Early Orthodontic Evaluation

An early childhood orthodontic evaluation can yield excellent results.

Even if a child is too young for braces, it is not too early for an orthodontic evaluation. Some children, as early as 5 or 6 years of age, may benefit from an evaluation.The evaluation is best performed by an orthodontist. An orthodontist can determine whether preventative or interceptive treatment may be indicated.

Malocclusions (bad bites) often become noticeable between the ages of 6 and 12, as the child's permanent (adult) teeth erupt. Children may experience crowding of teeth, too much space between teeth, protruding teeth, extra or missing teeth and sometimes jaw growth problems. Other malocclusions are acquired - such as those caused by thumb or finger-sucking, mouth breathing, dental disease, abnormal swallowing, poor dental hygiene, the early or late loss of baby teeth - and develop over time.

Orthodontic treatment often begins between the ages of 7 and 14. Treatment that begins while a child is growing, often referred to as "interceptive orthodontics," helps produce optimal results. To achieve optimal treatment, children should have an orthodontic evaluation no later that age 7. By then, they have a mix of primary (baby) teeth and permanent teeth. Your child's dentist can spot problems with emerging teeth and jaw growth early on, while the primary teeth are present. That's why regular dental exams are important.

Orthodontist are trained to spot subtle problems with jaw growth and emerging teeth while some baby teeth are still present. Early detection of orthodontic problems in young children may make it easier to correct those problems in the long run. Waiting until all of the permanent teeth have come in, or until facial growth is nearly complete, may make correction of some problems more difficult and even impossible. For these reasons, the AAO (American Association of Orthodontists) recommends that all children get a check-up with an orthodontist no later than age 7.

Problems with Braces

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When you have orthodontic braces, you may experience some problems at times.  For example, at first you may have some soreness or tooth pain.  If you eat something you are not supposed to eat, you can break parts of your braces.  You may also find that the orthodontic wires may start to poke and irritate your lips or cheeks. This video will cover common braces problems and how they can be handled at home. If you have a problem that you cannot resolve on your own, call your orthodontist’s office. Your orthodontic team will be able to give you advice on how to solve the braces problem yourself or schedule you the appropriate appointment so that your problem can be fixed.

Top 10 Tips for Keeping Your Braces Clean!

Keeping your teeth clean is more important than ever when you have braces. Food bits have more spots than usual to hide in your mouth, so you must be diligent in order to avoid bad breath, swollen gums, discolored teeth and cavities. If you remove plaque regularly during treatment, you’ll experience better results and shorter treatment time. Keep plaque at bay with these top ten tips:
1. One tooth at a time. When you brush, take time with each individual tooth – at least 10 seconds each – and pay careful attention to the spots where your teeth touch your braces.
2. It’s all about the angles. Brush the tops of your teeth and braces with your brush angled down toward where they meet. Brush the bottoms of your teeth and braces with your brush angled up.
3. The tooth, the whole tooth, nothing but the tooth. While the front surface of your teeth may seem like the most logical to clean, it’s equally important to clean the inner surface of your teeth (tongue side) as well as the chewing surface. And be sure to clean along your gum line – a key spot for plaque buildup.
4. Step 1: eat, step 2: clean. While you’re in treatment, it’s important to brush after every meal. Bits of food can easily get caught between braces and teeth, and these food bits interact with bacteria in your mouth to cause decay. The longer food is in contact with your teeth, the greater opportunity for plaque to form. If you are eating somewhere that you can’t brush, thoroughly rinse your mouth with water.
5. Like a Boy Scout, always be prepared. The easiest way to be sure you can brush after every meal is to get in the habit of taking a toothbrush, toothpaste and floss with you wherever you go. Designate a special container just for your teeth-cleaning tools and keep it in your purse, backpack, or laptop case.
6. Remove the moving parts. If you have elastic bands or headgear, remove these parts before you brush or floss.
7. Fluoride is your friend. Fluoride helps prevent cavities. Be sure to brush with fluoride toothpaste, and rinse with fluoride mouthwash.
8. Pointy brushes reach tiny places. Interproximal brushes (sometimes called proxa brushes or interdental brushes) are cone-shaped and come in very handy for reaching spots around your braces that standard brushes can’t.
9. Find the floss for you. Regular floss works for some patients, but others find it easier to work with a floss threader, which helps you get the floss into tight places. Other patients like an all-in-one product called Superfloss, which comes with a stiff end for easy threading, a spongy section for cleaning wide spaces, and regular floss for narrow spaces.
10. Make time for the pros. It’s your job to take care of the everyday cleaning. But make sure to visit your dentist regularly while in treatment, to get the deep, thorough cleaning that only a professional can provide. If you need help finding the right Dentist for you, feel free to contact our office – we’d love to help!
Hope this helps!

