wear your retainers as recommended by your orthodontist. Some should be worn only at night, while others need to be worn almost all of the time.
Brushing your teeth is easier in this phase, since the retainers are removable. All you have to do is remove your retainer, and then you will be able to brush your teeth better than you were able to when you had braces. You should also brush your retainer thoroughly before placing it back to your mouth.
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