Serenity Orthodontics Blog

Now that summertime is just around the corner, there’s a lot to smile about! The warmer weather is a tell-tale sign of sunny days, fun with friends, and relaxation to come. However, it’s important that you don’t slack off on taking care of your braces while enjoying the season. Here are five tips from your Cumming, GA orthodontist to help keep your smile healthy, sunny, and straight this summer.

Coronavirus has altered the way we learn, communicate and receive healthcare.  These are uncharted waters in which we are swimming. During a time like this where extreme social distancing is being recommended and we are all cooped up in our homes and planning what our needs will be. We understand many of you may be wondering about your ongoing or planned orthodontic care. Braces set your teeth into a healthy position like the foundation of a house. We believe Orthodontics to be an important preventive measure for a life long healthy mouth. Braces seldom require urgency and so our office is following the recommendations of the American Association of Orthodontists and the American Dental Association in postponing non-urgent care. These mandates by public health authorities to postpone all non-emergent care to are in effort to support (1) social distancing recommendations, and (2) preserve critical medical personal protective equipment for the ongoing nationwide shortage, we want you to know a number of things:

• Although the offices are physically closed, we are still here for you, and can be contacted easily by phone or e-mail. We are often able to provide important information, recommendations, or even services via an virtual visits.
• For those in active treatment, your treatment is still active, and is progressing daily. Modern braces, wires, brackets, appliances, and aligners all have in common that they “work” continually and only require assessment at proper intervals depending on their use. This means that for the most part, you need not worry about your orthodontic course progressing as planned, it is still actively placing force to give you desired results.
• Some patients may have situations that may need closer monitoring, for example, if this closure goes on longer than we expect. In those cases we have developed a method for having you deliver pictures of your teeth, braces, aligners to us for our evaluation.

Should any of you have questions or concerns at this time, please view our instructions for doing a “Virtual Visit” at this link: https://youtu.be/z5BHbvS2HkQ

This week, local charity Smile for a Lifetime and Serenity Orthodontics in Cumming bestowed two scholarships on local teens as part of their continuing outreach effort to improve the lives of students in need.

But the selected students weren’t presented with a monetary scholarship, even though there was an oversized check at the giveaway; instead, they were given a scholarship for new braces and the beginnings of a more confident future.

“Today we are changing the lives of both Stormy and Paola by giving them an opportunity that they would not normally have with braces,” said Niki Adams, president of Smile for a Lifetime, at a ceremony held Thursday. “Changing their smiles to build self-confidence and really change their future.”

   

Paola Ruiz and Stormy Sumner received braces as part of a scholarship program from Smile for a Lifetime at Serenity Orthodontics. – photo by Bradley Wiseman

According to Adams, over the last year and a half Smile for a Lifetime has searched the community looking for young people in need of braces and orthodontic work but who would normally be unable to pay for such expensive work on their own.

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Is it a Que-tip or cotton swab? Perhaps Kleenex or tissue paper, brands labels sometimes get used interchangeably with products. Clear aligner therapy for orthodontic purposes is also known to the general public as Invisalign. This therapy though isn’t just a product it is a service meant to deliver beautiful healthy cosmetic and functional results to your teeth and surrounding bones and soft tissues like your lips.

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Damon Brackets or Damon Braces are the most expensive self ligating bracket on the market. Damon Braces are also one of the most highly recognized brands of braces among doctors and patients. I believe it to be a luxury brand of braces as the bracket design is beautiful, it’s door is robust and some treatment mechanics are simply easier to perform in office making some periodic adjustments faster. Damon Braces cost 10x more to buy from Ormco then a traditional bracket this cost is sometimes passed on to the patient depending on dental insurance and the patients malocclusion. Despite the higher material costs associated, I have never heard of an office charging 10 times more for orthodontic treatment. Orthodontic fees do vary office per office based on the dental insurance which are accepted as well as the fluctuations of a usual customary fee in a region. An Orthodontist can move teeth beautifully with any type of braces so be sure to visit an Orthodontist.

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What is INBRACE?

INBRACE is a new style of braces that hides behind the teeth and uses a space-age memory wire to perfect a patient’s smile. The product also significantly decreases treatment time and doctor visits for patients, establishing this new technology as the most advanced and efficient braces on the market today. INBRACE has the added benefit of allowing you to brush and floss normally so there is nothing to remember to put back in after eating. Perfect for the busy professional who wants a quick and discreet solution to straighten teeth.

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When you think about orthodontics, you probably picture a mouthful of metal, some pain and a high price tag. While that may be the stereotype, Dr. Susan Podray-Donovan and her team are changing the way people think – and smile. A native of Florida, Susan and her husband, Jon (who just happens to be an excellent Practice Manager) came to North Georgia
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