Los Angeles Orthodontic Offices
Beverly Hills: (310) 278-9101
Encino: (818) 386-9595

Clear Retainers
Dental Contouring & Tooth Reshaping
Teeth Whitening
MI Paste

Orthodontics can give you that beautiful smile you've always wanted. It can make your teeth straight and give you a healthy and favorable bite. Once your braces are off, your treatment is not necessarily over. You will need to wear retainers for at least a few years and may need contouring, whitening or MI (minimally invasive) paste.

Clear Retainers

Dr. Molayem offers two different types of retainers. The newest type is a clear plastic tray that holds your teeth in its ideal position. They can be worn all day and all night without getting in the way of normal activity. They are taken off for eating and you will need to brush your teeth before wearing them. Many patients love these retainers because they are almost invisible. A few patients find them uncomfortable or simply prefer traditional retainers.

Traditional retainers use metal wires and an acrylic base to hold your teeth in their ideal position. They are worn during most of the day and while you are sleeping for the first six to twelve months in order to allow the bone to solidify around the tooth.

Dr. Molayem will fabricate every retainer with active springs at no extra cost. This is like insurance: if your teeth ever do move, Dr. Molayem can activate the springs to move your teeth back into place.

For either type of retainer, they must be worn nearly all day long for at least six months and up to one year. After this time, they should be worn every night. The retainers should be worn specially through your twenties; it is during this time that the jaw-bones do their final growing and many people notice that their front teeth start to crowd.

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Dental Contouring & Tooth Reshaping

Once your teeth are moved into their ideal alignment, you might notice that there are slight adjustments needed to take your smile to the next level in beauty. Dr. Molayem can contour your teeth by removing very small amounts of enamel. This is often done to correct discrepancies in tooth height or to correct 'black triangles' caused by the gums not filling in spaces between teeth.

Dental contouring can also be done to remove mamelons. Human teeth naturally have ridges on the edge called mamelons. They are thought to help with biting food and are more clearly seen in kids. For many people these ridges will wear away over time giving the teeth a straighter appearance. However, if your teeth did not bite in the proper way, the mamelons may still be there and will need to be polished away.

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Teeth Whitening

When your teeth are correctly aligned and shaped they are much easier to clean and keep white. But what if your teeth became stained when you weren't able to clean them as well? This is the perfect time to get your teeth whitened.

Dr. Molayem can fabricate custom whitening trays for you to take home and use at your convenience. He recommends "at home" whitening kits for his patients after orthodontic treatment instead of laser whitening. It's simple, easy to use, quick, and effective. Most importantly it puts control back in the patients hands. Many people find laser whitening to be an uncomfortable procedure, which can cause unusual tooth sensitivity if not monitored.

Each day after placing the whitening material in your tray, simply wear the tray for an hour, and clean the material out after. Continue treatment until you are satisfied. For faster results, you can do two 1-hour treatments in one day. For all teeth whitening systems out there, it takes 2 weeks for the shade to stabilize. Results vary depending on the starting shade and structure of your enamel.

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MI Paste

Many patients find it difficult to maintain proper oral hygiene during orthodontic treatment. While we encourage patients to brush two to three times a day and to floss every night before brushing, we know that it is still difficult to clean around the brackets. Unfortunately, if your teeth are not kept clean they can demineralize in very esthetic areas- typically on the front of the front teeth. When teeth demineralize they first show up as a very white spot, then a brown spot, and then the spot can cavitate (hence the term 'cavity'). Before the spot cavitates, the demineralization can be treated minimally with MI paste (minimally invasive paste).

The white spots, or areas of hypo-mineralization, need to be nourished with calcium and phosphate to strengthen the teeth. MI paste contains bio-available calcium and phosphate and increases fluoride absorption by the tooth. Using MI Paste nightly for several weeks can get rid of these spots by mineralizing them.

MI paste is also good for patients who have decreased salivary flow (typically older patients or people undergoing chemo-therapy or radiation-therapy) or for patients with high risk of cavities.

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Dental Braces

Invisalign Braces

Clear Braces

Damon Brackets

Preventive Care

Follow-Ups

Oral Maintenance

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Los Angeles orthodontist providing a variety of orthodontic braces: Invisalign, Clear Braces & Damon Brackets
Two offices throughout Los Angeles to serve all your orthodontic needs: Beverly Hills and Encino
9675 Brighton Way, Suite 210, Beverly Hills, California 90210, (310) 278-9101
16101 Ventura Blvd., Suite 305, Encino, California 91436, (818) 386-9595

We additionally cater to the following cities in close proximity to our offices:
Agoura Hills, Brentwood, Canoga Park, Century City, Chatsworth, Culver City, Glendale, Granada Hills, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Marina Del Rey, North Hollywood, Northridge, Rancho Park, Reseda, Santa Monica, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Tarzana, Valencia, Van Nuys, West Hills, West Hollywood, West L.A., Winnetka, Woodland Hills
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