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!
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!
As I mentioned in a previous post on dental photography, I’ve been working to create Before/After videos of the different procedures we offer, and while they do take some time to put together, I am getting more of them completed. Here’s one that describes a little more about the process of Six-Month Braces and what we can do for you to create a more beautiful smile.
This will be the last cosmetic dentistry/Smile Makeover video that I will post for a little while, as I next want to devote some time to showing how destructive “Grinding” of the teeth can be and why it is NOT something that you should take lightly. Bruxism/Parafunction (the general term for both grinding and clenching, which are 2 separate things) can cause major problems for patients, and often in ways not easily visible because it takes time to develop or they’re under the surface. I believe this is an area of dentistry that is often neglected, and it only makes things worse for patients.
With that said, I do hope you enjoy the way we combined different kinds of treatments to achieve a dramatic Smile Makeover for Daniel, as visible in this video.
Don’t forget – if you want to see all of the videos for our practice, check out our YouTube channel: SmilesbyPayet.
Combination Porcelain Veneers and Short-Term Braces
Oh, it feels so good to finally be able to announce this, as I’ve been working on it so hard for so many nights after my family has gone to bed, but FINALLY I have begun producing some new Patient Education videos to help explain a number of options that we offer by using pictures of many similar cases.
Over the last 4 years, I have amassed a catalog of about 38,000 digital photographs of the work that we do. You can see my Photography Blog post on the subject of Patient Communication with Digital Photography for more info on how/why we take pictures of our work, but now I’m finally able to turn a lot of those photos into various video formats to highlight problems that many patients have, often without even realizing it, and to let our patients actually see what they can expect once the treatment is completed. It’s really quite exciting! We’re not talking about “stock” photography here, of work that someone else did. EVERY SINGLE ONE of the pictures that you’ll see were taken by Dr. Payet (me), and every completed procedure was performed by Dr. Payet (me) and my Team. (Hope you don’t mind me talking about myself in the 3rd person for a moment there; I was having a Bob Dole flashback after reading some political articles. 🙂
We’ll look forward to showing you these new videos when you come in!
Don’t have any of those videos in Web format quite yet, but keep an eye on our website, Smiles by Payet Dentistry, for them to begin appearing there within the next few weeks. You’ll be able to see and understand so much more easily, I promise!
We’re often asked what is the “BEST” way to make a person’s smile the way they’ve always wished; should they do orthodontics (braces), should they have a “gum lift” (esthetic crown-lengthening), should they choose veneers? Of course the answer is, “It depends.” Each has advantages, each has disadvantages, so you must personally weigh each option very carefully to make the most informed decision for yourself. The option that many choose for correcting crooked teeth, though, is that of Porcelain Veneers.
Veneers, also known as Laminate Veneers, are very thin porcelain shells, individually hand-crafted by a skilled laboratory technician, that are bonded onto the teeth. There must be clear and excellent communication between the patient, the dentist, and the laboratory, for veneers can truly be customized to create the look that you want: Shape/Contour, Translucency, Color, Brightness…..
Veneers single biggest advantage over Braces is the speed with which a smile makeover can be completed. Unless there are complicating factors (and there often are, so it’s wise to be prepared), a Smile Makeover can be completed with veneers in only 3-4 weeks. Of course, the disadvantages are that some healthy tooth structure must be removed so the teeth don’t look like horses’ teeth, and the fee is usually significantly higher.
To demonstrate the remarkable difference that can be achieved with Porcelain Veneers to correct crowded teeth, here’s Linda:
Linda’s veneers (10 on the top, 10 on the lower teeth) were completed 6 years ago and are still providing Linda the smile she’d wanted since she was a child but never had.
Coming very soon: Short-Term Adult Orthodontics, or “Get your crowded front teeth straightened in just 6 months, not 2-3 years, with braces!”
