Six-Month Braces if you have Gum Disease? YES!

Patients with periodontal (gum) disease often end up being very embarrassed about their smiles, because as the disease progresses and more bone is lost, the teeth start drifting.  It’s not uncommon to see the teeth flared out with a lot of spaces between them, or the bottom front teeth really crowded as the teeth shifted with the bone being lost.

Very often, these cases are the kind that would respond very well with our 6MonthSmiles Clear Adult Braces, but there’s a little problem……if you try to move teeth with braces while there is active gum infection going on, you will only make the situation worse, with the result being even more bone loss, more gum recession, and eventually even looser teeth than before you started.  While it might seem like your smile is improving during the process, once the braces came off, and the support they provided was gone, you’d suddenly realize you were closer than ever to losing your teeth entirely.  So it’s not uncommon that people simply become resigned to not only having gum disease, bad breath, etc., but to living with a smile that embarrasses them.

Now There is a Way!

As one of only 4 dental offices in the city of Charlotte (along with 1 in Salisbury and 1 in Fort Mill, SC) with the Periolase MVP-7 dental laser, with which we perform Laser Periodontal Therapy^(TM), a patented procedure that treats gum disease more effectively and more comfortably than any other procedure currently available, we can actually regenerate bone and healthy gum attachment.  And THAT is why it allows us to offer patients a way to not only save their teeth from gum disease and dentures, but also to give them a smile to be proud of once again.  Why is that exactly?  Because – in the absence of active gum infection – moving teeth with braces actually stimulates bone growth!  When you combine the major reduction in infection and inflammation with the healing effects of the laser, AND you add the bone stimulation of tooth movement and alignment through braces, it’s like a double benefit.

In the case of crowded teeth, improving alignment also makes it easier to brush and floss, too, and this is still an important part of maintaining healthy gums and teeth over the long term.

Over the next 6-10 months, be on the lookout here for some truly dramatic smile transformations for patients by combining 6MonthSmiles and LANAP.

If you are unhappy with your smile and are worried about losing your teeth and being forced into dentures, call us at 704-364-7069 or Request an Appointment Online.  This is a great time of year to plan for LANAP, because we can divide the treatment into 2 halves (right side then left or vice versa, starting with the worse side) in December and January, which will allow you to use 2 years of dental insurance benefits and reduce your out-of-pocket expense.  If you don’t have insurance, you’ll love our Quality Dental Plan, a terrific dental discount plan that we offer in the Charlotte area, that gives you a 20% discount on all treatment ; if you want monthly payments to fit the cost into your budget, we also offer CareCredit Interest-Free Dental Payment Plans.  Our goal is to make it affordable for you to get the treatment you need, so you can have the smile you want!

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Six-Month Adult Braces + 2 CEREC Porcelain Veneers equals one happy patient!

Ever since we started doing six-month braces about five years ago, the number of smile makeovers that we’ve done with porcelain veneers has dropped dramatically. This is because we can create beautiful smiles much more conservatively with six-month braces than we can with veneers, simply because there is no drilling on the teeth. There are times however, when porcelain veneers are an excellent option. Caroline’s case is a perfect example of how the two can work together: we first used six-month braces to straighten her teeth, then whitened them.  Finally, we used our CEREC CAD/CAM machine to make to 2 porcelain veneers right in our office, in a single appointment to complete the smile makeover by matching her peg lateral incisors to match the rest of her smile.

If you are interested in learning more about either porcelain veneers or 6MonthSmiles, please contact us at either 704-364-7069, or Request an Appointment Online.

Frequently Asked Questions about 6MonthSmiles (fast, invisible, adult braces)

The Most Commonly Asked Questions at a Six-Month Braces Consultation

These questions really aren’t surprising, and you’ve probably wondered about them already yourself if you’re considering this remarkable cosmetic dental option, so here are your answers:

1) Can you REALLY move my teeth that fast?

Yes, we really can.  I know it seems hard to believe, because most everyone thinks that you have to wear braces for 18 months to 3 years to get everything right.  You can take a look at this Smile Gallery to see a whole bunch of people who’ve had their front teeth straightened in 6 months or less.

2) HOW do you move teeth that fast?

It’s quite simple, really, and it’s not magic or rocket science.  Basically, since we’re really doing cosmetic braces, this is an alternative to porcelain veneers.  That means we are just concentrating on straightening the front teeth, NOT trying to correct major bite problems. Answer these 3 questions and you’ll know if you’re a good candidate for 6MonthSmiles:

• Do you have any jaw or muscle pain, or a history of headaches?
• Do you have any difficulty chewing or biting normally, or is your bite really “off” in the back teeth?
• Do you have some spaces in the front teeth you’d like closed or crowded front teeth you want straightened?

If you answered NO the first 2 questions but YES to the last question, then you are probably a good candidate for 6MonthSmiles!

3) WHEN CAN WE START!?

