dental braces Archives | Sterling Heights Dentist, Dr. Farhat of Dental 1 Care

Why Do I Need Braces for So Long?

December 3, 2019 by Claire Leave a Comment

At Dental One Care, many patients question why they have to wear braces for so long. We understand that you may want to get your braces on and off as quickly as possible. In this article, we discuss why it is so important to follow the orthodontic treatment your Sterling Heights dentist has planned. Don’t forget to look at the big picture here. Your smile and happiness mean a lot to us.

Why Braces Stay on for Long

Your teeth are firmly embedded in the jaw. In order to shift your teeth to the right position, a great deal of pressure is required. However, the needed pressure happens gradually so that the associated dental structures (periodontal ligaments, jaw, gums, and teeth) aren’t adversely affected.

Dr. Fardi Farhat explains that orthodontic treatment at Dental One Care in Sterling Heights is therefore designed to move teeth to their new positions slowly and safely. This way, the existing orthodontic problem, such as misaligned teeth, can be resolved without creating additional problems that could be hard to fix.

The treatment process may outwardly appear to belong, but it is designed in this way to keep you safe.

Can the Braces Be Removed Once the Teeth Are Straight?

While getting a beautiful smile may have been your objective in seeing an orthodontist in Sterling Heights MI, our team at Dental One Care goes a step further and aims at giving you a healthy and beautiful smile.

It is true that your teeth can look straight in a few months after getting braces. However, Dr. Fardi Farhat, a dentist in Sterling Heights, says that moving the teeth so that they look aligned is just one part of the treatment.

The second and most important part involves giving bone tissue a chance to grow and harden around the teeth that are in new positions.

It works like this; jawbone is constantly resorbing and growing. As the teeth move to their new positions, the jawbone in the old positions resorbs. At the same time, the jawbone grows in the new locations of the teeth.

As the new bone matter is deposited around the new positions of your teeth, several months have to elapse before that bone tissue hardens and holds the teeth in place. The estimated time that you are told that you will have braces for includes this time required to allow the bone tissue to harden.

What Determines How Long Your Braces Are On?

The specific duration taken during this hardening process varies from one person to another, and it also depends on several factors. For example, Dr. Tim Lyons at Lyons Orthodontics in El Dorado Hills points out that teens need a shorter time because they are still experiencing rapid growth, unlike adults whose growth spurts have come to an end.

So, we do not recommend removing the braces the moment your teeth look straight. Doing so can result in the teeth moving back to their old positions since the bone tissue around them is still soft and cannot prevent the teeth from moving as you bite, chew, or speak.

How to Avoid Prolonging the Treatment Time

Dr. Fardi Farhat, an orthodontist in Sterling Heights MI, says that some patients have braces for much longer than the estimated duration due to several factors. Some of those reasons are avoidable. Keep the following in mind to prevent having to wear braces for longer than you should.

Maintain Oral Hygiene

Brushing and flossing properly is important if you wear braces because plaque can easily trigger gum disease and other dental problems that could delay your orthodontic treatment in Sterling Heights, MI. For example, gum disease can cause your gums to swell and become red. When this happens, your dentist in Sterling Heights may be unable to access the wires and brackets in order to adjust them during a scheduled visit. That planned adjustment willM have to wait until the inflammation and gum disease has been managed. This could add a month or more to your treatment time.

Don’t Miss Appointments with Your Sterling Heights Dentist

We have already mentioned that the pressure exerted is gradual to move your teeth to their new positions. That is why your treatment plan has several orthodontist appointments spread out over several months. At each appointment, Dr. Fardi Farhat will examine you to establish how your treatment is progressing. Then, he adjusts the pressure exerted by the archwires on your braces. If you miss any of these scheduled appointments, you will have prevented your treatment from progressing to the next phase. This ultimately means an extension to the treatment duration.

Avoid this unnecessary delay to your treatment. Make sure you attend all your scheduled appointments.

