Efficient Treatment through sound treatment philosophy and the best technology:  

We believe in efficient treatment.  By waiting to start treatment until the "right time" we can accomplish more treatment with less effort (and often less cost).  This means that, when possible, we will wait until all baby teeth are gone and the adult teeth have erupted; however, specifics of treatment will depend upon the individual patient and each person's unique set of teeth.  While everyone is unique and treatment times vary, our average treatment times of patients starting today with The Damon™ System Braces are about 18 to 24 months for comprehensive treatment in adults and children with some treatments taking less time.  With the use of Damon Insignia treatment times can drop into the 12 to 18 month range as described below.

Of course, providing quality is more important than the speed.  With that said, we are always looking to improve both our quality and efficiency so we are now providing treatment for some of our patients with a system called "Damon Insignia".  Damon Insignia is a system where we use computers to aid in the placement of our braces and computer created custom wires for truly unique and even more efficient treatment.  Damon Insignia can offer treatment for some patients even shorter treatment times of about 12-18 months.  Click here for more details.  Through Damon Insignia, we are able to use computer modeling to "virtually" place the braces and make customized wires to truly provide treatment that is unique to you.  Other systems of braces are forced to use computer modeling to get close to the treatment times seen with the Damon System braces alone.  Now, imagine what can be done with the Damon System braces in combination with Damon Insignia in computer aided treatment. 

Stable, Comfortable Expansion without Rapid Palatal Expanders: 

The Damon™ System Braces makes the use of palatal expanders unnecessary.  This is not to say that we don't provide expansion of the dental arches when necessary, but it is to say that our doctors feel that there is better way to expand than the outdated technology of the rapid palatal expander.  If you have been told that palatal expansion is what you need, please call us so that we can show you how expansion can be achieved without an expander.  With The Damon™ System Braces, we are able to achieve a healthy, stable expansion equal to or better than that which is achieved with palatal expanders, correcting crossbites and/or crowding without uncomfortable, bulky, difficult to clean palatal expanders.

The use of The Damon™ System Braces also allows us to provide non-surgical treatment for adult patients.  If you are an adult and you have been told that your treatment would require surgical expansion, please call us for a second opinion because there may be other options available.  Expansion was often considered to be limited to treatment of children. That is no longer the case.  Expansion in adults with The Damon™ System Braces is not a compromise with a lesser result.  Expansion in adult patients with The Damon™ System Braces is a valid treatment option that has been shown to be an excellent treatment option for many patients.  The image above is from an adult patient treatment in 18 months without surgery and without a palatal expander!

 

We limit early treatment to situations where it truly matters and where it can truly make a difference to overall

treatment outcomes.  In the past, orthodontists used to believe that early treatment was the only way to provide nice overall treatment results.  Expanders, lip bumpers, and other appliances were used on nearly every patient.  Patients were subjected to extensive treatment at early ages only to be asked to go through more treatment later.  While arguments can be made that such treatments are not harmful, it is a stronger argument to say that such methods are simply not necessary for most patients.  Fortunately, there are newer treatment methods which makes much early treatment unnecessary.  With patience of waiting for the right time and with the use of The Damon™ System Braces and Damon Insignia, we are able to postpone treatment until the adult teeth have erupted to provide treatment when it really matters.  While we will suggest early treatment when it is necessary, we don't want to take advantage of our patients by providing treatment that is not necessary.  For that reason, we use what we feel is the best technology available, wait for the right time to start treatment, and, in the end, we strive to provide you with efficient treatment with excellent results.

 

It is important to recognize that waiting can sometimes result in a positive change without interference from an impatient orthodontist as can be seen in the photos to the right.  There are times when the natural process of growth and development will result in positive changes without orthodontic treatment.  Waiting for the "right time" can often simplify the problems.

 

When we do provide early treatment, we strive to limit that early treatment to situations where it will reduce future orthodontic treatment in a meaningful way, accomplish treatment goals that cannot otherwise be accomplished, or potentially take away future orthodontic problems to the degree that future orthodontics may not even be necessary.  Early treatment should be reserved for circumstances that cannot otherwise be adequately corrected by a single phase of treatment.  Early treatment should not be simply for the purpose of early expansion in situations of mild to moderate dental crowding as such an idea is outdated and has been shown to be clinically unnecessary.  While there are some patients who have extreme orthodontic needs, you will not regularly see large groups of 6, 7, and 8 year old patients in braces and/or retainers at our office.