A beautiful smile can change your self image.

A beautiful smile can change your self image. It’s never too late to wear braces. Although orthodontic need can be evaluated in children as young as age 7 (to guide growth and create the proper balance for teeth to erupt), adults often wear braces to help them achieve that winning smile they never had, or to help them look young again. Dr. Judith A. Okun is a board certified orthodontist committed to providing her patients with comprehensive orthodontic care and TMJ treatment. When she eliminates jaw-joint and face pain in patients who grind their teeth or have sustained a trauma to the jaw, she helps “TMJ patients” to smile too. Dr. Okun incorporates the latest technology, including the Electro-Acuscope/Myopulse System for pain management; metal, clear, lingual and removable braces, aligner treatment (Clear Correct/ Invisalign), temporary anchorage devices, dental- guards for TMJ, and custom athletic mouth-guards. Our technological advancements include digital x-rays, photos and study models, as well as 24/7 patient access web services. You too can have a beautiful smile.

Pain and Tooth Fractures are Linked to Grind of Recession

Although there is no official data, dentists are noticing an increase in the number of patients seeking repair for chipped and fractured teeth. All the evidence points to tooth grinding (a.k.a. bruxism), brought on as a result of stress. And the stress levels have increased with the recent economic Recession.

The body reacts to stress, real or perceived, with what is known as the "fight or flight" reaction. Since most of us do not burn off this stress- reduction- energy with extreme physical activity, we burn it off by clenching or grinding our teeth at night.

Clenching teeth can cause cold sensitivity and sometimes nerve trauma in the teeth (requiring root canal treatment to fix.) Grinding teeth can cause wear or chipping of the biting surfaces of the teeth; cracking or fracturing of the cusps (or bumps on the biting surface of the teeth); destruction of the bone that holds teeth in the mouth; shortening of the roots of the teeth; pain and spasm of the chewing, face, and neck muscles; pain or ringing of the ears, and jaw joint pain. The damage to the jaw joint and its muscles is often referred to as "TMJ".

What can we do for tooth grinding? We can’t stay up all night to make sure we aren’t rubbing our teeth together while we sleep. We can, however, cover the biting surface of our teeth with a hard plastic guard or splint at night. This way the wear- and- tear happens to the guard instead of to our teeth and their supporting structures. The guard splints the teeth together so that clenching forces are shared and do less damage to the nerves of the teeth. The guard also decreases the muscle forces needed to slide our teeth side to side, therefor decreasing the spasm of the chewing and face muscles, and decreasing the stress on the jaw joint. Many patients try over- the- counter night guards, but although they are cheap, they are not effective. At Okun Orthodontics we make custom night guards. The cost of a custom night guard is significantly less than the cost to repair the damage done by those patients who grind their teeth without protection.

It pays to prevent the pain and avoid the tooth fractures that are caused by the "grind of Recession." As the expression goes "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

--Dr. Judith Okun

We offer Hope for TMJ pain, as well as Braces

Having TMJ whether it is an acute case or chronic inflammation is a painful experience, but there are some things you can do for yourself at home. When you are experiencing jaw joint or facial pain eat a softer diet. Extra chewing only makes the pain worse. Also try using hot compresses or ice paks on the sides of your face and head to relax the muscles associated with your jaw joint. In our office TMJ Therapy includes helpful home tips like these, as well as the use of custom fabricated night guards and electric stimulation treatment with the electro-accuscope and myopulse system (by Advanced Biomedical Technologies). This microcurrent modality is FDA approved for pain management, and has also been shown to decrease inflammation and muscle spasm, and increase rates of healing. At Okun Orthodontics we treat both TMJ/facial pain as well as crooked teeth and facial imbalances. Braces may include:

• Interceptive treatment: Early treatment to normalize the face and dental arches so that future growth and development can continue in a healthy and normal manner. This may be done with a combination of fixed or removable appliances.

• Fixed Appliances (braces): Includes orthodontic (tooth) and orthopedic (bone) movement in growing children, and just orthodontic (dental movement) in adults. The purpose of treatment is to align the teeth and jaws to improve dental health, occlusion (the way the teeth bite) and appearance. Variations may include:
• Non-extraction, extraction, and minimal extraction treatment options.
• Clear or metal brackets which are both available.
• Non surgical correction of skeletal discrepancies is often possible.
• Correction of "overbites" and "underbites" is a routine part of treatment.
• Palatal expansion: Changing the width of the upper arch to increase arch circumference (alleviate crowding) or to bring the top teeth outside the bottom teeth (crossbite correction).
• Orthopedic movement is used to direct growth in a favorable direction.
• Correction of crossbites, teeth that stick in or out too far compared to the opposing dental arch. Sometimes these teeth are in traumatic occlusion.
• Correction of traumatic occlusions - bites where some teeth are banged too hard when the patient chews.
• Correction of crowded or rotated teeth, using available space or making space (by increasing arch circumference or by removing teeth).
• Space closure - closing spaces in either or both arches that exist either because of development, habits, or missing teeth.
• Headgear - to redirect growth of the upper jaw, or to move the molars backwards.
• Lip bumpers - to maintain or increase arch length, to make enough space for incoming teeth.
• Lingual arch - to maintain or increase arch length, or to change arch form.
• Habit appliances - to help the patient stop harmful habits such as thumb sucking or tongue thrusting. These habits can alter the position of the teeth and change the dental arch form.