Dr. Daniel Alexander Flores, DDS, MS

Typically, Invisalign, or clear aligner treatment, takes 6-18 months to complete, depending on the severity of the problem that needs to be corrected and the treatment goals the patient and the orthodontist agree on. Other factors that determine the length of treatment are: compliance with wearing the aligners full time, keeping all appointments, maintaining ideal oral hygiene, and limitations of clear aligners to achieve certain tooth movements. Please see your local orthodontist to see if clear aligner treatment would be a good treatment option for improving your smile and bite and achieving your goals.

Daniel A. Flores, DDS, MS

Please do not attempt to tighten your retainers at home. Please make an appointment with your orthodontist to have your retainers cleaned, checked, and adjusted as needed. Attempting to tighten or adjust your retainers at home may place adverse forces or remove retention stability on or from your teeth and cause them to move out of position.

Daniel A. Flores, DDS, MS

Yes, unless otherwise instructed by your orthodontist, you should wear your Invisalign aligners at night as well as during the day. Only remove your aligners to eat and brush and floss your teeth. Please make an appointment with your local orthodontist to see if clear aligner treatment would be a good treatment option for you.

Daniel A. Flores, DDS, MS

Dentofacial orthopedics is the guidance of the bones around the teeth to a more normal position and relationship with surrounding bones with orthopedic forces in order to achieve better facial balance, esthetics, function and harmony.  Since the teeth are attached to the maxilla and the mandible, they benefit from placing the bones in their correct position, because they are now in their correct position and lined up better with regards to the opposing teeth. So, a combination of orthopedic and orthodontic forces are sometimes necessary to obtain facial balance and a good bite or occlusion. Dentofacial orthopedic treatment is usually best done when the patient is still growing and this correction helps the jaws and teeth to function better when you eat, as the teeth protect each other and chew food more efficiently. When teeth are lined up correctly, they are easier to brush and floss, experience less wear, and thus will last longer. Please see your local orthodontist to see what kind of treatment would be best for you.

Daniel A. Flores, DDS, MS

Teeth are not set in stone! That is what allows an orthodontist to move teeth that are crooked and create amazing confident smiles! Teeth are held in place, in their bone sockets, by periodontal ligaments, all of which are very much alive and active. Without a retainer, your teeth will not stay in place and they will eventually shift due to external forces caused by the tongue, lips, cheeks, habits (tongue thrust, finger/thumb sucking, pencil/pen biting, etc.), eating, sleeping positions, posture, periodontal inflammation, teeth clenching and grinding, etc. So, if you do not want your teeth to shift, use retainers. That is why orthodontists give their patients a set of retainers after orthodontic treatment and recommend lifetime wear to maintain the alignment of their teeth. After full-time wear for 6-12 months, followed by 6-12 months of nighttime wear, patients can reduce retainer wear time to 1x/week for life. Please see your local orthodontist to determine what type of retainers would be best for you and how often you should wear them.

Daniel A. Flores, DDS, MS

If your retainer hurts, you should stop wearing it and see your orthodontist as soon as possible. Your orthodontist will check your bite, teeth and retainer and determine the cause of the pain and adjust your retainer, as needed, if possible, to stop the pain. You may need a new retainer due to shifting of your teeth or warping of the retainer.

Daniel A. Flores, DDS, MS

Yes, you may get Invisalign, Clear Correct, or any other type of clear aligner orthodontic treatment with an implant. However, it is very important to NOT move the implant orthodontically during your clear aligner treatment, as it will NOT move. All of the other teeth around the implant can be moved and aligned as best as possible. Implants should NOT be attempted to move, as they are directly attached to the bone and will NOT move and attempting to move them may cause them to become loose and fail. Please call your local orthodontist to see what kind of treatment would be best for you with regards to your bite and implant.

Daniel A. Flores, DDS, MS

Yes, you can use a normal toothbrush for braces. However, there are special orthodontic toothbrushes available, that will help you brush and clean your braces much easier, more efficiently and effectively. These toothbrushes are usually part of your starter kit that is given to you, after you begin your orthodontic treatment. The orthodontic assistant will show you how to use each different brush to help you keep your braces and teeth clean and sparkling. Please call your local orthodontic specialist to see if you need braces and discuss the different orthodontic toothbrushes that are available.

Daniel A. Flores, DDS, MS

If your teeth move after having braces, it is usually due to not wearing your retainers. We instruct our patients to wear their retainers full time for the 1st year after getting their braces off, then nighttime the 2nd year, and taper down to 1x/week the 3rd year and continue that regimen the rest of their life. Options for you, should your teeth move after having braces, are: 1-put the braces back on and align the teeth; 2-use clear aligner therapy, like Invisalign and Clear Correct, to align the teeth; 3-Spring aligner or active retainers to align mild movement; and 4-passive retainers to hold the teeth in their current position and prevent them from moving any further. Please see an Orthodontist, a specialist in Orthodontics, about these options for you and remember to wear your retainers for the rest of your life.

Daniel A. Flores, DDS, MS

Gum pain can occur from braces due to pressure from compression and tension from expansion due to the teeth being moved or from direct pressure from orthodontic appliances or braces on the gums. Also, oral hygiene (brushing and flossing) are very important, as braces trap food very easily, and if you are not keeping your teeth very clean, the gums will get inflamed and infected, which will cause gum pain. Also, when braces are placed, proper nutrition is important, so even though you are avoiding foods that can damage your braces, please continue to get proper nutrition and vitamins, as lack of vitamin C, B, and K can cause gum pain. To reduce gum pain, take Tylenol or Advil, use a gel with benzocaine to help numb the gum areas that are painful, get proper nutrition, and keep your teeth and braces very clean. If the pain persists, please see your orthodontist or dentist.
Good luck with your braces.

