how to choose the right orthodontist for you: five questions … · 2018. 8. 17. · we know that...

www.righellisortho.com SPECIAL REPORT

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Righellis & Associates2220 Mountain Blvd, Suite 204

Oakland, CA 94611

How to Choose the Right Orthodontist For You:

Five Questions You Must Ask

2 How to Choose the Right Orthodontist For You

How to Choose the Right Orthodontist For You:Five Questions You Must Ask

Choosing the right orthodontist can certainly be a challenge.

Many parents ask friends, family and neighbors. Most look online (perhaps that is how you have this report?), read reviews, check the location of the orthodontist for convenience knowing that multiple trips are going to be involved.

These are all good.

But there is more you should know.

That’s why we have prepared this report on how to choose so you can be a smart consumer and get great orthodontics for your child.

You know orthodontics is about getting a great smile for your child because of how important it is for his or her future. And like any good parent, you want what is best for your child.

What you may not know is that orthodontics is so much more than just straight teeth. It is so much more than just a pretty smile.

Ultimately, orthodontics done right the first time is about a better life for your child.

So what is orthodontics done right the first time?

How does it affect your child for life?

What are the things you should know to make a smart choice?

Here are the questions you should ask.

How to Choose the Right Orthodontist For You 3

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1What is your approach to orthodontics? What kind of results are you producing? Is it more than just straight teeth?

When done at high levels, orthodontics not only gives a pretty smile, but also sets up the future oral health for your child.

It may come as a surprise that orthodontics is so much more than just straight teeth. There are a host of other benefits.

Why miss out on all the other benefits that you child could receive as a result of a complete diagnosis and a thorough plan of care?

Why miss out on all these other benefits that allow your child’s orthodontic care to be done rapidly as possible with the most advanced technologies available?

What are those benefits? It is a long list and an important list.

Here they are.

1. Guided growth and development of the jaws

2. Guided growth of the face to achieve symmetry and balance

3. Evaluation of an airway and development of a plan to improve the airway for less resistance to proper breathing and to reduce or eliminate snoring and/or obstructive sleep apnea when appropriate.

4. Positioning the jaw joints in their most stable position so muscles in the face, head and neck are coordinated and function comfortably with each other.

5. A strong and stable bite that enhances chewing, tooth positioning and decreased wear so teeth can last a lifetime.

6. Proper positioning of the teeth to deflect food and debris away from the teeth and gums enhancing gum health, preventing decay and preventing food traps.


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7. Aligning the tooth roots in the bone properly to withstand the stresses of chewing without breaking, cracking or wearing out prematurely.

8. Proper positioning of the teeth so the right amount of gum shows so your child’ smile looks its best. Too much gum gives you or your child a gummy smile. Too little gum showing means that not enough tooth shows.

9. The right overlap of the front teeth so the jaws can be guided properly during chewing.

10. Reduced or eliminated bruxism (clenching and grinding of the teeth) that causes pain in muscles, headaches, degenerates the jaw joint and destroys teeth.

Many people are surprised at all these other very important benefits beyond just straight teeth.

We have discovered as a result of a survey of a cross-section of American parents from across the country that parents thought they are getting all these benefits with just any dentist or any orthodontist.

Not true.

And you should know we always take into account these ten other benefits. We think that every orthodontist should.

You can check out our before and after pictures of cases on our website https://bit.ly/2MJPlXH

That leads us to question 2.



2How do you produce results like these?

We are glad you asked.

We use a unique approach to orthodontics – some would call it a philosophy of care – that takes into consideration the current condition of your child’s growth and development, the present position and condition of the teeth and the desired results we want to produce.

We often call these results our target goals of care.

It starts with a through diagnosis. You can’t treat what you don’t know about.

Every child is different, unique in her or his special way.

So our diagnosis is designed to take into account your child’s uniqueness and all the factors that we need to know before we create your child’s customized plan of care to get lifelong results.

It takes more than just a brief clinical exam on your first visit to properly diagnose and treat your child.

We believe that orthodontic care should not be started at the first visit to an orthodontist.

Here’s why.

We believe is not possible to gather all the information needed to be able to accurately prescribe the right care that quickly.

We believe your child needs a proper clinical evaluation, gathering of x-rays, records and tests before a proper diagnosis can be given.



We believe the orthodontist needs private time evaluation of your child’s case with this information when you are not present for a proper customized plan of care before treatment begins.

This is going slower at the beginning for all the right reasons so we can go faster after we begin.

The most important step is diagnosis.

Then plan the care carefully based on the diagnosis to achieve the right results including the ten other benefits beyond just straight teeth.

Then deliver it.

The great news is that this system helps deliver orthodontics done right the first time and lifelong results.

We believe our patients deserve to have the most advanced treatment available.

We believe in giving you the best result in the shortest time possible.

We believe orthodontics is more complicated than people realize and that patients deserve to have a specialist evaluate and treat them.



