SPONSORED CONTENT
BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
SPONSORED CONTENT
A Lifelong
Friend for
Healthy Teeth
A
t its heart, Beautiful Smiles is a pediatric dental
provider anchored by board-certified pediatric
dentists Dr. Drew Carlin and Dr. Jaqueline Tuthill. The
staff of trained professionals sees patients from their
earliest checkups, which should begin at a child’s first birthday,
through childhood and adolescence. Along the way, the mission
of Beautiful Smiles is to provide patients and their parents with
unparalleled dental care, the tools and preventive knowledge to
fight the epidemic of tooth decay affecting American children
today, and to foster a positive outlook toward visits to the
dentist for life.
Beautiful Smiles has partnered pediatric dental
specialists and orthodontic providers for almost four decades.
Dr. Kevin Dunlavey, specialist in Orthodontics and Dentofacial
Orthopedics, is the most recent addition to this tradition of
comprehensive dental care. Dr. Dunlavey’s contributions to
Beautiful Smiles encompass the gamut of pitfalls children may
encounter as they grow into their adult smiles. He also helps
correct the smiles of adults who may not have had access to
orthodontic care growing up.
“The American Association of
Orthodontists recommends
children have an orthodontic
evaluation by age 7,”
said Dr. Dunlavey, a member of the
American Association of Orthodontists,
American Dental Association,
Pennsylvania Dental Association and
the Erie County Dental Association.
“Typically, we do not begin treatment
when children are at such a
young age. However, there are
certain conditions that should
be addressed when they are
discovered. Some of
Dr. Kevin Dunlavey
these include significant crowding or spacing, cross-bites and
abnormalities in jaw growth.”
And while the majority of children at that young age don’t
require orthodontic treatment, some will achieve a better long-
term result from personalized interventions. The initial visit
sets a baseline so that the eruption of their adult teeth can be
monitored and corrected if necessary, which often times requires
braces once the adult teeth have come in.
But even there, Beautiful Smiles is different. Where most
orthodontic offices use stainless steel brackets for their
traditional metal braces, Beautiful Smiles uses titanium brackets,
which give patients several important advantages.
“The titanium brackets flex a little bit, absorbing the initial
force after adjustments, which is more advantageous for the
root system because there’s not as much pressure on the teeth,”
Dr. Dunlavey explained. “There’s less discomfort because there’s
not as much pressure applied at one time. Titanium is more
biocompatible than stainless steel, so there’s less chance of
allergies or reactions with titanium. We can also go six to eight
weeks between adjustments thanks to the materials we use.”
Beautiful Smiles offers clear brackets as well as clear aligners
for patients who don’t need traditional braces. The practice
strives to stay on the cutting edge of technology. Patients
benefit from our state-of-the-art digital intraoral scanner, which
alleviates the need to take those gag-inducing, putty-type
impressions. Patients’ teeth are scanned digitally and a 3D model
is printed out that perfectly matches their mouths.
What’s more, having a dentist and orthodontist in one location
means patient appointments can be coordinated so both can be
seen in the same visit, saving a trip.
For more information on Beautiful Smiles, including all of
the services provided and staff credentials, go to the website at
beautifulsmileserie.com, where you can also download any
necessary documents for your visit. The office is located at 5125
Zuck Road, Millcreek, 16506. You can also call 814.455.2158, or
email [email protected].
MILLCREEK
❘
SPRING 2020
63