Dr. Ray is proud to announce that he is opening a third location, Ray Orthodontics of Huntington Park! Our new location is located at 7648 Seville Ave, Huntington Park, CA. Our Huntington Park location will be serving East LA, Commerce, South Gate, Downey, Lynwood, Cudahy, and Walnut Park. Dr. Ray will be providing Metal Braces, Ceramic Braces, as well as Invisalign treatment to all kids and adults. Dr. Ray is also providing his FREE RETAINERS FOR LIFE program to all of his patients at the Huntington Park location as well. Come visit our Huntington Park location to see why Dr. Ray has been voted the best Orthodontist by the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Whittier Daily News, Pasadena Star News, Antelope Valley Press, and with over 2,000 perfect five star reviews on Google and Yelp, is the highest rated Orthodontist in Los Angeles and California!

One of the most common questions I get as an Orthodontist is, “is my child old enough to get braces/Invisalign? It’s also a very important question to ask, because there are certain aspects of treatment that an Orthodontist can treat too young or be too old to ideally treat. In today’s blog, I will break down the ideal time for Braces or Invisalign treatment.

As soon as a child turns 7 years old, the American Association of Orthodontists recommends a child to be evaluated by an Orthodontist. At this age, an Orthodontist will check to see if the bite is growing ideally. To make sure there is no underbite, overbite, or posterior crossbites. If there is a posterior crossbite, an Orthodontist will use an expander to treat it, if there is an underbite, an Orthodontist may use a facemask to treat it, and if there is an overbite, an Orthodontist may treat it with elastics and braces, or also an expander. These appliances can generally be used starting at 7 all the way through growth completion.

At age 7 and up an Orthodontist will also check to make sure all the adult teeth have room to grow in. If they do not, then an expander and braces may be used as well to help treat the crowding. If this crowding goes untreated, then it may lead to getting permanent teeth extracted later on in life. A side effect of severe crowding at this young age, may lead to impacted canines. An impacted canine is a canine that is growing into the adjacent tooth (the lateral incisor), instead of growing straight down into its position. This may lead to the impacted canine destroying the root of the lateral incisor, causing it to become mobile and eventually needing to be extracted. Seeing an Orthodontist at the right age will allow the Orthodontist to treat the impacted canine before permanent damage is done.

For patients with overbites in the vertical dimension, an Orthodontist can use an anterior bite plate appliance to help treat the overbite. The anterior bite plate appliance, will open up the posterior (back teeth), and allow them to grow towards each other, treating the anterior overbite. This appliance can be used starting at 7 years old, and ideally all the way through until growth is completed.

For patients with overbites in the horizontal direction (overjet) treatment is ideally completed during growth. This phase is different for kids, but usually falls between 10-13. For big overbites in the horizontal direction, we can use what’s called a class II corrector for severe overjets, or simple rubber bands for more mild to moderate overjets.

For crooked, spaced out teeth, treatment can be done at any age after 7, however, it is more ideal to straighten teeth during the growth phase. Getting braces or Invisalign during the growing years of 10-14 makes for more comfortable treatment, with less side effects than when getting braces or Invisalign past that age.

As you can see, Orthodontic treatment is very age sensitive. Make sure you take your child for a complimentary consultation starting at age 7 to see if your child is a good candidate/ready for Braces or Invisalign.

Sports has always been one of the best activities for kids to develop social and physical skills. So Dr. Ray is here to review how to protect your braces and teeth from any potential sports injuries.

What Sports should a mouthguard be worn for while having braces?

Contact sports like football and basketball are a must to have a mouthguard on while having braces and even if you do not have braces. It is safest to have a mouthguard on even for non-contact sports just to be safe.

What dental injuries can happen while playing sports?

Dental injuries from sports are one of the most common causes of injuries for kids. From a piece of a tooth chipping, to loosing a whole tooth, to cuts and bruises to the lips and cheeks, there can be serious and painful dental injuries that happen while playing sports. That is why it is imperative to protect your teeth while you are wearing braces.