Stephen Yang, DMD, MS
52 Arch St, Ste 2
Redwood City, CA 94062
650-366-5758

Don't Sabatoge Your Orthodontic Treatment

Straightening your crooked teeth and solving your bite problems are not something that can be done in days. It’s not done in weeks either, but many months, even 2-3 years, depending on the severity of your case. This means you need to get ready for a long ride and have enough patience to successfully finish the treatment.
Your treatment means wearing some sort of an orthodontics device for as long as needed, plus many other bits and pieces that will come and go as your teeth get into the desired position. From now on you need to make sure you don’t make your orthodontics treatment even harder than it already is.

1. Clean that mouth!

If you weren’t too crazy about your oral hygiene, it’s time to change your attitude. All the stuff that’s in your mouth makes it now super-easy for cavities to appear. You’ve got braces and god knows what other stuff on your teeth. Clean them and make sure you still floss and keep your teeth as clean as possible. Being serious about this can make the difference between healthy teeth at the end of the treatment and teeth that are almost destroyed by cavities. It’s true you cannot have crystal clear teeth with all that junk on it, but, if you don’t brush and floss, you’d be shocked to see what can happen.

2. It won’t kill you to stay away from some food that would damage your orthodontics devices.

I know you like your chewing gum. If you’re an American, chewing this is almost a national sport. And you like your nuts and pistachios maybe. Or some good ole’ pop-corn. Well, if it can damage your braces, just don’t eat it. I love green apples. Well, I don’t bite into them as I’d normally do, but cut them to small pieces or just bite carefully. During my entire treatment I stayed away from almonds or anything that’s too tough to chew.

3. If it breaks, go to the orthodontist

If you’re brackets come loose or something is not OK, call your orthodontist and see if you can get an appointment. Don’t panic, most of the time brackets would come loose because they didn’t stick to the tooth correctly, and it’s something your doctor knows how to fix and expects all the time. Just make the call, see when you can meet and have it solved. It won’t be the first time or the last time something breaks, so don’t worry.

4. Don’t miss your appointments

If your orthodontist told you to come once a month or twice a month, don’t get smart and miss appointments. He’s the one to know how much attention your braces need and how frequent they need to be checked. While you’d love seeing your orthodontist once per treatment, when he takes off your braces, do follow the appointments calendar and make sure you’re not missing them.

5. If you have to wear it for 22 hours, then make sure you do

I’ve had people ask me “how much do I need to wear my Invisalign”, trying to see how much they can keep it off their teeth and still not mess the treatment. Well, you know, if it says “as much as possible, then wear it as much as possible. If you need to wear a device 10 hours/day, wear it 12, if you need to wear something over 20 hours, make sure it doesn’t get off unless you’re eating and brushing. It’s needed for your treatment, don’t mess it up just because you’re not feeling like wearing that.
You have to understand that everything is FOR YOUR GOOD and your orthodontics treatment can be a success and a failure and you’ve got a lot to decide on this. Do your part. Clean your teeth, wear your devices, don’t mess up your own treatment. Because it’s you who’s got to suffer.

March Madness Contest!

It's time for March Madness!  For those who don't know what March Madness is, it's a National college basketball tournament with 64 teams.  The tournament is about 2 1/2 weeks long and after 6 rounds of play, one team emerges as the national mens college basketball champion!

So how is this fun for us?  You guess which teams will win each round, and for every correct answer, you get a certain number of points.  The 3 players with the most points at the end of the tournament will win prizes!

Our prizes:

Grand Prize:  $5000 towards Braces treatment if you get all your picks correct for the entire tournament. 

1st place: $25 iTunes gift card

2nd place: Pair of movie tickets

3rd place: $10 Starbucks gift card.

Entering the contest is easy because we have created a special Yahoo Group for our patients and family members to join.  All it takes is a few simple clicks to select your teams.  The cool part is that at any time during the tournament, you can login and see how you are doing compared to everyone else that is playing. 

To enter our March Madness Contest, please follow this Tournament link:  http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/t1/register/joinprivategroup_assign_team?GID=43982&P=smiles

 

OR

Follow the link below and click "Join Group"

http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/t1/register/joingroup

 

 

The Group ID#:   43982

Password:   smiles

 

You will need to sign in with a Yahoo, Facebook, Google account, or create an account.

Patients AND family members are welcome to play!!!

***Note: To win the grand prize, you must get all teams correct for entire tournament.  If no player gets all the picks correct (a perfect bracket) then the Grand Prize will not be awarded.  Of course the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes will still be awarded.  Valid entries must be received by the start of the tournament the morning of March 17.