Comply With the Care Instructions for Your Braces

Additionally, you can also benefit from following the instructions given to you by your orthodontist. For example, Dr. Fardi Farhat often cautions patients with braces to avoid eating hard or sticky candy. These snacks can damage or distort the shape of the brackets and wires on your braces. Hard nuts are equally detrimental. If you don’t adhere to all those instructions, the wires or brackets may break, and this will delay your treatment. Compliance is, therefore, important in ensuring that the braces will come off at the expected time.

The treatment time differs from one person to another. Ask your orthodontist in Sterling Heights MI if you’re on track to get your braces on time. If anything unexpected, such as severe tooth pain, happens during your treatment, contact us at Dental One Care immediately so that a diagnosis and remedy can be implemented in order to keep your orthodontic treatment on track.

Improve Your Smile With Cosmetic Dentistry

June 28, 2019 by sterlingheightsdentalcare Leave a Comment

Cosmetic dentistry has advanced so much that the options available to those who want to improve their smiles are so abundant that they may need help in selecting the procedure which is best suited for their needs. Here is a brief discussion of some of the cosmetic dental procedures offered at Dental One Care in Sterling Heights. Use this information to narrow down your options as you consider ways to fix any cosmetic defect you or a loved one has.

Teeth Whitening

As you grow older, the foods and drinks you consume, the medicines you take, and other factors take a toll on your teeth, thereby causing them to lose their natural bright color. When that happens, several options are available to you to restore your bright smile. For example, you can ask Dr. Fardi Farhat, a leading dentist in Sterling Heights, to prepare a customized teeth whitening tray which you can use at home to get rid of the stains in a gradual process. Alternatively, the experts at Dental One Care can perform in-office teeth whitening using a stronger bleaching agent than what is contained in at-home teeth whitening kits.

In-office teeth whitening may be more costly when compared to at-home teeth whitening, but you get quicker results, and the process is overseen by a professional. For instance, while at-home teeth whitening may take several weeks to show results, in-office whitening brings results immediately, and you walk out with brighter teeth.

Dental Veneers

You may have heard of veneers on furniture, haven’t you? Well, dental veneers also refer to thin materials that are placed on the front of your teeth for one or several reasons. For example, the veneer may be used to cover a permanently stained tooth, or it can be intended to improve the appearance of a poorly shaped tooth.

Veneers are mainly used to provide a temporary fix to cosmetic defects on the teeth which are visible when you smile or speak. You shouldn’t, therefore, consider them as a remedy for a defect affecting the teeth at the back of your mouth.

At least two visits are needed to get veneers. The first visit to Dental One Care caters for the initial consultation as well as taking an impression of the teeth upon which veneers will be placed. Color matching is also done during this visit. The second visit is for placing the veneers on the teeth once the external dental lab sends the completed restorations back to Dr. Fardi Farhat. Veneers are more complex and therefore, more expensive than dental bonding.

Dental Bonding

Dental bonding entails placing tooth-colored resins on a tooth with a minor defect, such as a chip, discoloration, or poor shape. The resin bonds with the tooth under the influence of a special light. This simple procedure can be completed in one visit to Dental One Care in Sterling Heights, unlike veneers, which require several visits. However, the material used during bonding stains and cracks easily, so you want to take better care of the bonded tooth if you want to retain the bond for years.

Dental Crowns

As the name suggests, a dental crown covers your entire tooth in the same way that a cap does on one’s head. Crowns are the cosmetic restoration of choice when serious structural or cosmetic damage occurs. For example, a tooth that has undergone root canal therapy may be so weak that only a crown will keep it together for years. Similarly, badly fractured teeth need crowns to retain their structural and aesthetic integrity.

The superior strength of crowns comes from the materials, such as porcelain, gold, and other metals, from which they are made. Crowns can be temporary or permanent. Temporary crowns are made from less durable materials since they aren’t intended to be used for long. Permanent crowns are usually fabricated by an external lab, so you use the temporary crown while you wait for the permanent one to be made. Crowns are more expensive than the cosmetic dentistry procedures described earlier, but they make up for that higher price tag by their durability.