3 What is the experience of orthodontics for my child and for me as the parent?

We know that doing orthodontics can be a little scary sometimes. We are here to let you know that you can relax (but only if you want to!)

We work to take great care of your child and you. That’s why you see so many smiling faces and laughter inside the office.

We believe we have a responsibility to being our best for you not only clinically, but also making visits as fast and easy as possible.

We work to shorten the treatment times by being efficient and effective at everything we do because we know you have a busy active life.

Good news is that we spend time and effort before we start to get the diagnosis and plan of care right. The result is treatment done faster and in fewer visits.

Come and join us for our brand of hospitality and lifelong orthodontic results.



Here you go: Dr Righellis. He is a Board-Certified orthodontist.

He carried the Olympic Torch on its way to Shaw Valley from Greece for the 1960 Winter Olympics as a young man.

Today he carries a different kind of torch. A torch of excellence. A torch borne from his decades of practicing clinical care in his private practice. A torch ignited from teaching, speaking, writing, living and breathing orthodontics done the right way.

Dr. Straty Righellis brings the light of orthodontic care that springs from a different place, one based on a different diagnostic method that has defined, healthcare based treatment goals, not just straight teeth. A lot of doctors can offer “straight teeth,” but this is more than just that because it focuses on creating healthy teeth, beautiful smiles and a proportioned, symmetrical face.

This method focuses on making healthy joints and having the correct posture in the neck. This one helps ensure the right guidance for growth and development of the person’s jaws

4 Who will be my orthodontist and what can you tell me about them?



and face using a special assessment called the visual treatment objective composed of both facial pictures and special x-rays overlaid on each other.

The depth of the value of this unique methodology is measured in the decades of health and higher personal confidence for his patients. A confidence that comes from his patients having big, bright beautiful smiles and living healthy lives of their choosing. And leaves their parents with knowing confidence of having made the right choice.

This is Dr Straty Righellis, a man who exemplifies the term doctor as one who teaches – the Orthodontist’s Orthodontist

How did it begin?

He was sitting in his orthodontist’s chair, getting his braces adjusted when the thought came to him, “This is what I want to do when I grow up!” It wasn’t from any long deliberation or parental advice or any planned decision tree. The origin of that thought sprang from an internal “”I know this is right for me, ” intuitive sense of his future life’s work, a gut decision made when he was in the sixth grade.

His 100% Greek parents gave their first borne, Straty Righellis, the freedom to discover his own direction, while doting as little as possible. Still, they were Greek. They had to dote some. His father was an optometrist. His mom helped in the practice. So healthcare has been in his blood from birth.

Growing up a rural agricultural town of Arvin, California with only 5000 people had certainly colored his thinking. He knew early on he would not last long, picking strawberries and cotton, jobs he did as a kid during the picking seasons.

He was small for his age, but that didn’t stop him from loving basketball and baseball and running cross-country as a young



man. He wrestled in the smallest weight class but his energy and passion were not bounded by his size.

His parents were big influences from early in his life, showing him by example the how to’s of living. His mother showed him the value of persistence and communication. His father taught him the value of keeping your word and being a good citizen for your community.

Others who influenced him included a high school basketball coach who taught him life lessons on the long bus trips to away games; a high school English teacher he didn’t like at all who taught (tortured?) grammar and the power of nouns and a math teacher who taught him valuable lessons on how to study that he uses to this day and now teaches others in his classes.

John Wooden, the legendary basketball coach at UCLA who won the NCAA championship 10 of 11 years, was a hero as well.

It was from Wooden that Straty learned the value of preparation and execution. To this day, his two sons’

childhood friends good-naturedly rib him about his phrase favorite: “Preparation and execution.”

He went to UCLA for his undergraduate degree in biology and then entered UCLA’s dental school.

It was while he was in dental school that he met Mary Lou, a college student from the University of

Wisconsin and struck up a romance that continues to this day. They had a long distance relationship until she graduated so they could get married. Their wedding event spawned three other marriages of their mutual friends who met while they were celebrating Straty and Mary Lou’s nuptials in Wisconsin! Straty says Mary Lou has been his best friend and best advisor especially when he really needs to hear it!

After graduating and getting married, Straty and Mary Lou decided to move to Oakland because he liked the diversity of the culture there and the entire Bay area. He opened his practice and



waited. He said it was a bit slow to start as he only had 6 patients in his four months of practice! It didn’t take much longer before the good people of Oakland and the Piedmont area caught on to this new orthodontic wiz, who thereafter made a name for himself that carries forth to this day.

His career has included teaching at UCSF for 17 years at both the dental school and orthodontic residents program.

Straty is always looking for better answers and better care for his patients. He has lived orthodontics 24/7 before the term even existed.

Today he employs some of the most sophisticated technology available to make for better diagnosis, better treatment and reduced total treatment times. This is something the kids and parents really like.

