Jaw surgery is generally reserved for skeletal bite problems — cases where the upper and lower jawbones themselves are mismatched in size or position — rather than dental bite problems, where the teeth are misaligned but the jawbones are proportioned normally. Most bite issues fall into the dental category and
Braces and Invisalign don’t directly cause gum recession, but a few related factors during orthodontic treatment can contribute to it — most commonly inconsistent oral hygiene around brackets and wires, pre-existing thin gum tissue, or teeth that are moved outside the boundary of the surrounding bone. Recession during treatment is
No, wisdom teeth don’t automatically need to come out before getting braces — the two are only connected when a wisdom tooth is actually causing or contributing to a crowding or space problem that affects the rest of the teeth. Many orthodontic patients keep their wisdom teeth in place throughout
Yes, in most cases you can get a dental implant while wearing braces or Invisalign, though the exact sequencing depends on where the missing tooth is and what your overall treatment plan is trying to accomplish. Often an orthodontist will move the surrounding teeth into the ideal position first to
iTero 3D scanning is a digital imaging technology that captures a complete, highly detailed model of your teeth and bite in just a few minutes, replacing the messy putty impressions orthodontists used for decades. It improves treatment by giving your orthodontist a more accurate starting model, a clearer way to
No credible evidence supports the idea that chewing gum, jaw exercises, or the viral technique known as “mewing” can straighten crooked or crowded teeth. Teeth move in response to sustained, controlled pressure applied over months by an orthodontic appliance — not from muscle exercises or gum chewing, which don’t come
Most orthodontic issues can wait for a call to our office during business hours or an after-hours message, rather than a trip to the emergency room — true orthodontic emergencies that need immediate ER attention are rare, and generally involve injury to the face or jaw itself rather than a
Orthodontic treatment can genuinely improve certain speech issues — particularly ones related to how the teeth, tongue, and jaw work together — but it isn’t a guaranteed fix for every lisp, and it works best as one part of a broader plan that may also include speech therapy. Whether braces
Interproximal reduction, or IPR, is the careful, precise removal of a small amount of enamel from between two teeth — often less than half a millimeter — to create a bit of extra room during Invisalign treatment. Done correctly by a trained orthodontist, it’s a safe, well-established technique that doesn’t