What options do you have to protect your teeth while having braces and playing sports?

If you have braces on, there are two types of Orthodontic mouthguards that are available. The first option is the regular mouthguard that molds to fit your teeth exactly. This mouthguard is not ideal to be worn while having braces on, because the braces will get in the way of the tight fitting mouthguard. The molded mouthguard will be fitted to your teeth while they are crowded/spaced. When you get braces, the braces will start to align your teeth/close spaces. Therefore, after a while the molded mouthguard will not fit due to the moving of your teeth.

A more ideal option is the Orthodontic mouthguard while having braces on. The Orthodontic mouthguard has a little extra space between the braces and the mouthguard to allow for room for the braces.This will allow your braces to move your teeth as needed, while protecting them.

How to take care of your mouthguard?

When any kind of appliance is worn in your mouth, it will get covered with different forms of bacteria. There are a few options for cleaning them. First, you can brush them with a soft bristle toothbrush and toothpaste. Second, you can leave them in a cup overnight with a denture cleaning tablet. It is imperative to keep your mouthguards clean!

If you have any questions about mouthguards, braces, or Invisalign treatment, please feel free to reach out to Dr. Ray at 323-597-1712 (Montebello location) or 661-480-5555 (Palmdale location).

I am extremely proud to announce that our Montebello location has been voted THE BEST ORTHODONTIC OFFICE IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY by the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Whittier Daily News, and the Pasadena Star-News! These three papers combined reach 846,000 readers a month, and I am so humbled that they have voted us the best.

We opened our Montebello location in October of 2017. I had four patients in total the first month. It is mind blowing to think how far we have come since then. To have both of our offices win all of their respective Readers choice awards is a testament to our dedication to being the absolute BEST. Thank you to my amazing team for all of your hard work. I am so proud of what WE have built. I could not have done any of this without you. It is truly a joy to work side by side with each and every one of you. And thank you to my wonderful patients for trusting us with your care. From the start, Montebello, Palmdale and the surrounding areas have embraced us. I feel honored to be a part of the Montebello and Palmdale communities. I love and appreciate each and every one of you!

Ray Orthodontics proudly provides Braces and Invisalign care to children, teens, and adults in the Montebello, Palmdale, Pico Rivera, Whittier, East LA, Monterey Park, Lancaster, Alhambra, Huntington Park, South Gate, Downey, El Monte, Lynwood, Cudahy, Walnut Park & Commerce, CA. areas. To schedule your free consultation, please call 323-597-1712.

Here are some fun activities in Lancaster for almost everyone in the family! I hope all my patients that live in the Lancaster and Palmdale areas make good use out of our list and plan family activities that will last a lifetime.

1. August 1, 2022 Monday Bitez(April-October2022)

5:00pm-9:00pm

Sgt. Steve Owen Memorial Park-43063 10th St W,

Lancaster, CA 93534

2. August 1, 2022 National Night Out

4:00pm-9:00pm

The Blvd Market-44933 Fern Ave., Lancaster Ca 93534

3. August 4th 2022 Blvd Market- Farmers Market Every

Thursdays (April-October2022)

