Quality Treatment

Dr. Chris Payne uses the Individual Patient (IP) appliance for his braces patients. It was the first customized appliance system in the world and is an enhanced straight archwire technique. Previous standards in orthodontics used "straight archwire" appliances with one bracket design and one archwire for all patients, which is not always sufficient to treat all tooth movements. However, the IP Appliance revolutionized orthodontics by allowing doctors to customize the optimal appliance for EACH patient. The customization results in faster, more consistent treatment results. Your braces will be individually designed, tailored to your anatomy and case goals unlike other orthodontic appliances.

Your IP appliance will have these components:

Brackets specific to each tooth;
Custom welded bands;
Archwires specific to your facial characteristics and tooth movements, guiding your teeth within the size and shape of your unique bone structure;
Long acting nickel-titanium springs and wires to extend the time between treatment visits; and
Computer aided diagnosis of the best bracket and wire combinations for each treatment.

IP Orthodontics is beneficial because it gives dentists 10 times more bracket and archwire designs to choose from, creating a treatment-specific set of braces. Each tooth is diagnosed to find the best bracket for the intended direction of tooth movement. Digital cephalometric analysis, model measuring and visual treatment objectives are used with the aid of a computer. This allows the dentist to diagnose your teeth, bone structure and facial profile to develop your treatment plan and customize your brackets. Your braces will be designed and made specifically for you.

The IP Appliances method of individualized orthodontics offers:

Computerized treatment planning;
Multiple bracket combinations; When not all brackets are the same, you have the flexibility of torque variations, mesial - distal rotations, varying Rx's, custom welded bands and variable archwire shapes to customize the appliance;
Estimated growth predictions - It has been established that good facial growth and a good orthodontic outcome are correclated, so the ability to assess and predict facial growth cephalometrically is important to orthodontic treatment in order to better plan treatment and achieve stable and esthetic outcomes;
VTO's or Visual Treatment Objective - VTO is a useful diagnostic tool that enables clinicians to plan treatment and manage tooth movements during treatment; and
Indirect trays - Indirect bonding trays enable the clinician to place a complete set of braces, including expanders (if needed) with archwires in less than an hour. In a typical orthodontic practice, this process usually takes 2 - 3 hours.

For more information on this method, visit www.individualortho.com

Although Dr. Chris Payne offers orthodontic treatment for his patients, he is also able to maintain a general dental practice offering all the services of a general dentist. Some of the general dentistry services are used in conjunction with orthodontic treatment. Tooth movement can be used to enhance restorative treatment options in multidisciplinary treatments.

Our focus can also be expanded to a patient's airway and breathing and how it affects dentition, jaw alignment and bruxism (tooth grinding). A young patient's allergies can affect their breathing and result in dental malocclusion in much the same way as sucking your thumb. Adults who have a medical diagnosis of sleep apnea also have breathing issues that may be a concern to their teeth. Many patients may have already tried a CPAPA machine and could also be a good candidate for OAT or Orthodontic Appliance Therapy.

Sometimes the solution is something other than traditional braces. Porcelain crowns provide an option for some patients in place of ortho. Invisalign clear aligners are also an option.

Many patients who receive orthodontic treatment are interested in teeth whitening as well. Once the teeth have been straightened, the patient may choose whitening to correct discolorations and perfect their new smile.