Your Markham Orthodontist, Toronto Invisalign, and Richmond Hill Braces at Work and at Play
Let us show you why Dr. Jason K. Tam, and MCO Markham Orthodontist / MCO Stouffville Orthodontist Teams are rapidly becoming the people's choice amongst Richmond Hill, Toronto, Stouffville and Markham Orthodontists for braces and Invisalign.
Dr. Tam, your Stouffville Invisalign Orthodontist, is on Align Technology's Speaker's bureau, with many orthodontists eager to learn about how to use Invisalign better from him. He recently flew out for a 12 hour trip to Calgary to deliver a lecture about how Invisalign is a braces technique rather than a commodity for this Western Canadian Invisalign Forum. Orthodontists from British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan flew in to listen to Dr. Tam teach them how to move teeth properly with Invisalign.
Invisalign Invitation to Orthodontists featuring Dr. Tam
Many people view orthodontic treatment as the same no matter where you go. This is particularly true with a brand like Invisalign. The key point for potential patients to understand is that your Invisalign results depend on how your doctor plans your treatment. You will get different results as you are paying for the orthodontist to straighten your teeth, not Invisalign.
Dr. Tam, his wife Amelia, and son Isaac at his 2nd Birthday Party!
The reason for Dr. Tam's short trip was to make it back in time for his son's 2nd birthday party the next day. They had wonderful weather and a great celebration!
MCO Orthodontics sees a high volume of adult orthodontics in Toronto . In many of these cases, treatment requires a combination of orthodontics and periodontics.
Stouffville Orthodontist with Toronto implant specialist in Miami
Adults are very suitable for orthodontic treatment, but many of them will want to have clearance to check on the health of their gums and bone prior to starting. We want to make sure that there is healthy support for the movements required. Treatment may also require the replacement of missing teeth as dental implants or gum procedures to help increase the level of gum support, or to decrease the amount, to increase the apparent size of a tooth. Needless to say, this type of treatment will require careful planning and excellent communication between specialists.
Markham Orthodontist with Taj Gibson of the Chicago Bulls
Dr. Tam recently met up with Dr. Veisman on a trip to Miami, a top periodontist for dental implants in Toronto. They discussed some of their mutual patients, various requirements for specific situations, as well as how to produce the best orthodontic and periodontic results. It was a very educational and enjoyable time at The Dutch in the W South Beach, where you might run into a celebrity or two. They ran into Carlos Boozer and later Taj Gibson of the Chicago Bulls! Always a good idea to mix some work with some fun!
As discussed in a previous blog entry on Vivera and retainers, one of the most important parts of orthodontic treatment is how to maintain the beautiful results that were achieved using braces or Invisalign. There are many different types of retainers, and one of the popular types is Vivera retainers from Invisalign.
Here are some of the important points to understand about Vivera:
1. You receive 4 sets. The first is fit at the office and three more are sent to you about 1 month later. Prior to this year, the additional 3 were sent at 3 month intervals, but this is no longer the case. Part of it is likely to help Align reduce shipping costs, but from a patient standpoint, it is also to realize that they do not need to be changed every three months, but as needed.
2. Our patients are finding that each Vivera retainer is lasting at least one year, with many keeping them quite a while longer. To draw a parallel with Essix retainers which also can last several years, the Vivera retainers are much stronger and can last longer than that. Therefore, your subscription for Vivera can last you many, many years if cared for properly.
3. The cost for Vivera is often not included in your original financial plan (we do, include it as part of the treatment for our Invisalign patients at MCO Orthodontics). The range of fees for the subscription can go from about $400 to $1600. If you consider a fee to be around $800, that would be $200 per set, or $100 per retainer, so there is quite a lot of value there. Other factors to consider are whether a scan/impression needs to be taken, and the cost of the visit to insert the retainer.
4. Vivera retainers can be created with a new scan, new impression, or from any stage of your ClinCheck. If you have attachments on your teeth prior to your original scan (as in refinement, mid-course correction, or custom attachments placed by your doctor), you may be better off having a new scan than asking Align to virtually remove those attachments. If you have braces on, the brackets can be much more easily removed virtually, and it is possible to get a scan with your brackets on.
5. Vivera retainers can be used in combination with fixed lingual retainers. They are not always a substitute for them and in some cases, both may be required.
Your Markham and Stouffville Orthodontist knows that two of the largest barriers to treatment are the duration of treatment, and the potential for pain or discomfort. As an industry, we have always worked to change the various appliances and techniques that we use instead of trying to actually change the physiological process in our bodies. Orthodontics has adapted long known principles of bone remodelling from orthopedics now with Acceledent.
Before Acceledent, there have been a few techniques that have been used to accelerate orthodontics such as Wilckodontics and Propel. The principle of tooth movement is that there is a need for bone remodelling via osteoclasts (removing bone from surfaces of the teeth where they need to move) and osteoblasts (cells that build bone behind the tooth where it has moved from.) Wilckodontics is a periodontial procedure whereby the the gums are retracted and the bone around the teeth is purposefully scored, whereby causing bleeding. Teeth do move faster with this procedure, but the comfort aspect takes a backwards step, since it is quite painful. Propel works on a similar principle.