In the 1990, he met Dr Ron Roth, a man who would become a mentor, friend and guide. Dr Roth provided answers to problems of predictable long-term results and a new way to diagnose that gave the best plan of care that put teeth in stable positions. This had been sorely missing from the orthodontic treatment menu.

He decided he could best help by teaching with Dr Roth. He taught with him for years until Dr Roth’s death at too young an age. Today, Dr Straty Righellis continues the work begun by Dr Roth, teaching high-level orthodontics to orthodontists all over the world.

Dr Righellis have been a professional evaluator of papers on orthodontic research for the top four orthodontic journals in the world as well as writing over 35 articles for professional refereed orthodontic journals. He had contributed two chapters to orthodontic textbooks and has served as president for the Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists and the prestigious Angle Society.



Today, Dr. Straty Righellis continues to teach and mentor orthodontists on excellence in orthodontics in post-graduate lecture halls all over the world, while continuing in his clinical practice here in Oakland, CA.

He has presented over 300 lectures around the world in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, China, South and North America.

Practicing and teaching other orthodontists has been a major part of his career – one he enjoys because of the help they are able to deliver to their patients.

Dr. Renie Ikeda

She is a Board-Certified orthodontist.

When your father is known all over the world as an orthodontist

and expert in TMJ therapy and your mom is an accomplished orthodontist as well, orthodontics becomes part of your early life.

Dr. Renie Ikeda chose to pursue the specialty of

orthodontics with the intent to treat her patients like family

– to make a real difference for them by helping them gain

beautiful, long lasting smiles, healthy bites and comfortable jaw joints.

Dr Renie Ikeda was born in Tokyo, Japan and has lived here in the Bay Area since age 12 because she loves it.

She graduated from UC Berkeley with Highest Distinction in Integrative Biology and earned her Doctorate of Dental Surgery degree and Orthodontic Specialty Certification from UC San Francisco.



5What do their patients and other doctors say about them?

Dr Ikeda teaches a course at UC San Francisco in facial treatment planning for orthodontics using cephalometrics (a special x-ray technique for examining the facial structures and how they can change with orthodontics and growth.) She serves there as an assistant professor to help give back to her alma mater.

She continues her extensive research related to the temporomandibular (jaw) joints and has several publications in highly respected peer-reviewed journals. Her research has direct clinical application to patient care.

Dr Ikeda is also Board Certified by the American Board of Orthodontics and is a member of the American Association of Orthodontists and the Roth Study Club International (one of the pre-eminent organizations in the world for orthodontics.)

Outside of orthodontics, she loves learning to speak different languages and is fluent in Japanese and English and is working on mastering Korean and French.

She enjoys traveling, photography, hiking, and snowboarding in the winter.

For more on Dr Righellis and Dr. Ikeda visit: www.righellisortho.com/about-ouroffice/meet-our-doctors.

Quite naturally, it helps to know the words of others who have experienced his unique brand of orthodontics.



PATIENT REVIEWSExcellent service. Dr. Righellis and his associates provide personalized care. They have greatly helped to improve my appearance and teeth alignment.

- A. C.

The people are nice and make me feel comfortable.

– F. A.

Righellis & Associates are very good and I am always in and out very quick.

– T. M.

Dr. Righellis’s services and staff are really great. They’re extremely professional and nice, always on time, and we feel that we’re always in good hands!

- J. C.

The people there are really friendly and always make me feel welcomed! I highly recommend this place!

- M. D.



PROFESSIONAL REVIEWS

Very friendly a welcoming. Always quick appointments with good service.

- W. S.

I have known Dr Straty Righellis for over twenty years and had the pleasure of teaching with him for the last ten. He is without a doubt my orthodontist of choice in the Bay area for my patients who are relocating to the region. He utilizes the very latest in technology to achieve clinical results that are beyond reproach. His staff is extremely well trained and very professional. Best of all, Straty happens to be a really great guy!

Dr. Straty Righellis is the premier orthodontist in the Oakland area. I have known him for nearly twenty-five years to be warm, gracious, and knowledgeable. Dr. Righellis’ office is state of the art and the staff reflects his passion for excellence. This excellence includes not just making teeth straight, but also creating a healthy environment for the jaws and the best facial esthetics.Dr. Righellis is highly respected among the most well know orthodontists around the country and internationally. Any patient of mine who transfers to the Oakland area is given only Dr. Righellis’ name, because I know they will have a great experience and an excellent finish.

They always work well and with a smile on their face. Even though I don’t like having braces, I’m glad I could do it with Righellis & Associates

- L. O.

Dr. Douglas Knight Louisville, KY

Dr. Carl Roy Virginia Beach, VA

www.righellisortho.com SPECIAL REPORT

Call to Schedule TODAY

510-561-1558

Righellis & Associates2220 Mountain Blvd, Suite 204

Oakland, CA 94611

2220 Mountain Blvd, Suite 204Oakland, CA 94611

Phone: 510-482-0600

how to choose the right orthodontist for you: five questions … · 2018. 8. 17. · we know that...

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