Discover your smile and enjoy a healthy life

Smiling is a powerful human contact and is an important gesture and communication cue.  It identifies you, your moods, your appearance and your outward expression.  It sends a signal to the receiving person that you are warm, connected and open to connect to others.

Your smile affects your biological health:  

According to Discovery Communications¹, the human face typically has 43 muscles.  To initiate a smile, your brain first send out nerve signals to cause certain facial muscles to express a smile.  This signaling process turns on other parts of your brain, such as the hypothalamus, to release chemicals that directly impact your sensory responses.   Through the pipelines, a gesture of smiling can cause your body to release many good chemicals, such as oxytoxin, to make you happy, excited, contentment.  The same gesture can minimize stress.  At the cellular levels, your body produces less cortisol, a chemical that put your through fight and flight and wear down your body overtime.  Essentially, by smiling, you take active steps to promote healthy heart, lower blood pressure, reduce stress, reduce anti-aging chemicals, and lives longer². 

Your smile affects your confidence:  

To live a passionate life, you need the confidence to explore and engage in many new adventures in life.   To gain this confidence, it is easier to start out with a straight and pleasant smile.  Unlike crooked teeth which wedge food particles and collect stain, straight teeth are easier to brush and minimize food impaction.  Straight teeth allow you to brush and floss better to reduce cavities and bath breath.  Straight teeth can improve your speech and reduce risks of temporo-mandibular joint dysfunction.  These parts contribute toward your confidence and how you carry yourself.  With a short visit to the orthodontist, you can seek more information on how to achieve a dazzling smile.

Your smile affects your overall life:

When you open yourself and smile to others, you invite new friends, make more connections and enjoy life happiness.  If you have crooked teeth, unaesthetic gaps, or protruding teeth and that causes you to be afraid to smile, we here can help.  Dr. Nancy Phan at Care Orthodontics in San Jose CA can help you create a dazzling attractive smile.  Achieving straight teeth and a confident smile may be easier to achieve than you thought.  Nowadays with the added benefits of thinner brackets, cosmetic brackets, clear braces and Invisalign, you have many options and can choose a treatment that most fitted for you.

Our office offers:

• Invisalign - clear removable aligners for adults and teenagers
• Metal and ceramic braces – catering to your individual need
• Headgear – to correct bad bite and different type of malocclusions
• Retainers – to replace lost retainers or after orthodontic treatment 
• Dr. Nancy Phan is a Board-certified orthodontist and dedicated many years to bring out the true beauty of your smile and strong bites.   Visit our website at www.CareOrthodontics.com or call Care Orthodontic today at 408-971-2885 to schedule an appointment.

References:

1)       https://blog.bufferapp.com/the-science-of-smiling-a-guide-to-humans-most-powerful-gesture

2)       https://www.reference.com/science/many-muscles-face

How long would my braces treatment take?

How long would my braces treatment take?  At Care Orthodontics, we get asked this question a lot.  It’s understandable because you want to fix your teeth but get the job done quickly so you can get back to your normal life as soon as possible.  On average a case may take 2 years.  However, there are variations in treatment time depending on individual variations such as complexity of dental crowding, overbite, overjet, degrees of jaw deviation, patient’s age, bone density, bone biology and the health of the gum and jaw. 

For a child who are less than 10 years old:

Children this age may need a phase I braces or also called interceptive braces.  Phase I braces takes an average 18 months.  Instances when children need a phase I treatment such as small jaw, constricted jaw, or misaligned jaw.   In some children, their jaws may be too small to fit all their teeth and a phase I jaw expander can help to create space for permanent teeth.   In other children, genetic factors may cause a misalignment in both upper and lower jaws.  These children may need other orthodontic appliances such as to elongate one jaw and restrict growth on the opposite jaw.  The purpose of phase I treatment is to fix jaw discrepancy and to create balance facial skeletal structure. 

For a teenager between 10-14 years old:

During this age range, teenagers usually have all permanent teeth already and would need full braces or comprehensive orthodontic treatment.  Full braces can take anywhere between 18 months to 2 or 3 years.   On average treatment time takes 22 months.  During comprehensive treatment, all of bite issues would be corrected and all the permanent teeth are finalized in the permanent position.  At the end of treatment, the permanent teeth have to occlude well, to help the individual chews food well, and to articulate well.  Some sounds required teeth shield and lip shield and occasionally a bad bite can prevent a good lip shield to interfere with communication.  A good occlusion must satisfy many esthetic requirement to give a good smile. Your smile is the focus of your face and your presence. Thus is must serve a a vehicle to display your best esthetic profile and exude confidence when you communication with others.  