Daniel A. Flores, DDS, MS

Yes, most braces move the teeth every day, depending on the braces, wires, and appliances being used, until the active forces become inactive. That is why you go in to see your orthodontist for a new wire, or a retie of the elastic ligatures or chains, or an adjustment of the wires or appliance periodically, which activates the forces again, and continues to move your teeth. At first, the activation can cause discomfort, which is usually taken care of with Tylenol or Advil. However, once the teeth are set in motion, the discomfort level drops dramatically, and you are able to proceed with your orthodontic treatment with little or no discomfort. Call your local orthodontist for a consultation and begin your journey toward an amazing, life-changing smile today!

Daniel A. Flores, DDS, MS

No, you do not need Invisalign to fix one tooth. However, you could use Invisalign or Clear Correct or another clear aligner system to fix that one tooth. Other options would be limited braces in the area of the one tooth needing to be fixed and/or removable retainers with active springs and wires to move the one tooth into alignment. Usually, when it appears that just one tooth needs to fixed, other teeth are involved that need to be moved also, to allow the "one" tooth to be moved into alignment successfully. Please contact a local orthodontist, a specialist in orthodontics, for a consultation to go over your treatment options to fix that "one tooth."

Daniel A. Flores, DDS, MS

Yes, crowns can be used on front teeth. Please see your dentist to go over the many options for crowns on the front teeth. Some of the options are the following: veneers, full porcelain crowns, and porcelain fused to metal crowns.

Daniel A. Flores, DDS, MS

Braces do not change the way that you talk. After you first get your braces on, there is a period where your lips, cheeks, and tongue adapt and adjust to them, but that takes only a few days and does not change the way you talk.

Daniel A. Flores, DDS, MS

It all depends on the severity of the problem that is being corrected by the rubber bands. Typically, if rubber bands are worn full time, 20-22hrs/day, an adult can expect about a 1/2mm correction/month. So, if your bad bite needs a 4mm correction, typically, you would need to wear your elastics about 8 months. After the bite is corrected, more rubber bands, finishing elastics, may be needed to help settle your bite into place for about 2-4 months, as needed. Call your local orthodontist for an exam to see if you would need rubber bands to correct your bad bite.

Daniel A. Flores, DDS, MS

Yes. Teeth can be straightened with a retainer, depending on the which tooth and how severe the tooth is out of alignment. Certain teeth and certain movements are easier to move and achieve with a retainer. However, the retainer usually has to be modified by adding springs or wires  and/or acrylic to apply pressure to the teeth that need to straightened. Also, sometimes, attachments can be added to teeth that need to be aligned to allow the wires on the retainer to move the teeth in the desired direction. Spring aligner is the name for a retainer used to move teeth. Call and make an appointment with an orthodontist to see if a spring aligner retainer would be a good option for you to straighten your teeth.

Daniel A. Flores, DDS, MS

One of the best ways to brush your teeth with braces is to use a Waterpik, which sprays a stream of water from a hand held wand to your braces and removes all of the food and plaque trapped on your braces and teeth. It even cleans in between the teeth, just like floss. Also, an electric toothbrush like Sonicare or Oral-B, are great for brushing braces and teeth and have special brushes for braces. Your orthodontist may provide one or more of these products. If you are going to brush your teeth manually, use a soft bristle orthodontic toothbrush, a proxy brush, and a Platypus flosser to keep your teeth and braces clean. Brush and floss after every meal and do thorough job around each bracket. Braces are a great food trap and you want to remove the food as soon as possible, to remove any acids from the food or plaque, which will decalcify your teeth and cause staining and/or cavities. A minimum of 2 minutes to brush your braces and teeth, with attention to detail will keep your teeth healthy during your orthodontic treatment. 
Good luck, and keep those braces and teeth clean.

Daniel A. Flores, DDS, MS

Absolutely! If you have a missing tooth, you can still get braces. In fact, braces can usually correct your bite and prepare the space where you have a missing tooth for an implant, bridge, or partial denture, to replace your missing tooth and allow you to function as if you had a full set of teeth. Another possible option with braces is the possibility to close the space of the missing tooth, depending on your bite and situation. So, call your local orthodontist and get a consult to go over your particular dental situation and discuss some treatment options.

Daniel A. Flores, DDS, MS

Braces typically stay on from 12 to 36 months, depending on the type of bad bite, amount of crowding, and the severity of the bite. There are many options to correct your bite with orthodontic treatment, for example: braces come in silver, gold, light silver, and ceramic; clear tray aligners are available; and lingual braces, which attach to the back of your teeth and virtually invisible. Call your local orthodontist to see what option would be best for you.

Daniel A. Flores, DDS, MS

It all depends on what kind of condition the teeth that are going to get crowns are in. If the teeth are in good shape, but have large restorations, but stable, wait until orthodontic treatment is completed. Then, your general dentist can make the perfect crown to fit the new position of your teeth. However, if the teeth are broken down and in need of immediate repair and a crown is the best option to save the tooth, then get the crowns before orthodontic treatment and your orthodontist will place the teeth in the best possible position.

Daniel A. Flores, DDS, MS