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562-860-6626

13017 Artesia Blvd, Suite D120, Cerritos, CA 90703

Dentist Cerritos

Jesmine Boghawala DDS

10929 South St #110B

Cerritos, CA 90703

 (562) 860-6626

How Long Will My Orthodontic Treatment Take? 

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Modern orthodontic treatments, such as braces or Invisalign, can help solve a variety of misalignment issues, improve oral and general health, and boost the appearance of a smile. But how long will an orthodontic treatment take? Please read our article, in which we discuss this question. 

 

How Long Will My Orthodontic Treatment Take? 

All orthodontic treatments work via dental appliances that gradually apply pressure to the teeth so that they move in the jawbone and the gums and take the desired position. Naturally, this process can not happen overnight and requires some time. The length of the orthodontic treatment depends on several factors that vary from patient to patient:

  • The severity and complexity of orthodontic issues that have to be fixed
  • The presence of jaw alignment issues
  • The age of a patient
  • The type of treatment chosen
  • The consistency with which a patient wears their orthodontic appliances

In general, orthodontic treatment take anywhere between 6 months to 2 years, with the majority of cases taking around 17 months. Fixing a minor teeth misalignment will take less time than addressing complicated issues. Remember that this is just an approximation of how long you can expect a treatment to take. Only a qualified orthodontist can give you more precise information after a comprehensive examination of your particular issues and the condition of your teeth and gums.

 

Main Types of Orthodontic Treatments

The two most popular orthodontic treatment methods today are traditional metal braces and Invisalign. In general, orthodontic treatment with Invisalign takes the same time as that with traditional braces, provided that the issue is the same and that a patient wears their appliances consistently. However, there are several differences between these two options.

 

Invisalign

  • Invisalign is better suited for milder cases of misalignment and might not be recommended in severe and complex cases.
  • Invisalign treatment is effective only if you wear it for the recommended 22 hours a day and remove it only when eating and brushing your teeth. If you remove your aligners more often, you may significantly prolong the treatment or find that it does not deliver the desired results.
  • Invisalign is easier to clean than traditional braces, as you can remove it from your mouth and clean it separately. Also, you will not need to adjust the way you brush and floss your teeth, as you might need to when wearing braces.
  • Invisalign is typically more expensive than traditional braces.

 

Traditional Braces

  • Traditional metal braces can fix a wide variety of orthodontic issues, including very severe cases because their composite materials can withstand a lot of pressure. 
  • Braces can not be removed at will, which makes them an ideal type of treatment for people who would find it challenging to wear Invisalign aligners all the time. 
  • Traditional braces might make oral hygiene slightly more challenging due to metal wires. 
  • For some patients, traditional braces might be more uncomfortable to wear than Invisalign, as their metal parts can rub the soft tissue in the mouth.

Additionally, your dentist might offer lingual braces or ceramic braces as orthodontic treatments. These appliances function similarly to traditional braces but might be more appealing to some patients because they are less noticeable in the mouth. Palate expanders, headgear, and retainers can also treat some orthodontic issues.

 

Benefits of an Orthodontic Treatment

An obvious benefit of an orthodontic treatment is a more aesthetically pleasing smile. However, not everyone knows that orthodontics can also have a positive impact on your oral health and even your general health and quality of life:

  • Straighter teeth are easier to clean effectively, so orthodontic treatment can reduce the risk of cavities and gum disease.
  • Infections in the mouth are closely associated with illnesses of other organs in the body. Good oral health and a mouth free of infections can prevent general health complications such as heart, lungs, joints, gastroenterological issues, and blood sugar level issues.
  • Orthodontic treatment can also help solve or reduce the risk of TMJ disorder, neck pain, back pain, and headaches, thus improving quality of life and energy levels.

 

Make an Appointment at Innovative Smiles

To start your orthodontic treatment, do not hesitate to call the Innovative Smiles dental office today and make an appointment with an experienced dentist. Our specialists will examine your orthodontic issues and offer you an optimal method of treatment that will suit your lifestyle and budget. We look forward to your visit. 