Enamel Contouring and Shaping Procedures

If you want to make minor changes to the size, shape, and position of your teeth, then talk to the experts at Dental One Care. The Sterling Heights dentists will remove some enamel from the surface of your teeth in order to fix the defect which has you bothered. Many times, enamel shaping and contouring is done in combination with dental bonding since the removal of some enamel from your teeth can leave them weaker.

Dental Braces

Braces are primarily used to correct dental crowding, misalignment, bite problems, and jaw muscle issues. Traditionally, braces were composed of metal wires while today there are plastic nearly-invisible aligners used to move your teeth in a more discreet way. Some conditions, such as when you want to move back teeth with deep roots, are better handled by traditional metal braces while other cases, such as minor misalignment, can be fixed using clear braces. Talk to Dr. Fardi Farhat to find out if you qualify for the clear braces (Invisalign, for example). The correction of your dental defect usually takes several months as the braces are adjusted periodically while they slowly move the teeth to their new positions.

Dental Implants

Dental implants are one of the most complex and expensive cosmetic dentistry procedures. It involves the surgical placement of a metal screw (usually titanium) in your jaw and letting that metal fuse with your jawbone before a component called an abutment is placed in the implant. The top part of a tooth replacement called a crown is attached to this abutment anchored in the implant. The entire process can take anywhere from three months to more than half a year, depending on how quickly your body can heal after each of the different steps of the procedure. Nearly everyone can get dental implants since some of the limiting factors, such as bone loss, can be corrected through other procedures (bone grafts, for example). We asked our friend, Dr. Matt Laurich, a dentist in Livonia, MI, about dental implants. Dr. Laurich says dental implants are one of the best cosmetic treatments you can choose from at the dentist because they basically pay for themselves since they last forever!

Many more cosmetic dentistry procedures, such as dental bridges and procedures to fix indentations in your gums, also exist. Talk to Dr. Fardi Farhat and an appropriate cosmetic dentistry procedure will be recommended to fix your specific condition. Why stay with an imperfect smile when solutions exist?

Do I Need Dental Braces?

July 12, 2016 by Lauren Edvalson Leave a Comment

Do You Need to Start Considering Dental Braces?

The only way to determine if you need braces is to get the advice of your dentist. If you visit your Sterling Heights Dentist regularly, then you know you may have potential or existing issues with your teeth. There are many other oral health concerns that braces can address. Still, there are also many cases wherein the affected person finds himself or herself asking, “Do I need braces?” even before the problem is diagnosed. The suspicion may arise from various “inconsistencies” you might be seeing or experiencing with how your teeth look and function.

If you notice the following symptoms, it might be time to ask your dentist about dental braces and other available treatment options.

The Appearance of Your Smile

Sometimes, a simple visual inspection will tell you right away that you might need braces. Obviously crowded, crooked, overlapping, protruding and misaligned teeth are some of the most common issues that wearing braces can treat. On the flipside, teeth that are too far apart from each other may also be corrected through braces. The large spaces in between may be due to the natural growth or size of the teeth, missing teeth or misalignment between the size of the teeth and the jaw. Braces are also an option for repositioning teeth to fill in large gaps.

Your Bite or Tooth Spacing

Another way to tell if you need dental braces is through how your teeth function. For instance, you may find it difficult to chew your food properly. This can happen because your upper and lower sets of teeth do not fit well. Meanwhile, if you seem to be often accidentally biting the insides of your cheek or your tongue, this could be an indication that you have an overbite or underbite. These problems can lead to health issues such as nutritional deficiencies (especially in children), gastrointestinal issues and jaw pain. Bite problems also cause oral diseases such as cavities and gum infections, since the improper spacing between teeth can make it difficult to clean and remove food particles in the mouth.

Other Dental Issues

Some problems that do not seem to be related to your dental health can actually be a result of teeth alignment issues. These include difficulty breathing, sleep apnea, speech difficulties and headaches, to mention a few.

Talk to your Sterling Heights Orthodontist if you are experiencing any of these symptoms to know if braces and quality orthodontic care can help you.