Another Satisfied Patient from Okun Orthodontics

From our great staff to our state-of-the-art technology, patients love coming to Okun Orthodontics. Read this letter from a very happy patient!

Dear Dr. Okun

I am writing to thank you and commend you for your care over the past two years. As you know, I have suffered with jaw pain for years which after a particularly stressful time in my life led to a very painful “locking” of my jaw. I was unable to open my mouth and getting routine x-rays at my dentist’s office was extremely painful.

After being referred to you by my dentist, I was immediately impressed by your professionalism and thoroughness. Your explanations every step of the way put my mind at ease. I was fitted for a biteplate to wear daily to ease the pressure on my jaw. I went from wearing the device all day to wearing it only at night.

While there is no “cure” for my ailment, the biteplate has helped with the management of the jaw pain. Another thing that helped was the energy medicine that you recommended. The goal of the medicine is to “decrease the pain and spasm of the muscles in the face and jaw”. While I must admit I was skeptical at first by this “alternative medicine”, after sitting at the machine I would feel my jaw relax and sometimes a headache I was suffering from would even ease. I did not realize how well the medicine made me feel until I came back for a follow up appointment months later and did not think I needed the energy medicine. I did try it again however, and I was amazed at the difference it made, my face even looked more relaxed when I left.

I would just like to thank you again for your patience, care and for helping me to manage my jaw pain.

Sincerely,
M.H.

Patient Appreciation Letter to Dr. Judith Okun

Read this letter from a happy patient to Dr. Judith Okun!

Dear Dr. Okun,

I am writing to thank you for suggesting that I bring my children to you for “electric medicine” treatments following their wisdom tooth extractions. It clearly worked like a charm to alleviate a great deal of the swelling, pain and discomfort that they had to endure. Although my oldest two children had all four teeth extracted at the same time, they came directly to your office for treatment and experienced minimal swelling and discomfort for a few days.

I was still a little skeptical that the treatments actually worked until my youngest daughter had her teeth pulled recently. The first tooth was pulled in August and I was unable to bring her to your office from the surgeon’s. The swelling and pain from this one tooth was extreme and lasted more than a week. After the other three teeth were pulled this past December we took no chances and came directly to your office. She used the “electric medicine” for the prescribed time and had no swelling on one side and minimal swelling on the other. Within a few days she was completely comfortable with no signs of the surgery.

We are all now firm believers in this method that noticeably speeds the healing process. My children used it whenever you adjusted their braces over the years and I can confirm that this “medicine” really worked. They never complained about pressure from their braces and the treatments definitely healed cuts in their mouths right before our eyes.

I am no longer skeptical in the least because this last success was not one that could be explained away by the power of suggestion. We saw and felt the results. I cannot thank you enough for all your wonderful work and sage advice.


Sincerely,

J.T.

A Layperson's View of a Beautiful Smile as Relayed to Dr. Okun

I’ve known Barbara* for years. She never really had an awful smile. She was a cute girl. She had her orthodontics in high school and got her retainers. I didn’t see her much after high school until yesterday. I was wearing my retainers and was smiling big. I love my smile both with and without my retainers. Barbara was covering her mouth. I thought she was covering her mouth because of my retainer.

As I was walking, I didn’t cover my mouth because I wasn’t shy about wearing my retainers. I saw her teeth when I hugged her and was really shocked. They were awful. The teeth were crooked and her mouth was dirty. You could tell that she just let them go. Right now, in this day and age, your smile is everything. It’s going to get you your job and get you noticed. You want to have a beautiful smile. A beautiful smile goes a long way.

I spoke to one of Barbara’s friends. She told me that Barbara didn’t comply with her orthodontics, and didn’t wear her retainers. I couldn’t believe it. Why would anyone spend money on a beautiful smile and not do what she needed to do to keep it. No matter what you have to do, you have to do it. Your smile is everything.

If you’re just standing at a party looking at two people, would you go to the person with the smile, or the person who was not smiling, who had their mouth closed? Of course you’d go to the person who was smiling. That’s what’s going to stand out.

My sister-in-law had this really huge gap in the front of her mouth. Now she’s wearing braces. She wears her elastics and everything. I can see her teeth moving every day. She’s going to get the surgery (frenectomy) to help the space stay closed. She’s going to be a model, and will do everything she needs to do to get that pretty smile. She has a pretty smile and she knows its worth it. And honestly, what is two years to have something for the rest of your life. It’s not a lot of time to correct something.

*name has been changed to protect the identity of the individual

If you care about your smile and want to receive the highest quality service in a state-of-the-art practice, give Dr. Okun a call. She'd love to have a consultation and let you know what you can do to keep smiling.

What Do We Need Spit For Anyway? -- Dr. Judith Okun Explains

This past week, Dr. Okun attended a lecture entitled “Clinical Pearls for Treating Older Patients” by Dr. Randy Huffines. One of the biggest issues with sickly and elderly patients is that they have decreased salivary flow (i.e. spit). Saliva is necessary to start the digestion of our food, but is also necessary to buffer acids in the mouth and keep minerals in our teeth. With poor quality saliva, or too little saliva, we not only have that uncomfortable dry-mouth feeling, but we also get MANY MORE cavities.

Why does an orthodontist need to know about treating older patients? Many more adults are wearing braces than ever before. Many of them want to achieve that smile they never had when they were young. Many of them were told by their dentists that they need to align their teeth in order make it possible to restore their broken- down teeth or replace their missing teeth. Some have even come to us because their improper bites are causing them pain. Okun Orthodontics attracts many adults seeking braces because we have individual treatment rooms for all of our procedures. This enables all of our patients, no matter how young or how old, to have the privacy they deserve at each visit.

What can we do for patients at increased risk for cavities? (This includes both the elderly as well as the young who have difficulty keeping their teeth clean.) We can show you how to clean around the braces with special aids like inter-proximal tooth brushes (mini-bottle brushes for cleaning teeth) and floss- threaders. (We often recommend that you have someone help you clean your teeth if you are not able to clean them well by yourself.) We also can provide you with MI Paste- a dentist supplied topical crème with calcium phosphate and fluoride that can strengthen your teeth and decrease your cavity-risk. Of course, we also recommend that you get more frequent dental cleanings so that both the gum disease and cavities are minimized.