4:00pm-9:00pm

The Blvd Market-44933 Fern Ave., Lancaster Ca

93534

4. August 25th 2022 Blacked Own Business Market @ the blvd

4:00pm-9:00pm

Blvd Farmers market-44933 Fern Ave., Lancaster

Ca 93534

5. September 11-17th, 20222 AV Walls Art Festival

11:00 am-9:00pm

Museum of Art History 665 W, Lancaster Blvd., Lancaster Ca 93534

6. October 1st, 2022 Bark at the park

10:00-6:00pm

Sgt Owen Memorial Park-43063 10th St W Lancaster ca 93534

7. October 22, 2022 Haunt at the Hangar

5:00 pm-9:00pm

The Lancaster Municipal Stadium-45116 Valley Central Way., Lancaster Ca 93534

8. November 5th 2022 Field of Drafts Annual Beer Festival

1:00pm-5:00pm

The Lancaster Municipal Stadium-45116 Valley

Central Way., Lancaster Ca 93534

9. December 10th, 2022 A Magical Blvd Christmas

5:00pm- 9:00pm

The Blvd- 44933 Fern Ave., Lancaster Ca 93534

10. December 17th, 2022 Breakfast w/ Santa

8:00 am-11:00 am

Sgt. Steve Owen Memorial Park Stanley Kleiner

Activity Building- 43063 10th St W, Lancaster ca

93534

It’s that time of year! The weathers warm, kids are out of school, and theres plenty of outdoor concerts. This week, Dr. Ray focuses on activities to do in Whittier with your family. We hope this list helps lead you to some fun in the sun this summer!

Central Park (on Mondays)

13212 Park Street

Whittier, CA

Free, cityofwhittier.org

Parnell Park (on Thursdays)

15390 Lambert Rd.

Whittier, CA

Free, cityofwhittier.org

June 27, 2022 Blue Breeze Band

Motown, R&B, Funk

Central Park, 13212 Park Street

Whittier, CA

June 30, 2022 Upstream

Reggae

Parnell Park, 15390 Lambert Rd.

Whittier, CA

July 7, 2022 Charlie’s Angels

Parnell Park, 15390 Lambert Rd.

Whittier, CA

July 11, 2022 Like Totally Fer Sure

Central Park, 13212 Park Street

Whittier, CA

July 14, 2022 Hit Me 90s

Parnell Park, 15390 Lambert Rd.

Whittier, CA

July 18, 2022 Electric Vinyl

Central Park, 13212 Park Street

Whittier, CA

July 21, 2022 Latin Nation

Parnell Park, 15390 Lambert Rd.

Whittier, CA

July 25, 2022 City Beat Band

Central Park, 13212 Park Street

Whittier, CA

July 28, 2022 Hard Days’ Night

Beatles tribute

Parnell Park, 15390 Lambert Rd.

Whittier, CA

August 4, 2022 Mariachi de Angeles de Pepe Martinez, Jr.

Parnell Park, 15390 Lambert Rd.

Whittier, CA

August 1, 2022 Woodie & the Longboards

60s-70s tribute

Central Park, 13212 Park Street

Whittier, CA

August 8, 2022 Pop Vinyl

Central Park, 13212 Park Street

Whittier, CA

Whittier Regional Symphony

First live concert!

Vic Lopez Theatre

12417 E. Philadelphia Street

Whittier, CA

Free, whittierregionalsymphony.org

May 26, 2022, 6-9 p.m. Whittier Regional Symphony Whittier celebrates the triumphant return of the Symphony! A Multi-Mixer with the Chambers of Whittier, Pico Rivera, Montebello, La Habra, Norwalk, and Santa Fe Springs. Join us for live music, food, and raffles! Free, montebellochamber.org

Location: Doubletree by Hilton Hotel, 7320 Greenleaf Ave., Whittier, CA

June 12, 2022, 3 p.m. Cinematic Symphony

Featuring music from Apollo 13, Jurassic Park, and more!

Parks After Dark – Adventure Park

June 30, 2022, 7 p.m. Suave

suavetheband.com

Past bands

July 9, 2021 L.A. Vation

U2 tribute

July 16, 2021 Latin Nation

Latin music

July 30, 2021 80z All Stars

80s tribute

August 6, 2021 Stevie Nicks Illusion

Fleetwood Mac tribute

August 13, 2021 Abbey Road

Whittier, CA

Hope everyone in our Ray Ortho family has a safe, healthy, and fun summer. As always, if you ever need anything, we are always here for you at our Montebello and Palmdale locations.

