I had the pleasure of being a patient of Dr. Young and his great team for the last 3 years, and I HIGHLY recommend them to anyone who desires a beautiful and healthy smile!
Below is a very detailed overview of my journey, since some parts of my experience may also be something that you as a reader may be going through as well.
I previously had braces during middle school while I lived on the east coast with a different orthodontist, and as I've gotten older into my mid 20's, I noticed that my teeth had begun to shift. I now reside in San Francisco, so I was referred to Dr. Young by my partner, who she and her sister had both been treated by Dr. Young when they were in their youth.
I initially went to Dr. Young to get a pair of retainers to hopefully hold my teeth from shifting further, however, upon further examination. Dr. Young not only addressed the teeth shift, but observed wear and tear on my teeth from grinding, a significant cross-bite, with explanations about my jaw bone continuing to grow as I've gotten older. What was previously a concern over aesthetics, now became a concern over long term health.
Dr. Young sat down with me and provided a very thorough and detailed consultation to walk me through my options, as well as patiently answering my questions very sufficiently. At this point, I decided to go with a retainer during the day and night guard while sleeping to protect my teeth from grinding. I would then monitor my teeth grinding and we'll carefully keep an eye on the wear and tear on my teeth.
Over the next year, unfortunately, I began developing bothersome teeth sensitivity and severe migraines due to grinding. The issues stemming from my misaligned teeth/jaw were now affecting my day to day life.
Dr. Young and I partnered closely together to weigh the pros and cons of jaw surgery versus getting braces. He encouraged me to have consultations with oral surgeons, and I saw a total of 2. These were very informative, and I'm glad that Dr. Young encouraged the path of due diligence so we can make a well-informed decision.
Once my teeth were settled and my bite no longer was shifting, we were able to take action on a treatment plan.
We decided to go with the route of braces, knowing that we still may need to pivot to jaw surgery if my teeth and jaw were not responding well to braces.
Dr. Young was highly attentive during this first part of braces so he can make a sound recommendation on which route to go. Thankfully, my teeth and jaw were responding very well to braces, so we decided to stay with braces.
Throughout my braces treatment of 17 months, my migraines, and teeth sensitivity had dissipated, and my jaw and teeth alignment have made tremendous progress and is now in the 90%+ range!
Although extremely happy with the results, Dr. Young strives for perfection, so we took care of black triangles that developed by doing interproximal reduction (IPR). The black triangles were reduced drastically, leaving me with a smile that gives me so much confidence!
Dr. Young is not only experienced, skilled and attentive, but he is a family man who has deep care for not only his patients, but his fantastic team as well! I'd like to share a special shoutout to those at the front desk who provide a warm welcome and keep all the scheduling and logistics down pat, Dr. Ubaldo who has taken care of me on the few occasions that Dr. Young was taking a well-deserved day off, and Irene who has been an absolute pleasure in helping with changing my wires/power chains/broken brace, and giving me a lot of laughs (while I have my mouth open)!
I can't say enough about how blessed and grateful that I've been under his team's care!
Even though Dr. Young will be retiring this year, I highly recommend his team! You and your teeth will be in the best hands!
Notes on COVID: The office takes great care in keeping the office sanitized and clean, and only take a limited number of patients in at a time. Although it's limited, scheduling appointments is still very feasible! They text you when you can come inside so the lobby is not over crowded, and they do a temperature check and require you to fill out a form before each appointment. The staff is wearing masks and those that are directly working on your teeth were wearing mask + face shields as well. I felt very safe! read more