This is, of course, the most fun question.  It’s amazing how many times patients will want to start RIGHT NOW.  As in, before they’ve even left the Complimentary Consultation appointment.  And most of the time, we can accommodate.  Getting started is literally as easy as getting molds of your teeth, a complete set of photos, and a panoramic x-ray (this one goes around your head and records your entire jaws, joints, etc. to make sure there are no complicating factors).  We send the info to our 6 Month Smiles lab, which makes custom trays that let us put pretty much all the brackets on at once, just a couple of weeks later.  It’s much easier and faster this way, I promise.  And off we go!

Do you love to smile like Caroline?

One of my absolute favorite things to do, is to see patients for their Complimentary Portrait Session after they finish some type of cosmetic dentistry, whether it is Six-Month Braces, Porcelain Veneers, Teeth Whitening, or some combination of those.  There is such a level of satisfaction when a patient LOVES to smile for pictures instead of hide their smiles because they’re embarrassed.  Caroline is a perfect example of this; when she first came to see us, she was really unhappy with her crooked teeth.  Given what an amazingly cheerful person she is, hiding her smile was not something she wanted, but — like so many others — she assumed that braces would take 2-3 years, and as an adult, she simply was not interested, but she also didn’t want to have her teeth ground down for porcelain veneers, nor did she want to spend that much.  So, with a combination of Six-Month Braces, 2 Porcelain Veneers with our 1-Visit Crown system (CEREC), and Whitening Trays, we dramatically transformed her smile in about 10 months total.  Just look at her smile now!

This is really what Cosmetic Dentistry is all about, really — it’s about helping you feel good and confident about yourself, about your smile. If you would like to smile with the confidence that Caroline now does, give us a call at 704-364-7069 or Request an Appointment Online!

Six-Month Braces: Case in Progress

People often have difficulty believing that we can really move teeth to create a more beautiful smile in only 6 months. Here’s a case to show just how well it works – Lynn has only had her almost invisible braces on for 2 months, and look how far the gap between her front teeth has closed already!

Six Month Adult Braces in Charlotte is taking off!

Wow!  That’s about all I can say at the moment with the response we are getting to our WBT radio ad and better positioning on the Internet for Google searches.  Here’s a fun little thing: go to Google.com and do a search for “braces charlotte,” and guess what – my website www.SmilesbyPayet.com is right there on the first page!  Yeehah!  LOL  And boy can we tell – the number of people calling us almost every day is amazing.  Some days I feel like I’m becoming an orthodontist!

I figure it would be good to highlight a couple cases that we’ve recently started and follow them through so you can actually see the progress.  If you like what you see, Make an Appointment for a Free Consultation today!

Mike’s case

Mike has been a patient for several years, but somehow we had never asked him if he was interested in straightening his teeth.  With our new Six-Month Smiles posters around the office, he decided to ask what it was about and if he was a good candidate.  Turns out, even though he has some pretty crooked top and bottom teeth, he really is a good candidate.  He was NOT interested in a full 2-3 year, comprehensive orthodontic plan – he just wants to feel good about his smile.

A Six-Month Braces case to straighten crooked teeth in Charlotte

Stephanie’s case

Stephanie found us through a Google search even before moving from the Midwest for a job transfer.  She’d been ready to start Six-Month Braces with a dentist there, but with the move she chose to wait until she got here, and we started her braces just a few days after Mike’s.    Her braces should go a bit faster than Mikes, but that can be a bit unpredictable.

Example Patient #2 of Six Month Adult Braces with Dr. Payet in Charlotte NC.

We just put their brackets on last week, and it will probably be 1-2 months before we see any significant change, so stay tuned to see what happens on…….”As the Teeth Turn.” LOL

Cosmetic Dentistry in Charlotte: Correcting a Gummy Smile with a “Gum Lift”

Smile Makeovers can take many shapes and forms, and it is so important IMO for a dentist to be fully informed and trained on DIAGNOSING all kinds of smile problems and knowing the APPROPRIATE recommendations to make, because if an improper diagnosis is made, then the wrong treatment can easily be chosen, which will only result in a less-than-satisfactory result and an unhappy patient.  Here’s a perfect example:

Mia first came to my office in March of 2007 to ask if Porcelain Veneers could give her the smile she’d always wanted.  Her complaint was that her teeth were too short and square, and she hoped that veneers could make them longer.  However, the problem was NOT that her teeth were too short; the problem was that she had too much gum COVERING her teeth, making them appear shorter than they really were.