Love,

Your Ray Ortho family

Ray Orthodontics proudly provides Braces and Invisalign care to children, teens, and adults in the Montebello, Palmdale, Pico Rivera, Whittier, East LA, Monterey Park, Lancaster, Alhambra, Huntington Park, South Gate,

Downey, El Monte, Lynwood, Cudahy, Walnut Park & Commerce, CA. areas.

To schedule your free consultation, please call 323-597-1712.

At Ray Orthodontics, we pride ourselves in having the best technology in order to facilitate the best and most comfortable treatment. A part of our advanced technology is our 3D printer, the Sprintray Pro. Our 3D printer is utilized to make the most ideal fitting, and comfortable retainers on the market.

On the magical day that your braces/Invisalign treatment is completed, we will scan your teeth with our iTero scanner, then print 3D models of your new beautiful Ray Ortho smile. We will then make perfect fitting retainers from your 3D printed model. Then, if in the future you ever need new retainers for any reason, and your teeth have not shifted, or have shifted a very small amount, we will make you a free retainer based on the 3D printed model from the day your treatment ended. No need to take gooey impressions or a new scan. You just come in, and a new retainer will be ready in 5 minutes.

So not only do you get free retainers for life at Ray Orthodontics, you get retainers that fit perfectly and comfortably due to the high precision and advanced technology of our 3D printer. We look forward to taking care of you and your family!

Ray Orthodontics proudly provides Braces and Invisalign care to children, teens, and adults in the Montebello, Palmdale, Pico Rivera, Whittier, East LA, Monterey Park, Lancaster, Alhambra, Huntington Park, South Gate,
Downey, El Monte, Lynwood, Cudahy, Walnut Park & Commerce, CA. areas.
To schedule your free consultation, please call 323-597-1712.

It is with much pride that I announce Ray Orthodontics of Palmdale has been awarded the Best Orthodontist by the Antelope Valley Press for 2022:

After starting our Palmdale location in June 2019, I had a lot of ups and downs. I was told by many people that I was crazy to open an Orthodontic practice in Palmdale. There were many long nights of hard work. Slowly, our office began to take shape. We started adding one superstar after another to our team. Then in April I got the email that we won. We were voted Antelope Valley’s best Orthodontic practice by the AV press. I couldn’t believe it. I cried. A lot. I reminisced about how hard the early days were, and how far we had come. We were the little office that could…….DID. Going from an office with 0 patients to what we have now, in this short time, is a testament that anything is possible as long as you work hard, have faith, and treat people the right way. None of this would be possible without the dedication and commitment to excellence from my team. Thank you for sticking by my side as we travel this journey together. And a big thank you to all of my patients for trusting me with your care; it is a responsibility I take to heart and I try my absolute best to make each and every one of you feel taken care of. Thank you to all of our amazing patients and the wonderful people of the Antelope Valley for voting us as the best Orthodontist in the AV. We started out as the new office, then the growing office, now we get to be the BEST office!

Ray Orthodontics proudly provides Braces and Invisalign care to children, teens, and adults in the Montebello, Palmdale, Pico Rivera, Whittier, East LA, Monterey Park, Lancaster, Alhambra, Huntington Park, South Gate,
Downey, El Monte, Lynwood, Cudahy, Walnut Park & Commerce, CA. areas.
To schedule your free consultation, please call 323-597-1712.

Over the years, one of the most common questions I get from Parents is, “when should my child be checked for braces?” The American Association of Orthodontists recommends children to start being checked for Orthodontic treatment at 7 years old and older. At 7 years old, Orthodontists check for 3 things:

1. Do all of the adult teeth have room to erupt
2. Are the jaw bones growing normal
3. Are there any self-esteem issues the child is having from their teeth

If the answer to all of the above questions is no, then we will put your child on our recall system and see you every 6 months until treatment is possibly needed. This was we will be ahead of any potential problems.