Tips for Improving Your Braces Treatment

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It’s important to care for your oral health during braces treatment. There are a number of ways to ensure your treatment is effective and that you stay on your treatment timeline. Each patient is uniquely different so it’s important to consult with your orthodontist about how to ensure your braces treatment goes as planned. However, there are some basic tips that can help you achieve your desired smile. Consider the following tips for improving your braces treatment!

Tips for Improving Your Braces Treatment

Braces are an effective orthodontic treatment option. It can address a variety of dental issues and leave you with a beautiful smile. Consider the following tips for improving your braces treatment.

Follow Your Orthodontist’s Braces Treatment Instructions

While this may seem intuitive, many people forget to follow their orthodontist’s instructions for the duration of their braces treatment. This can impact the success of your treatment, in addition to possibly extending your treatment timeline. Because each patient is different, your treatment instructions will be catered to your unique needs. This is especially helpful as any issues that arise can be modified at your regular checkup appointments.

Consistent and Effective Daily Oral Care Routine

Braces can make your oral care routine a little longer as you’ll need to pay close attention to all of the hard-to-reach places between your teeth and gums. It is imperative that you brush your teeth at least twice a day for two minutes. Most dental professionals recommend brushing after every time you eat. Leftover food debris can combine with harmful bacteria and cause oral health issues. Despite having braces, you still need to floss every day. Keeping your teeth clean and your braces free from debris is necessary to avoid oral health issues that can derail your braces treatment. Talk with your orthodontist in Cerritos to determine what oral care products are right for you.

Attend Your Dental Appointments

Assessing your progress is necessary to ensure that your braces treatment is going as expected. This is why it’s important to attend your regularly scheduled dental appointments during your braces treatment. Your appointments may entail a number of things, including replacing the rubber ties that hold your wires into place, removing your wires, and placing new rubber bands onto your braces. The orthodontist will also assess your progress and adjust your treatment as necessary. Avoid skipping or rescheduling your dental appointments during braces treatment if possible.

Retainer Use Post-Braces Treatment

Braces treatment doesn’t end when you get them taken off. In fact, the aftercare is just as important as your actual braces treatment when it comes to preserving your results. Wearing your retainer is a crucial component of your orthodontic journey. If you don’t, your teeth begin to immediately shift back into the position they were pre-braces treatment. This can happen fairly quickly and some people even need to get braces or other orthodontic treatment again. Avoid this by wearing your retainer for the recommended amount of time.

Braces Treatment in Cerritos

If you are unhappy with the look of your smile, consider braces treatment. Braces can address a number of dental issues, including issues with your bite, jaw alignment, and crooked or overcrowded teeth. There are a number of orthodontic options that can be used to address these issues. The type of treatment depends on your unique dental issues. Invisalign, ceramic, lingual, metal, or even invisible braces can be used.

The team at Jesmine Boghawala DDS has helped patients achieve their desired smile through orthodontic treatment. They are also skilled in general dental care in Cerritos. Contact their office today to schedule an appointment!

Health Risks of Crooked Teeth

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Crooked teeth aren’t just an aesthetic problem. Crooked teeth may prevent you from speaking and smiling confidently, and that can certainly have negative side effects. However, there is a far more direct health risk associated with crooked teeth. The fact is that crooked teeth are much harder to clean. Crowding in certain areas can make it nearly impossible to floss and brush properly. Over time that means people with crooked teeth are much more likely to suffer the effects of tooth decay and gum disease.

Braces as Health Care

When your orthodontist in Cerritos suggests using braces or another orthodontic tool to help straighten your teeth their concerns are medical. Straight teeth are much easier to clean with a conventional toothbrush. Straight teeth also provide the space necessary for conventional floss, which is more taxing but also more effective than other methods. By giving you an improved canvas for your daily oral hygiene your orthodontist hopes to save you from serious oral diseases down the line.

