2012 NJ Top Dentist Recognition!

Look who has been selected as a NJ Top Dentist for 2012! It’s our very own Dr. Chung!

We’re proud to be Edison and Union, New Jersey’s trusted orthodontic practice, and we thank you for helping to make us who we are!

If you’re looking for an unmatched orthodontic experience, don’t hesitate to contact our practice to schedule a complimentary consultation for yourself or your family! We look forward to continuing to be your trusted New Jersey orthodontist and helping you achieve a lifetime of the most brilliant smiles!

Does your little one love visiting Dr. Chung and staff? If so, we want you to head over to the New Jersey Family website to vote Dr. Chung for: New Jersey's Favorite Kids' Docs?

We are proud to provide the families of the Edison and Union communities with nothing but the most rewarding and beneficial orthodontic care available! Thanks for your support!

Making Your Life Better with Orthodontics

The number one goal of orthodontic treatment is to give you or your child a good bite, meaning straight teeth that work well with the teeth in the opposite jaw. A good bite makes it easier for you to eat, chew and speak. It can enhance your dental health and your overall health, and may well improve your self-esteem. As a part of your comprehensive dental health care plan, orthodontic treatment can help you retain your teeth—and your smile—for a lifetime.

Let your smile express yourself! Nothing can show the world how happy you are quite like a beautiful smile. In fact, it’s one of the first things others notice about you, too. With orthodontics, you can be proud to flash your smile, because you’ll know that your smile truly represents your positive attitude.

Make your mouth healthy! Straight teeth aren’t just pretty, they’re healthy as well. Teeth that are properly aligned are easier to clean, reducing the amount of plaque buildup and risk for gingivitis. The cleaner you keep your teeth, the longer they’ll last!

Feel free to live your life! Orthodontics is easier today than ever before, with treatment options that fit your lifestyle and schedule. We can personalize your treatment to suit all of your needs!

Summer is just around the corner!

Now that summer is just around the corner, we know you all are starting to make big plans for vacations and trips! The summer months can be a busy time for a lot of our patients, and we know how hectic your lives can be! Just be sure to remember keep up with your dental health care and your appointments with our practice!

During the summer, there are also a lot of foods and beverages that we all love to enjoy, but often these treats can damage our teeth. Sugary foods and drinks can be harmful to your dental health, so stay diligent by brushing at least three times a day and flossing at least once!

We look forward to hearing all about your plans for the summer, and be sure to take lots of pictures that you can share with us on Facebook! Stay safe, have fun, and brush and floss your teeth!

Wishing you a safe and relaxing Memorial Day weekend!

Memorial Day weekend, a time to remember and honor the men and women lost while serving for our country. Memorial Day is also the unofficial start of summer, and for many folks getting out of town for three days after being cooped up in the classroom or the office spells sweet, sweet relief.

What about you? What are you up to this Memorial Day weekend? Whether you are headed to a barbecue, a camping trip, or just hitting the great American open roads, we’d like to hear all about it!

Our entire team wishes you a happy, safe and relaxing Memorial Day weekend!

“Am I Too Old for Braces?”

Absolutely not! Orthodontic treatment for adults is becoming more and more common. In fact, the number of adults getting braces has actually climbed 24 percent since 1996! More adults than ever are realizing that orthodontic treatment is not just for kids, and can help improve the aesthetics and health of a smile of any age! In a society where appearance matters and can help make the difference between getting a job or a promotion, adults are choosing wisely to invest in orthodontic treatment.

Some of the most common reasons our adult patients come to us considering orthodontic treatment include:

           
• Teeth that are crowded or spaced apart, sometimes as a result of tooth decay or gum disease


           
• Pain or pressure from crooked teeth or a misaligned jaw


           
• A bad bite or malocclusion, causing teeth to fit together incorrectly

Most of all though, adult patients come to our office seeking a healthier mouth and a more confident smile! Orthodontic treatment at our office can be successful at any age, and adults especially can appreciate the benefits of a beautiful smile.