If the answer to any of the above questions is yes, then Phase I treatment is recommended. Phase I treatment is when a child receives Orthodontic treatment when they have baby teeth and adult teeth at the same time. Or in other words, when they are in their mixed dentition phase. If a child needs more room for their teeth to erupt, then we would place braces and a possible expander to help make the necessary room for their adult teeth to erupt in. A common tooth that needs more room to erupt is the upper canine teeth. That is because the upper canine is the last tooth to erupt. Making room for the canine to erupt into will help decrease the chances the tooth requires surgical help to grow into place.

There are three main ways for a jaw to not grow normally. If the childs back upper teeth are growing inside their lower teeth (posterior crossbite). A palatal expander would be used to treat a posterior crossbite. If the childs front teeth are stuck behind their lower front teeth (anterior crossbite). A facemask may be used to treat an anterior crossbite. Lastly, if the bottom jaw is growing deficient in comparison to the upper jaw, causing a large overbite. Braces and rubber bands may be used to treat a large overbite.

If a child is having self-esteem issues from their teeth, getting braces just to align their teeth can greatly increase their confidence and the psycho-social benefits will last into adulthood. Unfortunately, in this age of social media, bullying has increased and a simple setup of even six brackets can help a child greatly.

After a child completes Phase I treatment, they will be given a retainer. We will then monitor the child to make sure all their baby teeth fall out in the correct order and see when they will be ready for Phase II treatment. Phase II treatment is when a child has all of their adult teeth grown in, and gets braces on all of their adult teeth. The main benefits of Phase I treatment is possibly avoiding permanent teeth to be extracted when they receive full orthodontic treatment. Also, when the child does receive Phase II treatment, it will most likely be for a shorter duration than if Phase I was not completed.

If your child is 7 or older, make a complimentary consultation with Dr. Ray to see if your child can benefit from Phase I treatment.

Ray Orthodontics proudly provides Braces and Invisalign care to children, teens, and adults in the Montebello, Palmdale, Pico Rivera, Whittier, East LA, Monterey Park, Lancaster, Alhambra, Huntington Park, South Gate,
Downey, El Monte, Lynwood, Cudahy, Walnut Park & Commerce, CA. areas.
To schedule your free consultation, please call 323-597-1712.

Being a parent of 3 kids myself, I know feeding them can be challenging at times. Once they get
braces, kids (or adults) have to be extra careful of what they eat. Foods that are hard, crunchy,
or sticky can cause the wire to poke out, and brackets to break. Having breakage with your
braces will cause delay in getting that beautifully straight smile of your dreams. So try your best
to have foods that are braces friendly, and you will get that ideal smile before you know it!

There are specific foods that are worse than others when it comes to damaging your braces. In
general hard, crunchy, or sticky foods should be avoided. Especially these foods, chips, hot
cheetos, takis, gum, gummy bears, starburst type candy, all hard candies, nuts, popcorn, corn
on the cob, chewing on ice, hard fruits like apples, hard vegetables like carrots should be
cooked. A good general rule of thumb is to avoid all junk food as much as possible.

Foods that are Braces friendly include: Soup, rice, mashed potatoes, beans, mac and cheese,
yogurt, fish, smoothies, eggs, corn off of the cob, soft fruits like bananas, and cooked
vegetables.

Once Dr. Ray places your braces on, him and his team will give you a list of foods to avoid and
review proper care of your Braces. If you ever have any questions regarding your Braces
treatment, please feel free to contact us anytime at 323-597-1712, and we will be ready to take
great care of you!

Ray Orthodontics proudly provides Braces and Invisalign care to children, teens, and adults in the Montebello, Palmdale, Pico Rivera, Whittier, East LA, Monterey Park, Lancaster, Alhambra, Huntington Park, South Gate, Downey, El Monte, Lynwood, Cudahy, Walnut Park & Commerce, CA. areas. To schedule your free consultation, please call 323-597-1712.