oral health Archives - Alpan Orthodontics

LA Orthodontist Discusses Braces and Gum Disease

July 15, 2026November 29, 2013 by seo

Person posing outdoors with blurred face

A Close Eye on Mouth Germs Everybody’s smile relies on proper daily attention to remain clean and healthy. Your toothbrush and floss are essential to controlling the buildup of sticky dental plaque, which consists of over 600 different kinds of oral bacteria. Some of these germs pose serious, specific threats to your oral health, such … Read more

Century City Orthodontist: Dental Health for Children

November 13, 2024September 20, 2013 by seo

Although children may take a few years to fully grasp the concept of oral hygiene, a parent’s job of ensuring a child’s good dental health can never begin too early. Until children can brush and floss their own teeth, parents are all that stand between their children’s smiles and the forces that lead to destructive dental diseases. Today, your Century City orthodontist, Dr. David Alpan, explains early dental health for children, and offers a few tips to successfully teach your children how to brush and floss their teeth.

The Early Years

You shouldn’t wait until your child’s teeth erupt from the gum line before worrying about cleaning their mouths. The truth is that children are born with their primary teeth already formed, or forming, in the jawbone. To keep your newborn or infant child’s mouth clean before teeth begin to erupt, Dr. Alpan suggests running a clean, warm, damp washcloth gently over the gums to clear them of oral bacteria and residual milk after each feeding and before bed.

L.A. Orthodontist: Two of Oral Health’s Biggest Enemies

July 15, 2026September 4, 2013 by seo

Protecting your oral health requires a good general understanding of what could trouble it, and how to prevent or defeat these issues before they significantly damage your oral tissues. As an orthodontist in Los Angeles, Dr. David Alpan takes time to properly educate patients about specific oral health issues, as well as discussing their viable treatment options to determine the best course of action. Today, we examine two of the most notorious threats to your smile’s wellbeing, which can be found among the plethora of oral bacteria that consistently inhabit your mouth.

The Cavity Germ

One of the most infamous mouth microbes is the bacterium Streptococcus mutans, which significantly contributes to dental plaque formation. Though sticky dental plaque can feel annoying, S. mutans real danger to your oral health lies in its ability to convert sugar and other carbs into acid, which weakens your enamel and depletes your teeth of minerals. After a while, this acid can irreversibly damage your enamel and allow bacteria to infect your tooth, causing tooth decay and small holes (cavities) to form.

Los Angeles Orthodontist Explains the Nature of Dental Plaque

November 13, 2024August 28, 2013 by seo

Child with braces at dentist appointment

Dental plaque is always a threat, but when you wear braces, controlling the nuisance takes on a new importance. As the source of most dental health issues, plaque is created by masses of bacteria that, while native to your oral cavity, can pose a serious threat when allowed to grow out of control. Typically, a few moments spent brushing and flossing your teeth at least twice a day is your main defense against plaque. However, if you’re undergoing orthodontic treatment, then you must take special care to clean bacterial plaque from between the brackets, wires, and your teeth. Today, your Los Angeles orthodontist, Dr. David Alpan, takes a close look at why plaque is dangerous, and offers advice for maintaining effective dental hygiene while wearing braces.

Big Problems in Small Packages

Tooth decay, gum disease, chronic bad breath, and other oral health complications often result from oral bacteria’s biological processes. For instance, some mouth germs turn sugar into acid through metabolization, and the acid depletes the enamel around your teeth, leaving them vulnerable to tooth decay-causing bacteria. Other germs can incite inflammation in your gums and cause them to pull away from your teeth, leading to gum disease and possible tooth loss. When allowed to gather in force, these microbes form plaque to protect them from your mouth’s natural defenses, like saliva.

Century City Orthodontist: Easier Dental Hygiene with Clear Braces

November 13, 2024August 26, 2013 by seo

There are many considerations to straightening crooked teeth, and if you’re an older teen or an adult who requires orthodontic treatment, than many of those considerations are likely of a cosmetic nature. Crooked teeth can visibly mar your smile, but wearing metal braces to correct them may not add to your confidence within your personal and professional life. To address the aesthetic nature of malocclusion while maintaining the utmost discretion, your Century City orthodontist, Dr. David Alpan, may recommend Invisalign clear braces. By eschewing the traditional bracket-and-wire setup of conventional braces, clear braces are designed for image-conscious patients who may otherwise postpone or neglect a serious dental problem. However, discretion isn’t the only benefit to Invisalign treatment; as removable aligners, clear braces also make good dental hygiene easier to maintain.

A Focus on Convenience

Although they’re called clear braces, Invisalign’s aligners aren’t braces in the typical sense. More accurately, they’re a series of custom-designed aligners that guide your teeth along a doctor-prescribed path of movement to their desired positions.

L.A. Orthodontist—What You Probably Don’t Know About Your Teeth

July 15, 2026August 23, 2013 by seo

As a dedicated orthodontist in Los Angeles, Dr. David Alpan specializes in an interesting aspect of your teeth—their orientation, position, and contribution to your bite’s balance. Aside from remaining clean and disease-free, healthy teeth also have to be aligned properly to displace your bite’s pressure. However, maintaining your smile’s harmony is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to your teeth’s abilities. Today, we explore a few interesting facts that you may not know about your teeth and what makes them such a formidable part of your anatomy.

Did You Know?

Your tooth is comprised of three layers: enamel (on the outside), dentin (the main structure), and pulp (inner chamber that houses the nerves and blood vessels). The enamel that protects your teeth is the strongest substance that your body produces.
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When Tooth Extraction Can Save Your Smile, with Your L.A. Orthodontist

November 13, 2024August 21, 2013 by seo

While losing a healthy tooth is typically a disastrous experience for your oral health, sometimes a tooth must go for the greater good of your smile. As Dr. David Alpan explains, most preferable dental treatments should focus on preserving as much healthy tooth tissue as possible; however, if a crooked, damaged, or severely diseased tooth interferes with your good dental health, then extraction may be the only solution. Today, your Los Angeles orthodontist describes when tooth extraction is the only viable option, and how it can serve your smile’s best interests.

Only When it’s Necessary

Wisdom teeth—the last four molars to erupt in a healthy adult mouth—are usually the only teeth that can be extracted without negatively affecting your oral health and function. In fact, impacted wisdom teeth often cause crowding, push existing teeth out of alignment, and disturb your smile’s delicate symmetry. Similarly, a severely crooked, diseased, or damaged tooth may interfere with your orthodontic treatment and require removal to make room for other teeth.