As an adult patient, we recognize that you have different needs than our younger patients, and we will work with you to ensure you receive the most appropriate treatment and that your needs are met with understanding and respect from us.

If you’ve been thinking about getting that perfect smile, we would love to have you visit for a consultation. We understand you have a busy schedule, and will work with you to find a time that is convenient for you. Please visit our website or give our office a call to schedule your appointment today!

Making Braces Fit into Your Life

When you get braces at Smile Solutions there are a few things you’ll have to adjust to get optimal results in the shortest amount of time. If you have any questions about the “do’s and don’ts” of living with braces, feel free to ask Dr. Christopher Chung or any member of our staff during your next adjustment!

Eating

When you have braces, there are a few types of food that can damage your brackets and bend your wires, leading to more appointments and longer treatment times. By simply avoiding sticky, chewy, crunchy, and hard foods, as well as foods that require biting into like corn on the cob, your orthodontic experience will be much easier.

Cleaning

You’ll never believe the amount of food that can get stuck between your braces when you eat. In addition to causing bad breath and tooth decay, it looks pretty gross, too. It’s so important to brush your teeth after every meal and floss every day, and even though it’s kind of a hassle, it’ll all be worth it in the end.

Sports

Protecting your smile if you play sports is essential when you have braces. Mouth guards help protect your teeth and gums from injury.

Orthodontic Treatment using SureSmile Technology with Dr. Chung

Through the use of SureSmile technology, Dr. Christopher Chung can offer you a "braces experience" that provides: shorter treatment times, fewer office visits, less overall discomfort, and high quality results. Our technology-driven orthodontic process offers several important benefits that make the whole "braces experience" much easier for patients than conventional orthodontics!

Here's a video that features our very own Dr. Chung explaining the benefits of using SureSmile technology with orthodontic treatment.



For a complimentary consultation, give our office a call today.

Thanks to Invisalign, you can have a perfect smile without metal wires or brackets!

At Smile Solutions, we know image is everything. For many people, the thought of having metal brackets and wires attached to their teeth for two or more years may be more than enough to delay orthodontic treatment.

If you’ve been considering straightening your teeth but are apprehensive about metal wires and brackets getting in the way of your smile, Invisalign treatment at Smile Solutions may be a great solution. Invisalign, which straightens teeth through a series of clear, custom-fit removable aligners, does so in a way that is discreet and hardly noticeable.

If you have questions about Invisalign, or would like to find out if you are a candidate for Invisalign treatment at our office, please give us a call to schedule a consultation with Dr. Christopher Chung.

Dr. Chung has been selected as a “Top Dentist” by New Jersey Monthly, Two Years in a Row!

Smile Solutions is proud to announce that Dr. Christopher Chung has been selected as a “Top Dentist” by other dentists and appears in New Jersey Monthly magazine’s annual list of Top Dentists for 2011!

This is the second year in a row Dr. Chung has been recognized by his peers as a top orthodontist in New Jersey. For this year’s list of Top Dentists, New Jersey Monthly commissioned an independent survey of the state’s dentists by Leflein Associates Inc., a Ringwood-based research firm. A one-page questionnaire was mailed to all 6,444 New Jersey-based dentists who have been licensed in the state for at least five years (but less than 50 years). After all the votes were counted, results showed that our very own Dr. Chung was one of the dentists selected by his peers!

Congratulations to Dr. Chung, a Top Dentist in New Jersey!

The advantage of SureSmile®

Does the thought of having braces bring you down? The team at Smile Solutions understands that one of the biggest concerns for orthodontic patients with braces is the length of their treatment.

But you’re in luck, because Dr. Christopher Chung specializes in SureSmile, high-tech braces that are revolutionizing the orthodontic industry. SureSmile, which combines digital 3-D imaging, has computer-aided treatment planning and customized archwires to straighten teeth about 40 percent faster than traditional braces. The SureSmile program calculates the exact shape and pattern of the teeth and bends and cuts the braces wires, with more precision than traditional braces.