Health Risks of Crooked Teeth

When we talk about tooth decay and gum disease, it’s surprisingly common for the average person to downplay their severity. As a society, we seem to be under the impression that these conditions aren’t serious, are completely reversible, and have no bearing on our general health. This could not be further from the truth. Our oral health is closely intertwined with practically every major bodily system we have, but the most important thing to keep in mind is that your teeth and gums are directly connected to your bloodstream. As a result, any infection you develop in your oral cavity can spread to the rest of your body if it is not contained.

First there remains the real health risks associated with tooth decay and gum disease. But also there’s the lifetime cost associated with managing those conditions. Fillings, crowns, scaling, dental implants, etc. Even though they don’t cost much on their own. Still, they can certainly add up over your lifetime. Unfortunately, even with proper care, crooked teeth are more likely to experience repeated problems as a result of crowding, so they can actually be quite expensive in the long run.

Addressing Crooked Teeth

Ideally, you would have your teeth straightened as a child to prevent years of possible damage and decay. However, there’s no reason you can’t have your teeth straightened as an adult. It won’t undo past damage. But straightening your teeth makes it much easier to limit or completely eradicate future decay or infection in the affected areas. With the promise of a healthier mouth and a more attractive smile, it’s hard to see the downside.

The only possible problem is the aesthetic appearance of your smile while you’re completely your treatment program. Many adults are worried that conventional braces will make them look immature or weird. This is a perfectly valid concern. But the good news is that there are many highly effective options available to help you avoid exactly that.

In addition to conventional metal braces Jesmine Boghawala DDS in Cerritos offers Invisalign, ceramic, lingual, and invisible braces. The range of options means that there is a treatment that will work for you. Do you want removable trays for easy eating? Or would you rather have your braces on the backs of your teeth where no one can see them? Either way, you will find an approach that will allow you to have the straight, healthy teeth you deserve. It will just take a little patience, but you’ll be done before you know it.

How to Floss with Braces?

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Flossing with braces can be a bit of a chore, but it is absolutely necessary to maintaining your oral health. Luckily, a number of tools can be used to help make flossing with braces much easier. Floss threaders and waterpiks are chief among them. With the help of these handy little tools, you’ll keep yourself and your orthodontist smiling the entire time you’re in braces. Let’s look at how to floss with braces.

The Importance of Flossing

Flossing is vital to maintaining the health of your teeth as well as your gums. It’s great for removing food that might be stuck between teeth in those hard-to-reach places, but the most important part of flossing has to do with gum health. If you’re flossing properly, then your floss should follow the curve of your gum as you guide it in between each set of teeth. This helps the floss gently remove food and bacteria underneath the gum without harming the sensitive tissue. As a result, flossing helps to prevent your gums from becoming infected.

How to Floss with Braces?

Obviously, brackets and wires really get in the way of traditional floss. Experts estimate that it might take a person between 10-15 minutes to floss their teeth if they’re struggling to thread a bit of floss in between all of those wires. Fortunately, there are a couple of tools that you can use to give yourself a hand and significantly reduce the time commitment required to protect your teeth and gums.

Floss Threaders:

Floss threaders are ideal for people with braces or permanent retainers, as they give you a more stable way of guiding the floss over and under your wires. Basically, it’s a super-thin, over-sized plastic needle. You can usually get these disposable tools at your orthodontist’s office or your local drug store. When you go to floss, all you have to do is take about 24 inches of floss and thread it through the collapsible eye of the floss threader. Then use the threader to pull your floss around the wires, allowing you to floss normally.

Waterpiks:

A Waterpik uses pressurized water to clean between your teeth and around your gums. To use a Waterpik, all you have to do is fill the reservoir with fresh water. Put the water delivery apparatus in your mouth, and close your lips almost all the way while still holding the water delivery apparatus. Bend over your sink, and turn the Waterpik on. You’ll receive short-rapid bursts of water that you will need to gently guide along your gumline as you let the used water flow out of the corner of your mouth.

