Our office offers the following services for orthodontics:
Phase I treatment is used to treat dentofacial disharmonies and improperly erupting permanent teeth. Many of our orthodontic patients have a history of thumb or finger habits, mouth breathing, extended bottle or pacifier use, or other habits which have contributed to the mismatch of the upper and lower jaws. We evaluate every patient to ensure the upper and lower jaw are properly sized and matched for optimum function and facial appearance. Additionally, Phase I orthodontics aims to encourage the eruption of permanent teeth into the proper position at the proper time. It may involve an appliance such as an expander, a limited set of braces on the permanent teeth, removal of some baby teeth, or a combination of the above.
Phase II treatment is used to treat all the permanent teeth and the bite. Some conditions treated in Phase II include crowding, spacing, flared teeth, overjet, overbite, underbite, and missing or impacted permanent teeth. Dr. Francesca will meet with you and your child and discuss the best methods to treat your child’s malocclusion.
Invisalign can be used to treat a variety of malocclusions. Invisalign aligner trays are worn 22 hours a day (daytime and nighttime) and can be removed for eating and brushing. Using our iTero digital scanner and Invisalign, Dr. Francesca will customize your treatment plan and provide you with aligners which can be worn full time to align the teeth and correct the bite. Certain treatment needs are best treated with Invisalign whereas others are better treated with traditional braces. You can discuss this as a treatment option with Dr. Francesca.
Due to the nature of our pediatric practice, Dr. Francesca sees a lot of patients who would benefit from orthodontics to improve not only their teeth and bite but also improve their breathing, speech, sleep, or other non dental benefits. Using an airway focused approach, Dr. Francesca may refer your child for evaluation with a myofunctional therapist, an ENT, or a tongue tie specialist to address factors that may be contributing to your child’s malocclusion and overall health.
Retainers are the final phase of orthodontic treatment. Teeth shifting to unfavorable positions, even after orthodontics are completed, is part of the natural aging process. This can be prevented or minimized by wearing retainers. Dr. Francesca recommends wearing your retainers for life to maintain the beautiful smile you achieved with your orthodontic treatment. We offer a retainer assurance program for our patients to ensure they always have a set of back up retainers on hand.
