Attached are some fun activities you can use to engage kids of all ages regarding dental health. Download Here

February is also National Pet Dental Health Month.

Did you know that human toothpaste can irritate your animal’s stomach? Watch this video on proper oral hygiene for your pet's teeth.

Please scroll down for all the correct answers!

To enter this months iPad2 contest please click here!

The correct answers for the contest were:

Baby A- Diane

Baby B- Nicole

Baby C- Juana

Baby D- Monse

Baby E- Lulu

Baby F- Carmen

Baby G- Ceci

Baby H- Dr. D

Baby I- Nikki

In Honor of Valentine's day we have filled our candy jar with heart shaped candy! We want all of you to guess how many pieces of candy are inside the jar. The jar will be located at our check out desk and you can see it at your next appointment or you can pass by and look at it at any time! The patient that guesses the amount of candy closest to whats in the jar will win the iPad! In the event of a tie, there will be a drawing to determine the winner.

Enter your answer with your first and last name in the comment box below. Only one guess per patient is allowed so make it a good one!

Remember: To enter the contest and be eligible to win the iPad you must

-"Like" us on Facebook (Here)

-Join our mailing list (Here)

-Be an active patient in braces

-Click here to enter

This contest will close on February 28th, 2012. Good luck!

As unpleasant as it may be to think about, our mouths aren’t the cleanest places in the world. As food is eaten, the remnants left on teeth form a sticky substance known as plaque, which is full of bacteria. If you brush your teeth and flush regularly, most of this plaque is removed. (A quick word of caution about brushing: be gentle with your gums when you brush, because overly vigorous brushing can actually contribute to gum disease over time!) However, if you aren’t regular with your brushing and flossing, the plaque collects near the gum line and hardens into tartar, the next step on the road to gum disease. If your teeth are crooked or crowded, it may be too difficult to remove the plaque the way you should, and the tartar can develop in hard to reach places despite your best efforts. Regular dental cleanings are very important to remove any tartar that has built up for whatever reason, since brushing and flossing alone can’t take care of it.

If tartar is not dealt with, over a period of time the gums may actually pull away from the teeth. This movement creates a space called a periodontal pocket, which is seriously bad news. The extra room is a ready-made home for more plaque and tartar, which then becomes even more difficult to get rid of. At this point, if left untreated, your gums will become red and swollen, the telltale early signs of gum disease, also known as gingivitis. As gingivitis progresses, you can eventually suffer bone loss in your jaw. This, in turn, makes your teeth wobbly because they don’t have the support that they need to stay solidly in place. Eventually, they can even fall out, a fate no one wants.

Orthodontics Only plays a special role in the prevention of gingivitis. Remember how crooked or crowded teeth can make the plaque and tartar difficult to get rid of? Orthodontics, which is a special branch of dentistry, can fix this problem. By straightening the teeth out and ensuring that they are spaced properly, brushing and flossing become more effective at removing plaque. This can be achieved through braces, retainers, and other corrective appliances according to each person’s individual need. If you have hard time fitting floss in between your teeth, you are probably a good candidate for orthodontics. Fortunately, healthy teeth can be moved at any age, so there is no reason not to seek orthodontic treatment just because you’re an adult. In fact, about 1 in 4 orthodontic patients today are adults.

Dr. Derek Sanders or Dr. Richard Rothstein and the Team at Orthodontics Only are pleased to provide you with this helpful information and to offer you the finest state-of-the-art orthodontic care for you and your family. For more information, please visit our website or contact our office.

Why does this happen? If you want to find out, go to the nearest mirror. Grab your upper lip between your thumb and forefinger on both sides and pull it up (warning: you may feel a little silly doing this). If you look above your front teeth, exactly in the middle of your gums, you will see a small flap of tissue that connects your gums to the inside of your lip. Believe it or not, this little flap actually has a name—it has called a freneulum (or frenum for short), and it can be the reason you have a gap in your front teeth.

If your frenum is the right size and properly positioned on your gum line above your two front teeth, it serves the simple purpose of attaching your gums to your lip, and all is well. Your frenum is supposed to move upward when your baby teeth come in to make room. However, if the frenum is too large, attached in the wrong spot, or fails to move down like it should, it can cause problems. An incorrectly placed frenum can exert a pull or tension that prevents your front teeth from coming together the way they should. What makes this even more of an issue is the fact that braces can’t fix it! With the frenum in the way, your front teeth will never get to meet one another.