There are three steps. First, Dr. Chung identifies the initial tooth position with the patented OraScanner, a wand with a tiny camera attached. The OraScanner creates a precise 3-D digital model of your mouth, which is then uploaded into software that lets Dr. Chung view your mouth and teeth from any angle. Next, the SureSmile system allows us to create your entire treatment plan prior to treatment, using special computer software to analyze the 3-D model of your mouth and develop a custom archwire treatment. Finally, SureSmile’s robotic technology bends Shape Memory Alloy archwires, which can “remember” your prescription.

Results

With SureSmile’s specially programmed archwires, your teeth move more directly into their intended positions. The result for our patients is shortened treatment time and a more comfortable experience in braces.

Once the braces are on it’s only a matter of time before they are taken off revealing beautiful, straight, healthy teeth. With traditional braces a patient is expected to schedule 18 to 20 office visits over two years. With SureSmile, patients average seven to 10 visits and can have their braces off within half the time!

If you’re considering orthodontic treatment, please contact Smile Solutions today!

Smile Solutions' Contest: What are your plans this Summer?

The Smile Solutions team invites you to participate in our latest contest! For your chance to WIN a gift certificate to the Mall just send us your short response to the question: What are your plans this Summer?

You can email your response to Julie@wowbraces.com or print out a flyer, fill it out, and bring it in to our office the next time you visit and you'll be entered into the drawing. To print out a flyer for our Edison location, CLICK HERE, and for our Union office, CLICK HERE.

If you have any more questions about the contest, please give us a call. We look forward to reading about your summer plans!

The Dangers of Texting While Driving, from Smile Solutions

May is National Youth Traffic Safety Month and our team at Smile Solutions wanted to take this opportunity to discuss the dangers of texting while driving. According to the U.S. Department of transportation, texting while driving leads to Distracted Driving. Distracted driving is any non-driving activity a person engages in that has the potential to distract him or her from the primary task of driving and increase the risk of crashing. What makes texting while driving particularly dangerous is that it involves all three types of distractions:

Visual — taking your eyes off the road

Manual — taking your hands off the wheel

Cognitive — taking your mind off what you’re doing

Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. (Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) The age group with the greatest proportion of distracted drivers was the under-20 age group – 16 percent of all drivers younger than 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported to have been distracted while driving. (NHTSA)

The video below is a documentary about the dangers of texting while driving. It includes interviews with families affected by texting while behind the wheel.



Please practice safe driving!

-Dr. Christopher Chung and team

Thanks to Invisalign®, Mom can have a perfect smile, too!

Hey Moms! Focusing on your kids' teeth and oral health so much that you're neglecting your own? If you've been thinking wistfully about having your own set of perfect teeth, our staff at Smile Solutions can help! We are specially trained to offer an adult-friendly option for straightening teeth called Invisalign.

This course of treatment consists of a set of clear aligners that are molded to fit your teeth using a proprietary technology. You wear them all day and night, except for meals, brushing, and flossing – when you can easily slip them out to make eating and cleaning a snap!

Because they're clear, your teeth will be steadily straightening – and no one will know it but you!

Please give us a call to set up a consultation, so we can discuss the specifics of your treatment.

What’s on your reading list?

With the school year close to winding down for a lot of our patients at Smiles Solutions, we wanted to remind all our patients about the importance of reading. Sure it’s easy to keep putting off reading this time of year, but reading is a vital step in brain development and literacy. And if you needed any more reason to read, May marks “Get Caught Reading Month.”

Today, we thought we’d ask: What's on YOUR reading list? What are some of your all-time favorites? Out of ideas for great reads? Ask us for suggestions, and Dr. Christopher Chung and our team would be happy to provide a few suggestions. You may also ask a local librarian for some ideas on what to read next!

Happy reading! Be sure to share with us your book picks or your all-time favorite novels or literature on our Facebook page!