For an adult who are 18 years or older:

For adults, braces may include correction the teeth along with other complexities such as orthodontic dental relapse, orthognathic surgery (jaw surgery), or orthodontic treatment in the presence of periodontal disease such as deep gum pockets, bone loss, bone resorption, or gum recession.  Some adults may have missing teeth and will need braces in additional to prosthetic correction such as porcelain crowns, dental filling, dental implants, dental bridges, etc.    Treatment time varied due to the complexity of each case and the degrees of collaboration among dental specialists and dental insurance to collaborate, communicate, and render care.  

Braces treatmentfor your smile:

If you are thinking about getting braces, the best recommendation is to schedule a face-to-face orthodontic consultation so the orthodontist can evaluate your bite, feel your teeth and give a customized treatment plan that is specific to your need.

Our office offers:

• Invisalign - clear removable aligners for adults and teenagers
• Metal and ceramic braces – catering to your individual need
• Headgear – to correct bad bite and different type of malocclusions
• Retainers – to replace lost retainers or after orthodontic treatment 

Visit us at www.CareOrthodontics.com or contact Care Orthodontics in San Jose CA at 408-971-2885.  Dr. Nancy Phan is a Board-certified orthodontist and dedicated many years to find and bring out the true beauty of your smile.

Which retainers should I get: fixed or removable?

At the end of braces or Invisalign treatment, patients often ask which kind of retainers are best to have, removable or fix?  There are advantages to each one and Dr. Nancy Phan at Care Orthodontics can give you recommendations on the ones that are most appropriate for you.  To educate yourself, it is also very helpful to know the difference between these retainers.  Below are the breakdowns of pros and cons for each type.

Removable retainers:   They are best retainers since they allow you the flexibility to remove while you eat, brush, floss and important social events while wearing them at night and initially during the day while the braces first come off to keep your teeth well aligned and in shape.   Of the category of removable retainers, there are 2 kinds:  Hawley and clear retainers.  Hawley retainers are often seen with a wire run across the front teeth and a customized process acrylic adapted to the back of the teeth.  This type of retainers is thick and durable; however, they require 2 weeks of adjustment time when first wearing them.  The clear retainers are made out of a special kind of clear, shape-performance plastic to wrap around your teeth.  These retainers are very thin, comfortable, and satisfactory both esthetics and retention requirements.

Fixed retainers are glued-in retainers:  There is a piece of wire that was glued behind your front teeth.  These retainers are great in that they are ‘fixed it and forgot it’.  They are in 24-7 and you don’t have to remember to put on retainers.  However, these retainers require more maintenance care.  You need to use a special tool called ‘floss threader' to floss daily.    It usually takes a few minutes longer to floss with fixed retainers daily.  They are also required to be checked periodically by your general dentist or orthodontist for stain or breakage.  If any of the cement broken off from any of bonded teeth, they need to be fixed or the teeth may move.  Also these retainers tend to break overtime and may need to be switched over to removable retainers in the future.

So, which retainers should you choose?  Although some orthodontists may recommend upper removable retainer and lower bonded retainer, at Care Orthodontics, Dr. Nancy Phan often recommends upper and lower removable retainers for ease of care and cleanliness.  Ultimately, the most important thing is to wear retainers as directed, regardless of which type.  As long as you wear retainers, you will be able to retain your best smile results.  

Give our office a call if you wish to schedule a complimentary consultation.  Our orthodontist is Board Certified and committed to the highest standard of excellence.  For more information, please visit our website, www.CareOrthodontics.com.

Remind me again…what is so important about keeping my teeth clean?

What is so important about keeping your teeth clean? Let’s cover the why and how, even if you wear braces.

Why is it important to clean your teeth?

Whether you have baby teeth or permanent teeth, you want good healthy teeth so you can eat well, live well and enjoy a life free of pain, disease and discomfort. Once you lose all your baby teeth, it is even more urgent that you work hard to keep your teeth healthy, since you only have ONE set of permanent teeth. They are so precious because, if you lose one, you lose it for life. 

If you don’t brush well, you can develop decalcification, which is equivalent to having scar marks on your teeth. These spots are not only unaesthetic, but they weaken your teeth and lead to higher chances of cavities and decay. Tooth decay leads to pain associated with things like fillings, root canal treatment, expensive restoration, crowns, bridges, fillings, implants and even dentures. Unhygienic brushing can lead to gingivitis, gum disease, bone loss or tooth loss.

While you can go through oral rehabilitation to restore your teeth once they are broken or damaged, it is best to prevent these things from happening in the first place. You will save yourself pain, time, expense and headaches, and maintain great oral health. Getting braces is not an excuse for inadequate brushing.  You need to spend more time to remove plaque and bacteria that sits around the brackets, teeth and gum surfaces.

