Arvada/Westminster
Insignia™
Insignia...... Finally Braces that make sense!
Unlike standard orthodontic braces manufactured to treat a wide variety of patients, Insignia braces are custom made for each individual tooth.
Insignia utilizes 3-D imaging and precision manufacturing. This allows Dr. Nelson to determine, within fractions of a millimeter, the ideal treatment to straighten your teeth and create a smile that is tailored specifically to your anatomy FAST!!!
* Significantly Less Time in Braces
* Significantly Fewer Appointments (means less missed school/work apts.)
* Better End Results
* Less Pain
The biggest complaint patients have regarding orthodontic treatment is the length of time and the large number of appointments. In today’s society it is very difficult for busy adults to take time from work to go to the orthodontist and schools are making it very difficult for students to miss school for any reason.
There is finally a way to decrease the length of treatment and the number of appointments and still get a fantastic result. It is called Insignia, www.insigniaortho.com. I have incorporated this technology into the practice with phenomenal success.
With this technique I am able to position brackets on the teeth in a very precise manner using a special proprietary computer program. The brackets are custom designed for each individual tooth for each individual patient. The arch wires are also custom designed and manufactured to move the teeth quickly and precisely to their final ideal positions.
Insignia works by making special impressions of the patients’ teeth. These impressions are then sent to the Insignia laboratory where the impressions are scanned into the computer. Once this occurs I can then manipulate the teeth positions and the brackets to their ideal positions. This is all done on the computer with incredible accuracy. Once I have the final positions of the teeth where I want them Insignia manufacturers the brackets and wires for that particular patient. It is all custom designed and made. I know what the final bite and alignment of the teeth will look like before I ever start moving the teeth. I have perfect control over the movement of every tooth since every tooth is incorporated into the braces.
NICKEL TITANIUM
The NASA space program developed special metal called nickel titanium. It is used to make many different products. The most notable is eye glasses that can be distorted, (usually by sitting on them) but then spring back to their normal shape without being permanently bent or broken. This same metal is used to make orthodontic wires. These wires produce light relatively constant forces over a large range of deflection, or bend. As long as the wire is even slightly bent it is delivering its tooth moving power to the teeth. The pressure is very low working harmoniously with the body’s innate tooth moving biology. This causes the teeth to move quickly and with less pain. Because the wire is still applying pressure to the teeth as long as it is bent it is not necessary for the orthodontist to adjust the wire. We see patients every 2-3 months instead of every 4-6 weeks like many orthodontists. Fewer adjustments means less pain from the braces and less time away from school and work. This saves patients and their families lots of stress.
THE MAGIC COMBINATION
The combination of nickel titanium wires and Insignia provides fantastic final results in shorter time than traditional methods. It has allowed us to treat more difficult bites without having to pull teeth and without having to use bulky expanders and bite correction appliances. It also decreases the number of adjustment appointments and decreases the overall length of treatment. Fewer adjustments mean less pain and less time away from work and school. We typically do adjustments every 2-3 months and many patients are only in braces for 12 months, or less. This makes treatment less intrusive into your daily life and much less painful. The shorter the time the braces are on the teeth the less chance there is for decalcification and cavity formation. Insignia provides for less time in braces, less time away from school and work, less pain and discomfort, less chance for cavities, less need for extraction of permanent teeth, less need for bite correction appliances and phenomenal results.
The brackets we use are stainless steel or ceramic (clear). These braces are called Damon self-ligating brackets. These brackets are designed to decrease friction between the brackets and archwires allowing the use of very light forces and faster movement of the teeth. www.damonbraces.com. We are very excited about our new Insignia technology. If you have questions or would like to find out how you can benefit from Insignia please call to schedule an appointment.