Crowded teeth made straight in only 3 weeks with 16 Porcelain Veneers
Welcome to the Dental Blog for Smiles by PayetDentistry, the office of Dr. Charles Payet, where our goal is to provide Beautiful Smiles and Lifetime Care. This blog will keep you up-to-date on happenings in our office, about our Team, new technologies that we’re adding, articles about how dental care (or the lack of it) impacts your daily life. Here’s a little video to introduce you to me……
As of May 20th, Smiles by Payet Dentistry is moving to a brand-new dental office on Park Rd., just a couple miles and less than 10 minutes from our old office near the SouthPark Mall, in beautiful Charlotte, NC. We are very excited about the move, as we will have more rooms available, we’ll be hiring more great team members to care for you promptly and with great customer service. Want to read what many of our current patients have to say about us? Read our Google reviews!
We offer a unique combination of services that allow us to treat the entire family, from kids up to retirement and beyond:
LANAP: comfortable and truly effective treatment for gum disease with the Periolase
Dr. Payet now offers Six (6) Month Braces for amazing Smile Makeovers in Charlotte, NC.
Dental care for the whole family is affordable with the Quality Dental Plan.
Smiles by Payet Dentistry has been caring for patients since December 27th, 1999 in South Charlotte, and we recently moved to a new and improved location on Park Rd. I opened the practice 18 months after graduating from the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry in June 1998. While Smiles by Payet Dentistry is a General Dentistry practice, we offer an extremely wide range of services so our patients don’t need to see multiple specialists except in very complex cases. I am absolutely committed to constant learning and improvement, and have attended lectures and seminars by many of the nation’s premier post-graduate teaching institutions and lecturers in order to stay as current with the most modern techniques and materials possible. 50-75 hours per year in Continuing Education is not unusual for me, and in 2009 my goal is 75-100 hours.
Our Smiles by Payet Dentistry Team is currently comprised of the following people, whom you will truly enjoy meeting and choosing as your primary dental healthcare providers:
Rosemary B. is one of our Certified Dental Assistants and has been with us since back in 2007. A mother of 3 grown boys and a proud grandma to 2 grandchildren, she’s one of those people who just loves to help take care of people. With over 20 years of experience in dentistry, she is very knowledgeable and can answer most any of your questions. Along with Marie, she is there with me during your treatment to make it go as smoothly as possible.
Samantha H. is our new (as of Summer 2010) full-time Orthodontic Dental Assistant. We are excited to have her on board to help take care of our growing family of patients with either 6MonthSmiles Cosmetic Adult Braces or Tip-Edge Comprehensive Orthodontics. With 13 years of experience in a full-time orthodontic office, she brings a lot of knowledge on how to make your braces appointments fast and smooth.
Katrina B. (Insurance/Financial Coordinator) is our newest team member, and one we are really excited to have found. She says she is excited about finding us to work with, too. 🙂 She has been in dentistry for 22 years, having started as a dental assistant. Since her Dad was in the Navy, she was actually born in Morocco, Africa (!) and grew up in cool places like Guam and Hawaii, but she considers Fort Mill her home and moved back there in 2009. She is happily married with 2 children who keep her busy, but in her spare time she enjoys reading, gardening, crafts, and singing in her church choir.
Adrianne M. (Registered Dental Hygienist) joined us early in 2010 and has been helping us keep our patients healthy and educated on taking good care of their teeth. With 11 years experience and a passion for particularly helping patients with periodontal disease, she is very excited about being part of an office that offers Laser Periodontal TherapyTM. She really enjoys going to local health fairs to educate the public on the importance of good dental health, especially in Hispanic communities, as she speaks Spanish. She has a 4yo daughter who is an incredible bundle of energy, so the rest of her free time is spent taking care of her daughter.
We are blessed to have a Team that really enjoys working together, and their combined 100+ years of dental knowledge and experience are melded to provide you some of the finest dental care available.
Smiles by Payet Dentistry - Beautiful Smiles. Lifetime Care 