Luckily, there is a way to solve the problem. There is a procedure known as a frenectomy, which is just a fancy word for reducing the size of your frenum. This limits the tension that keeps your teeth apart, and opens the door for braces to be placed to bring them back together in the right position. It is a very simple procedure performed by your orthodontist or dentist in the office. Your dentist just numbs your gums, removes a tiny bit of the frenum, and you are on your way. Now that lasers are often used for this surgery, it makes the whole thing even easier. There will be a few days of soreness afterwards while your tissue heals, but it is a small price to pay for bringing your front teeth together. After all, they make such a good pair, it’s a shame for them to be so far apart!

Sometimes however, front teeth are kept apart because of a jaw discrepancy where the lower jaw is bigger than the upper jaw causing the front teeth to spread apart. This is a problem of a completely different nature. If you or someone in your family has a space between their two front teeth that want to eliminate, Dr. Derek Sanders and Dr. Richard Rothstein at Orthodontics Only will be able to evaluate the problem and determine the best course of treatment to close the space. It may be much easier than you think.

Feel free to contact our office for a free new patient consultation and find out how we can create a beautiful new smile without an unsightly space between your teeth.

1. Dr. D's Favorite Gadget:

iPad 2 16gb white

2. Dr. D's Favorite Candy Bar:

Snickers Fun Size

3. Dr. D's Favorite Magazine:

Mens Health Magazine December 2011 Issue

4. Dr. D's favorite drink:

Smartwater 33.3 oz

5. Dr. D's Favorite Gift Card:

$25 American Express Gift Card

6. Dr. D's Favorite Movie Theatre:

Two tickets to Regal Cinemas

And Our Lucky Winner was….

Congratulations Denise! You were our lucky iPad winner for December. Denise guessed 5 out of 6 correct answers. Please stop by the office to claim your prize!

To all other contestants: Please do not give up or get discouraged if you do not win! We will be having our iPad contest every month. Keep trying and don't give up!

To enter this month's iPad contest click here: http://miamiorthodontist.com/2012/01/04/whos-that-baby/

For January's iPad contest we want you all to guess who's that baby!

Each baby picture is labeled with a letter and your job is to match each letter to a staff member above. Can you figure out which baby is which?? The patient with the most correct answers will win the iPad 2! In the event of a tie we will have a drawing to determine the winner.

Instructions

-Match each baby with the correct team member by entering a name with a letter

-Once you are sure of your answers submit them in the comment box below

-Each patient may enter only one time

Remember to enter the contest and be eligible to win an iPad2 you must:

-"Like" us on facebook (Here)

-Join our mailing list (Here)

-Be an active patient in braces

Contest will close January 31st, 2012. Good luck to all of our patients!

In severe situations, permanent tooth removals may be required to create the necessary space for others. However, no one enjoys having their teeth extracted and we try to avoid this option whenever possible. Fortunately, there is another way. By using a child’s natural growth spurts, a savvy orthodontist can avoid the need for tooth extractions if he evaluates a patient at an early age.

Children usually have a couple of predictable growth spurts. The first generally occurs around 8 or 9 years of age, right before puberty. Another one will typically follow during puberty itself, which falls between 11 or 12 years. During these growth spurts, the face and jaw will grow. The strategy is to harness this natural growth and combine it with braces and/or appliance to create more room for teeth if needed.

Since timing is everything, it is important to have your child evaluated by an orthodontist at a young age. It is generally difficult to know for sure if your child will need orthodontics until his or her permanent teeth begin to erupt. However, important forecasting clues can be understood by a trained orthodontist.

The American Association of Orthodontics recommends that your child be examined by an orthodontist at age 7 to determine if early orthodontic treatment is needed. Treatment is much easier if evaluated and started before problems worsen and vital growth spurts are lost.

It is not necessary to be referred by your general dentist for a complimentary orthodontic evaluation at Orthodontics Only. Be proactive and contact our office to schedule an appointment. If your child does not require early interceptive treatment, Dr. Sanders and Dr. Rothstein will continue to monitor your child’s dental and growth development in our complimentary supervisory program to determine the right time to begin treatment, based on your child’s needs.