1st generation of Acceledent
Acceledent is a product that has been used in Australia for about 4 years, in the USA for a bit over a year, and was just cleared for use in Canada in the spring of 2013. It is FDA approved as a Class 2 medical device. The claims are that treatment can be reduced by about 38-50%, based upon studies at two universities in Texas. It works by providing a pulsating vibration at a key frequency (30Hz) which has been shown to stimulate the bone remodelling process. Patients use it for just 20 minutes per day.
There is a possibility for faster treatment with braces and Invisalign aligners to be changed every 4-7 days, significantly decreasing the amount of treatment time required. Best of all, over the study of 1000s of patients, there have been no adverse effects, including no significant root resorption. Note that there are no longer term studies of this application in orthodontics, but similar principles have been in place in other medical fields for many years.
This is a very exciting possibility for patients at MCO Orthodontics who would like to have straight teeth with less discomfort and for a shorter amount of time. Look to MCO Orthodontics as your leader for fast Invisalign in Toronto.
There are many aspects to running successful orthodontics offices that produce both excellent results and provide excellent customer service. To this end, Dr. Tam and his team at MCO Orthodontics look to be at the forefront of the orthodontic industry, at times working with consultants in the field of orthodontics, those outside of our field, as well as with orthodontists around the world. It is the only way we can continue to be your choice for orthodontist in Stouffville and Markham.
One such group of orthodontists is a hand-picked group by one of the top orthodontic consultants, Karen Moawad, founder of Hummingbird Associates. Karen is a pioneer in her field and has shown consistent results of helping orthodontic practices reach their potential. This year marked the 10th year of the study club and orthodontists flew in from all over the country to meet at the Public Hotel in Chicago. The group acknowledged Karen with the appropriate gift of an "apple" from Tiffany's as well as some jewelry. There was also a donation made to Karen's charity in India on her behalf.
At MCO Orthodontics, we still do not use self-ligating brackets because there is not enough evidence regarding their superiority. Recently, the AJODO, our association journal, had both sides in a point and counterpoint. At this time, the evidence in the strongest studies shows no difference in self-ligating brackets such as Damon, Empower, and SmartClip compared to traditional braces.
Friction that is commonly measured in these self-ligating studies trying to support their superiority is usually a first order friction (force of an elastic on top of the wire) rather than a second order (binding at the corners of the brackets). For orthodontic purposes, the binding is the important factor, and this has not been studied by proponents of self-ligating brackets.
You might wish to read both of the arguments and make your own decision.
Our office wants to use the best treatment options for our patients and we are at the forefront of modern orthodontics, but as orthodontics is a science, we do need to rely on the strongest evidence when deciding on which options to offer.
Dr. Jason Tam, your Elite Invisalign orthodontist at MCO Orthodontics, serving Richmond Hill, Markham, Stouffville, and Thornhill, recently took a quick trip down to San Jose, Costa Rica to speak about Invisalign as a technique rather than an as a commodity. He discussed how orthodontists can become more proficient in this technique, and showed several case examples of how movements that were previously thought impossible with aligners, could actually be achieved. His talk, closing lecture for the Canadian Orthodontic Invisalign Costa Rica Study Club, was thought provoking and very well-received. No longer should it be asked if Invisalign can correct something. The right question to ask the doctor is if he/she can correct something using Invisalign… a subtle but large difference.
Dr. Jason Tam speaking to orthodontists across Canada.
While down in Costa Rica, Dr. Tam visited the Invisalign Treat Facility, for the third time. It is at this facility where the technicians modify ClinChecks based upon the directions of the doctor. This type of regular interaction with key members of Dr. Tam’s Invisalign team ensures that the proper treatment plans are being developed, according to his instructions. As the features of Invisalign change, and more complex malocclusions are corrected, the technician must be updated on how they will impact the desired ClinCheck program.
Dr. Tam at Costa Rica Invisalign Treat Facility with his Territory Manager Craig MacIntyre
To ensure proper continuity, Dr. Tam spoke extensively with the staff dentists at Align, and worked with a second technician to help work with his simulations. This ensures Invisalign patients at MCO Orthodontics the consistency and level of excellence they deserve.
Dr. Tam with two of his technicians and Align dentist Dr. Guitterez
Dr. Tam would like to thank Align for inviting him to speak again, having spoken across Canada, United States, and now in the town of the Invisalign Headquarters in San Jose, Costa Rica. He is also grateful to his techs and dentists for their warm congratulations on Dr.Tam’s selection for the 2012 Invisalign Case Competition in Las Vegas. MCO Orthodontics continues to work hard to stay at the forefront of Invisalign treatment in the world!