By taking good care of your teeth while wearing braces, you will gain the benefits of having healthy teeth and a confident smile. 

How to keep your teeth clean:

Begin with good daily habits. Brush your teeth at least 2-3 times daily after meals. Flossing is equally as important as brushing. Flossing allows the removal of food and bacteria in between the teeth and gums to keep them healthy. 

If you have children, explain the reasons to them. Teach them the skills, and help them maintain daily discipline and habits of brushing and flossing. Visiting your family dentist twice a year is part of an important oral heath regimen.

Care for your teeth while wearing braces:

It is even more important to maintain good oral hygiene while wearing braces. There are more surfaces for food to get stuck around the braces and in between your teeth. You need to brush, floss and remove plaque daily to keep your teeth clean, prevent bad breath, and avoid irreversible damage to your teeth and gum tissue.   

Dr. Nancy Phan recommends avoiding sticky foods and carbonated drinks. The sugar in these items can create an acidic environment and easily break down enamel, which can cause damage to the teeth.

Dr. Phan and the staff at Care Orthodontics can give you a list of foods to avoid while wearing braces and instructions on how to brush, floss and take care of your teeth while undergoing orthodontic treatment. Visit us at www.CareOrthodontics.com for more information.

7 tips to care for Invisalign aligners

There are some important things you need to know while wearing aligner trays. Here are 7 tips that will help you properly care for your Invisalign aligners:

1. Remove them to eat. You should not wear aligners while eating since food will accumulate in the trays. The food particles make your trays unappealing. More importantly, the acidic food particles and bacteria can quickly demineralize your teeth and cause many issues such as cavities, stains and hyperflourosis.

2. Except for with water, remove them to drink. Drinking carbonated or sugary drinks with the aligners in place can lead to the demineralization of teeth, which can cause cavities and bad breath.

3. Brush your aligners daily. To maintain the crystal clear invisible look that Invisalign are known for, the aligners need to be brushed daily. Dr. Phan recommends brushing aligners three times a daily, every time you insert them back in the mouth after a meal, with soap and water.

You can also brush with toothpaste and water. You can use aligner cleaning tablets or a sonic cleaner machine to clean aligners. The ultimate goal is remove stains and build-up around aligners in order to keep them looking nice - clean, clear and free of yellow stains.

4. Keep your aligners away from heat. Your aligners are made out of a special type of proprietary shape-memory plastic material. However, as with any type of plastic material, if you leave them out on your car dashboard or near the window where the sun gets too hot, the plastic can get distorted and your tray may not fit properly. If you soak your aligners in hot water, they will shrink and will not fit properly.

5. Keep your aligners in the case when not in use. From time to time, Dr. Phan finds some patients lost the trays or they threw them out in the trash by accident because they forgot to carry the case. Occasionally, someone may step on them while they are out of the case or on the floor, and now the trays no longer fit. Remember, your trays are your medical correction device.

If you had a ventilation machine, you would not throw it, kick it or step on it and expect it to work properly. The same goes with your orthodontic correctional devices; they are custom-made to fit the shape of your teeth and are programmed to move your teeth, so you need to handle them with care.

6. Remove the aligners to chew gum. Chewing gum while wearing Invisalign damages the material and the retention of the trays, thus affecting the fit and the programmed movements.

7. Do not soak the aligners in mouthwash. Many mouthwashes have color pigments and they can stain the trays.


If you have any questions regarding tips and advice to achieve a successful Invisalign experience, contact our orthodontic office, www.CareOrthodontics.com.

Why should I have an orthodontist put on my braces?

Many people are curious about general dentists and orthodontists. The common misconception is that both can put your braces on, and both give you the same results. The truth is that most general dentists are not trained to handle braces. The results are not comparable.

In dental school, most dentists receive only introductory courses in orthodontics, not enough to provide comprehensive treatment. Some pursue extra courses after dental school to learn how to apply braces, but general dentists are not orthodontists. They do not go through all the required hours of training or take the required tests. They are not certified by the Commission of Dental Accreditation (CODA), a division of the American Dental Association (ADA) that oversees and monitors the nine specialties existing in dentistry.

General dentists routinely oversee the health of your teeth and gums. They perform exams, cleanings and checkups. They treat oral diseases such as cavities and infected lesions, and restore teeth and gums. They monitor and maintain your general oral health.  

Orthodontists routinely work on diagnosis, prevention and correction of malocclusion, or poor bite. Their job is to focus on the reconstruction of your smile. Their day-to-day activities focus on correcting the position of the teeth, bite, face and jaw to create beautiful smiles. Orthodontists do not practice general dentistry.

