Our practice provides orthodontic care for children, teenagers and adults. As a board certified specialist in orthodontics, Dr. Martinez is trained to provide a full range of services. Some of these services include:
Interceptive care for children (This involves children ages 7 – 11)
Did you know that the American Association of Orthodontists recommends that all children should have an orthodontic screening no later than age 7? Treatment at this stage involves altering the development of teeth, jaws and muscles. Through proper guidance, an improper skeletal relationship can develop along a more favorable path. This improved path of development optimizes occlusion and aesthetics while decreasing the need to extract permanent teeth or seek surgical assistance. All appliances utilized are very dependent upon proper timing. Once children pass a certain age, these appliances can no longer be utilized because growth is no longer a factor.
Click here to learn about the appliances we use.
Braces – Conventional braces for teens and adults
We utilize the highest quality brackets along with temperature sensitive, super-flexible arch-wires. These wires do not exert all of their force at one moment in time. Instead, they exert a small amount of force from the time they are placed until the time they are removed. Therefore, instead of being forced, teeth are gently encouraged to move into the desired direction.
The brackets and the arch-wires are both equally important. While the bracket is physically attached to the tooth and contains the necessary information (prescription) to get a tooth straight, it doesn’t have the force needed to move a tooth. While the wire has the force to move a tooth, it doesn’t have the ability to control the direction of its force. It takes the information contained in a bracket and the force of the wire to obtain tooth movement. A complete understanding of this combination of information and force is imperative for precise, controlled and safe tooth movement.
Metal Braces: We utilize one of the best metal brackets on the market; this high quality results in fewer emergency appointments, less brackets falling off and faster treatment time. These braces are a lot of fun because while they are getting your teeth perfectly straight, you can personalize them at every appointment by changing the colors of the elastics on the braces (favorite colors, school colors, sports teams, holidays, etc.). We also have colors that blend in with the braces for our patients who prefer a conservative appearance. .
Ceramic Braces: We utilize one of the best ceramic brackets on the market; this high quality results in fewer emergency appointments, less brackets falling off and faster treatment time. Since our braces are made from ceramic material, they will never discolor. The ceramic braces can get your teeth perfectly straight, just like the metal braces. These braces are more popular with our adult patients who want to be as conservative as possible when it comes to dental aesthetics. While some offices only place ceramic braces on the upper teeth, Dr. Martinez is able to place ceramic braces on both the upper and lower teeth.
Invisalign
Dr. Martinez has been a Invisalign Certified Provider since 2001. The Invisalign treatment consists of a series of clear aligners. Each aligner moves your teeth a small amount in the desired direction. It’s a virtually invisible way to straighten your teeth. As a Invisalign Certified Provider, Dr. Martinez can determine if you are a good candidate for this method of treatment.
Transfer cases
Occasionally, patients move out of town during the course of treatment. We accept transfer cases of patients moving to our area. Dr. Martinez is knowledgeable in all philosophies and methods of orthodontics and is able to continue most orthodontic cases. In addition, if one of our patients moves during treatment, we will duplicate the necessary records and write a letter to the new orthodontist stating the current progress and the intended future treatment.
Multidisciplinary treatment
In conjunction with other dental specialists, a team approach can be utilized, if necessary, to treat the most difficult of cases (Ex. surgical cases).