Mia’s Smile Before

Smile Makeover to Correct a Gummy Smile - BEFORE picture

As it turns out, Mia also had old dental crowns and bridges that were in need of replacement.  Unfortunately, the dentist who had placed them 20 years ago did not recognize the excess gum problem (turns out there was also excess bone covering the teeth, but you probably don’t want to see the surgical photos, right? 😉  ), and so he placed the edges of the crowns and bridges too far under the gum, resulting in chronic gum irritation.  The human body simply does not like it if you put dental materials (gold, amalgam, porcelain, composite resin, doesn’t matter) too close to the bone and too far under the gum, so the gums get irritated and will always bleed when brushing and flossing, sometimes even just to the touch.  We’re replacing the existing dental work over time, but we were able to do the right side work at the same time as the “Cosmetic Gum Lift,” which really made a big improvement.  (When looking at the photos, it’s on the left side of the pictures.)

So after plenty of consultation, Mia decided to go with the corrective gum surgery.  The technical name for this is “Esthetic Crown Lengthening,” which simply means that we are making the teeth look prettier (esthetic) by making them look longer.  She told us beforehand that she felt very nervous, but afterwards said that it was much easier and  less uncomfortable than she’d expected, and her healing was much easier than she’d thought.  Usually the only discomfort is some gum soreness, really.

Mia’s Smile After

Mia tells us she is simply THRILLED with her smile now, and it’s easy to see why!

Smile Makeover to Correct a Gummy Smile - AFTER picture

And for Mia, one of the best parts of the whole treatment was that we were able to do everything right here at Smiles by Payet Dentistry, with no need to refer her to a specialist.  I really loved giving Mia the smile that she’d always wanted, with no unnecessary drilling for porcelain veneers that would not have solved her problem in the first place.  We did also replace her old crowns and bridge on the upper right, and with the excess gum tissue removed there, too, now she has no problems keeping the area clean, and her gums don’t bleed when she brushes or flossing.  Next will be the upper left side.

A new website with more info on Six-Month Braces for Adults in Charlotte, NC

I’ve been laboring to learn web design for about the last 6 months so that I could create my own sites to help spread the word on one of our patients’ favorite procedures, and I’ve finally published my first website, which is very exciting!  It’s been a lot of work, and there will be much more work to come in future months as I update it, add more Featured Cases, and expand the procedures that are covered.  For now, though, I hope you will all find it useful if you’re looking for a Smile Makeover here in Charlotte  with Six-Month Braces.

Updates on Invisalign

ALIGN Technology, the company that makes Invisalign orthodontic aligners, has not yet made any indication that they will be reversing their decision on June 1st to require dentists and orthodontists to do a minimum of 10 cases each year and complete 10 hours of their Continuing Education courses each year.  The backlash among dentists and orthodontists, however, continues to get stronger, as this is a fairly blatant move by a for-profit corporation to intrude on a doctor’s autonomy and decision-making rights as to which cases are appropriate for Invisalign and which are not.  Several professional organizations, including the Academy of General Dentistry and the New York State Dental Association, are already responding with letters to ALIGN Technology’s Board of Directors and President, stating that there is simply no evidence that the so-called “proficiency requirements” have any basis in science, and unless they can come up with something to substantiate the claims the company is making, they should immediately withdraw the requirements.  If ALIGN Technology continues on this course, patients should fully expect to see an enormous drop in the availability of Invisalign as more and more dentists and orthodontists simply drop their service.

The good news is that there are alternatives to Invisalign, and they work as well or better, AND they’re even less expensive!  For some info and examples, check out our Six-Month Smiles in Charlotte!  Then you can Request a Complimentary Consultation to see how fast you can feel good about your smile again with straight, white teeth!  And if you’re concerned about cost, if you sign up for our Dental Discount Plan or choose Interest-Free Payment Plans with Care Credit, you can save some real money, too.

Exciting development: 6 Month Smiles now offered!

Following on the dumb move made by Invisalign a couple weeks ago to severely restrict the number of dentists and orthodontists who will be able to offer Invisalign to their patients (see my most recent post), it has been interesting to note that ALIGN Technology’s stock value has dropped by almost 18% in just the last 2 weeks since they made their announcement.  Boy am I glad that I found out before attending their course and wasting my money and time.

However, this has led me to FINALLY get involved with a different company, whose founder – Dr. Ryan Swain – I have been proud to call a friend for about 7 years now.  Dr. Swain started a ground-breaking niche practice in New York that focused exclusively on Six-Month Braces and Cosmetic Dentistry.  His practice model has been so explosively successful that he’s been teaching dentists all over the country how to use the techniques that he teaches, which create dramatic Smile Makeovers, often in 6 months or even less, for adults wanting straight front teeth but wanting their braces to be “invisible.”  With Invisalign no longer a company I want to partner with, it seemed to finally be the right time to partner with Dr. Swain and 6MonthSmiles.com.  That’s why I’ve now added a new logo to the into post on our blog and our website:

Dr. Charles Payet now offers the dramatic Smile Makeover option of 6-Month Smiles - fast, comfortable, effective adult braces - in Charlotte NC.

Call today for a Complimentary Consultation and you can even receive $500 off 6-Month Smiles

AND

Free Whitening once it’s completed!