All orthodontists must go through two to three years of additional post-graduate study after dental school to specialize in orthodontia, the straightening of the teeth and jaw. They attend an accredited specialty program recognized by the ADA and the American Association of Orthodontists (AAO).  They must pass all the prerequisite courses and clinical training hours to be certified as a dental specialist. 

Orthodontics is one of the nine specialties in dentistry. Orthodontists focus on different types of bad bites such as over-bite, under-bite, open-bite and bite asymmetry. They are responsible for bite correction in children and adults using braces, arch wires, orthodontic devices, dental orthopedic appliances and removable appliances, such as Invisalign clear aligners. They may also work with an oral maxillofacial surgeon to plan and treat surgical cases, such as cleft palette or treatment for patients who need a combination of braces and jaw surgery to correct their bite.

Just as you go to a family physician for a physical check-up but go to a plastic surgeon for cosmetic surgeries, you go to a specialist because they have advanced training and they do these procedures daily. The same applies to your dentist and your orthodontist. Dr. Nancy Phan is a specialist in orthodontics. For more information, visit us at www.CareOrthodontics.com.

How to avoid bad breath while wearing braces or Invisalign

The road to a beautiful and straight smile is through braces or Invisalign. Orthodontic treatment is an investment in your smile and your life, but it takes time and commitment to clean your teeth and appliances. You need to do it correctly so that you don't accumulate food and bacteria that can lead to bad breath.

Here are ways to eliminate bad breath so you can smile and talk with confidence while going through orthodontic treatment. Some of the tips listed below can apply for both braces and Invisalign wearers. Use them as you see fit.

Fresh breath tips for the braces wearer:

1. Eat a healthy diet. Protein-rich foods, vegetables, fibers and grains are easily digested, minimizing the potential for bad breath. Foods that have high calcium content such as low-fat yogurt, cheese, milk and other dairy products support strong bones and healthy teeth, and do not contribute to bad breath. Sugary foods tend to stick on teeth longer and contribute to bad breath. When carbohydrates sit on the teeth for too long, bacteria in the mouth start to ferment, secreting acid and causing decay, which in turn causes the secretion of sulfur gas and leads to halitosis, the technical term for bad breath. 
2. Drink less sugary products. Since anything with sugar tends to contribute to bad breath, try to cut down on juice, carbonated soda, and other sugary drinks. Not only you will cut down on bad breath, you will cut down on getting cavities.  
3. Brush and floss after each meal. If you brush and floss your teeth right after each meal, you dislodge any remaining bits of food so that they do not stick around in the mouth long enough to cause bad breath. Brushing and flossing also reduce your risk of getting tooth decay and stains.  
4. Use a water flosser. A water flosser will displace most plaque and bacteria that sit right above the gum and around the brackets to keep your mouth clean and cut down on bad breath.
5. Scrape your tongue in the morning. The tongue traps more than 50 percent of bacteria that contribute to bad breath. In the morning, use a tongue scraper to clean and scrape your tongue for one minute. You will get rid of most of the bacteria that excrete sulfur gas and contribute to bad breath.

Fresh breath tips for the Invisalign wearer.

1. Brush your Invisalign trays 2-3 times daily. Food particles and build-ups around the trays contribute to bad breath so brush them well and keep the trays clean. 
2. Maintain good oral hygiene. Brush and floss your teeth daily to keep your teeth clean and fresh.  
3. Remove trays while you are eating. Eating with the trays in the mouth contribute to more food impaction, more risk of tooth decay, and more bad breath. Always take the trays out while you eat, whether you are at home or in public.  
4. Keep your mouth hydrated. A dry mouth will lead to bad breath. By sipping plenty of water, you will keep your mouth hydrated. If you are out and about and cannot brush your teeth after a meal, then take a sip of water and swish around to clean out lodged food. If water is not available, licking your teeth for about 20 to 30 seconds and bath your teeth in saliva so that saliva can wash out food and bacteria to cut down on bad breath.  
5. Rinse your mouth with Listerine to get rid of more bacteria and leave your breath minty fresh.  

Whether you wear braces or Invisalign, don't forget to get regular cleanings and cavity check-ups at your general dentist. Cavities and gum diseases are the primary reasons that contribute to having bad breath. When you see your family dentist, you get regular detection to prevent these oral diseases, and minimize bad breath.

Together you, your general dentist and the Care Orthodontics team will monitor your teeth. Take care of your teeth and smile and you will maintain fresh breath during your orthodontic treatment. For more information, visit our website at www.CareOrthodontics.com.