Orthodontic Emergency Care with Dr. Chung

True orthodontic emergencies are very rare, but when they do occur we are available to you. As a general rule, you should call the office when you experience severe pain or when you have a painful appliance problem that you can't take care of yourself. We’ll be able to schedule an appointment with Dr. Christopher Chung.

You might be surprised to learn that you may be able to temporarily solve many problems yourself until you schedule an appointment with Smile Solutions.

The following solutions may help you relieve your discomfort:

Poking Wire: Using a pencil eraser, push the poking wire down or place wax on it to alleviate the discomfort.

Loose Bracket or Band: If your bracket or band is still attached to the wire, you should leave it in place and put wax on it. If the wire comes out entirely, wrap the bracket with a tissue.

Loose Wire: Using a tweezers, try to place your wire back into place. If doing this and using wax does not help, as a last resort use a small fingernail clipper to clip the wire behind the last tooth to which it is securely fastened. If your discomfort continues, place wax on it.

Loose Appliance: If your appliance is poking you, place wax on the offending part of your appliance.

Headgear Does Not Fit: Sometimes headgear discomfort is caused by not wearing the headgear as instructed by your orthodontist. Please refer to the instructions provided by your orthodontist. If the facebow is bent, please call our office for assistance. Surprisingly, headgear becomes more comfortable the more it's worn, so be sure you’re getting in the prescribed hours.

General Soreness: When you get your braces on, you may feel general soreness in your mouth and teeth may be tender to biting pressures for three to five days. This can be relieved by rinsing your mouth with a warm salt water mouthwash. Dissolve one teaspoonful of salt in 8 ounces of warm water, and rinse your mouth vigorously. If the tenderness is severe, take aspirin or whatever you normally take for headache or similar pain.

Remember, after alleviating your discomfort, it is still very important that you call our office as soon as possible to schedule a time to repair the problem.

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

Go Incognito with Smile Solutions!

Dr. Christopher Chung serving Edison, Union and the surrounding areas, is pleased to offer our patients Incognito. Our team is always receiving questions about Incognito, which is why we wanted to discuss today a few of the unique benefits of this new orthodontic treatment. To begin, Incognito is placed behind your teeth, rather than in a visible area. Because of this, no one will ever know that you are wearing braces! This unique type of braces is created using state-of-the-art technology and is entirely customized to the shape of your teeth. Hence, you can improve your smile efficiently and effectively in a discreet new way.

Who especially benefits from Incognito?

• Athletes
• Models
• Actors
• Musicians, especially those who play wind instruments
• Adult professionals

For more information on Incognito and treatment options at Smiles Solutions, please give us a call today to schedule your consultation!

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!