Dental Tape:

If you haven’t always had great oral hygiene habits, then you may have difficulty using traditional floss or a floss threader due to how swollen your gums are. If that is the case, then using an alternative like a Waterpik or dental tape is a good way to go. Dental tape is simply ultra-thin floss that is gentler on swollen gums. As long as you stick to a normal oral hygiene routine, that sensitivity and swelling will gradually subside, and it will be easier for you to floss normally.

Asking for Help from the Top Cerritos Dentist

If you are struggling to floss and aren’t sure how to improve your experience, then feel free to ask your dentist for advice. At Jesmine Boghawala DDS their dedicated dentists, orthodontists, and staff want to make sure you get the most out of your experience. That includes making sure that you have a healthy, beautiful smile when you finally complete the journey for straighter teeth.

When Should Your Kid Get Braces?

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Being a parent is hard. You always want to do what is best for your children, but you don’t always know exactly what that is. When it comes to their health and wellness, it’s even more complicated. Everyone has an opinion, and misinformation flows freely around the internet, giving people ample opportunity to take advantage of it. That is why you have to pick who you can trust when it comes to protecting your children as they grow up. But when should your kid get braces?

If your concern is your child’s teeth, then look no further than your local dentist. At Jesmine Boghawala DDS, the top orthodontist Cerritos has more than nine years of experience providing patients with the highest quality care. During your initial appointment, the doctor will examine your child’s teeth to determine their overall condition and see how many baby teeth remain. As a general rule, your child’s orthodontist will want to start braces once all of their baby teeth have fallen out, and the majority of their adult teeth have come in. For many kids, this means they will start their braces between the ages of 8 and 14.

Two Different Approaches

Depending on your child’s needs and your orthodontist’s judgement, you may choose one of two paths to start your child’s orthodontic care. Your family dentist Cerritos will be with you every step of the way. There is the interceptive approach and the traditional approach. The interceptive approach may start before all of your child’s adult teeth have come in and uses smaller orthodontic devices to start the straightening process early. The idea is that if they can adjust sets of teeth as they come in, it gives the other adult teeth the opportunity to grow in straight where space has been made for them. The process isn’t right for everyone and remains a source of contention in the field.

You see, some orthodontists believe that the traditional approach is better, as the child tends to spend less time overall with orthodontic devices on their teeth. In the interceptive approach, the orthodontist must make educated guesses regarding how the adult teeth will grow in. By studying your child’s x-rays, they can make space where it is needed with smaller devices. However, it isn’t a full-proof system, which is why some orthodontists prefer to wait until the adult teeth have already replaced the baby teeth entirely. The traditional approach allows them to deal with known factors only and removes the need for estimation.

What’s Right for Your Child?

At Jesmine Boghawala DDS, your child’s orthodontist will help you make the right choice for them. By studying their x-rays, observing the size of the teeth in relationship to the jaw, and asking about family dental history, your orthodontist will advise you on the best possible path for your child. These all help determine when your kid should get braces.

To get a better understanding of what is shaping their recommendation, feel free to ask questions. Here are a few that can help you compare options.

  • How long will the entire process take?
  • Is this approach likely to spare my child discomfort or pain?
  • How much will it cost?

To make sure you have the opportunity to choose between the interceptive approach and the traditional approach, you should take your child in for an early evaluation at around age 7. It may be too early for your child, but starting the discussion when they’re young will give you access to the full range of options and allow you time to make an educated decision based on your conversations with the orthodontist. By engaging in the conversation early and taking the time to have all your questions answered, you can be sure that you are making the right decision for your child at the right time.

 

562-860-6626

13017 Artesia Blvd, Suite D120
Cerritos, CA 90703


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Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday: 9AM-6PM
Thursday: 9AM-6PM
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Jesmine Boghawala DDS
10929 South St #110B
Cerritos, CA 90703
Phone: 562.860.6626
Mon, Tue, Thur, Fri - 10:00AM - 7:00PM
Sat by Appt.