Good Luck!!!



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Stephen S. Yang, DMD, MS

Holman & Yang Orthodontics
Specializing in Creating Beautiful Smiles
52 Arch Street #2
Redwood City, CA 94062
Office: 650-366-5758
Fax: 650-366-0714
http://www.orthodontistrwc.com/

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April 2011 Invisalign Treatment & Study

Save $1000 on Invisalign Treatment

April 2011 Invisalign Study

Would you, or someone you know like to enjoy the benefits of straighter teeth and a beautiful smile? If so, then this might be a great opportunity!

Dr. Stephen Yang, an Invisalign Orthodontist and Preferred Provider, is conducting a study for Align Technology, Inc., the makers of Invisalign. The study is for new patients of the practice that want to start treatment with Invisalign. Participants of this study will receive $500 off of the normal Invisalign fee AND free Diagnostic Records ($500 value) for a total savings of $1000.



Conditions for the study:

1. Participants must be new patients of the practice and MUST NOT be a current or former patient of the practice.
2. Participants must begin Invisalign therapy during April of 2011. That means initial impressions for therapy are received by Align Technology between April 1 and April 30, 2011.
3. Participants must agree to permit their orthodontic records, including photographs, to be used for educational purposes by Align Technology, Inc.. Participants must sign an agreement form.

This study has a limited number of participants and may be discontinued at any time.

Stephen S. Yang, DMD, MS, Inc.

Invisalign Preferred Provider

52 Arch Street, #2, Redwood City, CA 94062

(650) 366-5758

http://www.orthodontistrwc.com/

Cutest Pet Contest

Okay, I know everyone thinks their pet is the cutest & now you have your chance to prove it! Here are the details of the "Cutest Pet Contest". There are 4 categories: 1)cutest dog 2)cutest cat 3)cutest (?) reptile 4)cutest bird/hamster/bunny. Prizes: dogs & cats - pair of movie tickets, reptiles & all others - Baskin Robbins certificate. Rules: 1)bring or mail in pictures w/name & number 2)multiple pets can be entered but only one win per player allowed 3)all entries must be turned in by Friday, April 29, 2011 4)there will be 4 winners total! After the April 29 deadline, we will have the patients cast their votes for 2 weeks.

Office Renovation

We've updated our office! New paint, new flooring, & new carpet! Don't be surprised when you walk in the door. We hope you like the changes!

March Madness Contest

March Madness Contest!! Grand prize:$5000 towards Braces Treatment!! 1st place:$25 iTunes gift card, 2nd place:pair of movie tickets, 3rd place:$10 Starbucks gift card. To qualify for the grand prize, you must get all teams correct for the entire tournament! Instructions will be posted Sunday, March 13 on our Facebook page (facebook.com/yangortho) on how to enter the contest online. Valid entries must be received by the start of the tournament on March 17.

Complimentary Consultations at Yang Orthodontics

At Holman & Yang Orthodontics, we genuinely care for our patients' well being while providing clinical excellence and cutting edge technology. We know the impact that a good orthodontic experience has in a person's life and we strive to ensure that each contact with our patients and their families is a positive one.

One of our commitments as your redwood city orthodontist is first meeting with you to help you explore all of the options available to you or your child. We offer complimentary consultations for those in interested in orthodontic treatment. At the exam you will have time reserved with Dr. Yang, who will assess your particular needs as well discuss treatment options available and answer any questions you may have. We place a high value on making sure you have complete information before beginning treatment.

If you have been thinking about obtaining the dazzling smile you've always wanted, we invite you to give us a call at (650) 366-5758.

We look forward to meeting you!

Dr. Holman, Dr. Yang and team

Have you ever looked at a dental website and thought, “What a bunch of cheesy stock photos! I bet those people don’t even go to that dentist or orthodontist.” Well we are redesigning our website and are looking to avoid using “cheesy stock photos.” Instead, we would like to use genuine photos of our real patients, but we need your help.

We are looking for photos of patients by themselves or with other family members. We will be selecting about 5-10 photos (or maybe more) to be used in our website and other promotional materials. For each of your photos that we use, you will receive either a $10 iTunes, $10 Starbucks, or $10 In-N-Out Gift Card. Of course, we will also need your permission to use these photos.

If you would like to participate in our Website Photos Contest, please send a maximum of 10 Photos to yangorthocontest@gmail.com by Sunday March 6, 2011. We will review all the entries by the following week and notify winners. Hurry! You only have one week to submit your photos!

Thank you!

Dr. Holman, Dr. Yang, and Orthodontic Team