Vote for Dr. Chung as NJ's Favorite Kids’ Orthodontist

Last Year, Dr. Christopher Chung was voted as a Top Orthodontist by New Jersey Family magazine and the time to cast your vote for NJ’s Favorite Kids’ Docs and Exceptional Pediatric Health Care Professionals has come again. Dr. Chung and our dedicated team at Smile Solutions work hard every day to ensure that our patients’ experience with orthodontic treatment is nothing less than exceptional and we would greatly appreciate your vote for NJ’s Favorite Kids’ Orthodontist.

CLICK HERE and cast your vote for Dr. Christopher Chung and Smile Solutions.

We greatly appreciate your vote of confidence, have a great day!

-Dr. Chung and team

WIN an iPad 2!

Show the world your totally terrific teeth! Put on your creativity cap and draw, color, paint, collage, or sculpt a piece of art describing your teeth and why you love them! When you’re finished, take a digital picture of your creation, or scan it in and save it in JPG format. CLICK HERE to submit the JPG file to us. Our Totally Terrific judges will review each beautiful piece of art and pick three winners who will receive an iPad 2! Contest ends June 30th, 2011.

Good luck everyone!!

-Dr. Christopher Chung and team

April is National Facial Protection Month!

With spring here, many children, teens and adults will once again pick up the ball, bring the bat out of seasonal retirement, and lace up their cleats to hit the fields for the return of spring sports! April is National Facial Protection Month, and during this time, Dr. Christopher Chung and our dedicated team urge our young athletes to play it safe when out on the field. If you play sports and are undergoing orthodontic treatment with Smile Solutions, it's important that you consult Dr. Chung for special precautions, such as wearing a mouth guard. A protective mouth guard is advised for playing spring sports such as baseball, soccer, lacrosse and others. Be sure, however, to avoid mouth guards that custom form to your teeth as these will resist any tooth movements we are trying to achieve.

In case of any accident involving the face, check your mouth and the appliances immediately. If teeth are loosened or the appliances damaged, please schedule an appointment with our office. And don’t forget to ask us — we offer mouth guards and your first one is complimentary.

Only by using a mouth guard and other forms of facial protection can kids with and without braces avoid serious sports injuries. Please give us a call if you have any questions about mouth guards or your treatment.

At Smile Solutions, what puts you at ease?

Dr. Christopher Chung and team understand not everyone enjoys visiting their orthodontist. But we strive to bring you the best and most comforting experience at each visit. We’d like to know:

What is it about Smile Solutions that makes you comfortable or puts you at ease? Is it something about our pleasant office environment? Our friendly staff or Dr. Chung?

Let us know by posting here, on our Facebook page, or by giving us a call!

Is biting your nails bad for your oral health?

We’ve all heard that biting your nails is an awful habit, but you many wonder- really- what’s so bad about it? Recently, our team at Smile Solutions found an interesting article that discusses how biting your nails affect your teeth and oral health.

Nail biting, also known as Onychophagia, is a common habit among various age groups, including primarily children, teens and young adults. Nail biting is generally triggered by stress and most often decreases with age. That being said, nail biting is unsanitary, unattractive, as well as unhealthy for your teeth!

Here’s why:

• It’s unsanitary. Your nails are dirty, almost twice as dirty as your fingers! Hence, biting your nails is just asking for germs and bacteria.

• No good things come to your teeth. Nail biting causes your teeth to constantly be chewing, which is not good for them. This excessive motion wears your teeth down faster than a non-nail biter’s and puts a large amount of stress on your front teeth- contributing to teeth misalignment.

• Braces don’t love it either. Braces already put pressure on teeth, nail biting ads unnecessary pressure, further stressing your teeth and weakening their roots.

• It can be costly. Nail biting can result in up to $4,000 in additional dental bills over one lifetime, according to the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD). Yikes!

What can you do about it?

Now that you know how harmful nail biting can be, it’s time to take action to break your nail biting habit. Try to be conscious of your fingernails and to keep them looking good- this will help you resist the temptation. Ask Dr. Chung or visit the article for tips on how to break a nail biting habit.

Good luck!

Your friends at Smile Solutions