Ep # 174 - How Early Orthodontic Care Builds Healthier Smiles And Confidence

What if a calmer chair, a kinder voice, and smart timing could change a child’s smile—and their confidence—for life? We sit down with Dr. Adar Finkel of River Vale Orthodontics to unpack the human side of orthodontic care and the science that makes it work. From the first friendly hello to a bite that finally feels right, this conversation shows how clear guidance and early checks turn fear into progress.

We start with the real timeline parents rarely hear: why age seven is the right moment for an orthodontic consultation. Dr. Finkel explains how early views of jaw growth, crossbites, and crowding shape better outcomes, and how the window for expanders narrows as the palate matures. You’ll hear why classic brackets and wires remain the gold standard for kids, how rubber bands can speed treatment when worn consistently, and where modern tech—3D scans, digital photos, sharper diagnostics—makes visits easier without adding fuss.

Adults get practical answers too. We compare Invisalign and ceramic brackets for busy lives, tackle the common “I lost my retainer” crowding story, and lay out the crucial rule for smile makeovers: align the bite before investing in veneers or crowns. Doing orthodontics first protects cosmetic work, reduces fractures and edge wear, and extends longevity. It’s not just about straighter teeth; it’s about stable function, long-term oral health, and confidence that shows.

Woven through is the behind-the-scenes journey of building a neighborhood practice. Dr. Finkel shares candid lessons on hiring, community outreach, and leading with authenticity—treating every patient like your own child. You’ll hear how a warm, low-pressure consultation with photos, x-rays, and a 3D scan sets a clear plan, whether that means starting treatment or smart monitoring.

If you care about your child’s comfort, your own smile, or how to choose between braces and aligners, this episode offers grounded, actionable insight. Subscribe, share with a friend who’s orthodontic-curious, and leave a review with your top question—we’ll feature it in a future show.

River Vale Orthodontics
Dr. Adar Finkel
688 Westwood Ave, Suite 2 River Vale, NJ 07675
(201) 613-1100
rivervaleorthodontics.com

Transcript

Meet Dr. Finkel Of Rivervale

Intro/Close 0:00

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Doug Drohan.

Doug Drohan 0:10

Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast, brought to you by the Bergen Neighbors Media Group. I am your host, Doug Drohan. And today we are joined by my son's orthodontist, Dr. Adar Finkel from Rivervale Orthodontics, based in you guest at Rivervale, New Jersey. Welcome to the show.

Dr. Adar Finkel 0:27

Hello. Thank you so much for having me. So happy to be here.

Doug Drohan 0:31

Yeah, I mentioned you're my son's orthodontist because he had uh braces um, you know, I guess a few months ago, six months ago or so.

Speaker 2 0:40

Yep, that's right.

Doug Drohan 0:41

And uh, you know, one of the things with any any child, I guess, going to the dentist or the doctor is having that peace of mind. And, you know, there's a little fear factor, I guess, when you go to the doctor or to a especially a dentist or you're getting braces, but you're, you know, you're so warm and and you put everyone at ease. You know, my son is just very comfortable and relaxed when it comes to your practice. And I think that's something that can't be discounted, uh, especially, you know, when you're working with a lot of uh young kids, that you have that atmosphere and that that demeanor about you. Um was this something like, did you recognize that in yourself when you were going to dental school that this was something that you might like you want to get into orthodontics because you think that you're, you know, your patient, doctor patient

Finding A Calling In Orthodontics

Doug Drohan 1:31

uh demeanor is kind of built for that?

Dr. Adar Finkel 1:34

100%. Um, you kind of nailed it right away. That's it, truly is who I am. Um growing up, I always just loved being around kids. I loved babysitting, tutoring. Um, I just it brought me joy to be with kids, and I was just very easy and and good at it. Um and through dental school, I always had orthodontics in the back of my mind. Um, so that was definitely always my end goal. Um, so I did be, I did first practice as a general dentist, but I was intent on getting into orthodontics. So um I did, you know, some fellowship training and um eventually got into orthodontic residency. So um yeah, I ultimately ended up where I wanted to be, and I felt like my personality really just was a perfect match for making kids comfortable. Um, and like I said, it comes easily to me, and it's just I think I found like the perfect match as a profession.

Doug Drohan 2:49

Yeah.

Dr. Adar Finkel 2:50

And I'm glad that you felt that bringing your.

Doug Drohan 2:52

Yeah, oh yeah, absolutely. And what um like at what point in your life did you think, you know, I think I want to be a dentist?

Dr. Adar Finkel 2:59

Yeah,

Family Roots And Dental Role Models

Dr. Adar Finkel 3:00

so my father is and was a dentist. Um, he retired now, but we my family, we grew up talking teeth at the dinner table. It was just he was so passionate about it that we almost there was no other, like to me, that was what I was going to do. Um, my older brother also became a dentist. Um, so we just grew up around teeth talking, going to his office, uh assisting him. And he himself is the warmest, such an amazing person. And you saw it, the patients loved him and didn't see him as a dentist. They saw him as a friend, and that rubbed off on me. And um, it's just a beautiful thing to offer that to people. Um, you know, not only you a doctor, but you make them feel warm and comfortable. So it's funny, yeah.

Doug Drohan 3:56

I've had a lot of doctors and dentists on my show, and many of them have that role model of their parents being a doctor or a dentist, and that's why. Although, you know, I never heard anyone say that they, you know, they talk teeth around the dinner table. Yeah, I mean people talk politics, you guys talk teeth.

Dr. Adar Finkel 4:15

And then I met, I actually married my husband, is a dentist. We met in dental school and we joked because our wedding had so many dentists that we could have just considered as a continuing education. I mean, we're just dentists all around, his dad's his brother. It's kind of funny.

Doug Drohan 4:32

Well, that is funny. So, why orthodontics?

Why Orthodontics And What It Does

Doug Drohan 4:35

And you know, one of the things I um, as a lay person, you hear periodontist, endodontist, orthodontist, general dentistry, oral surgery. Um, you know, why why orthodontics? And and can you help explain what the difference is?

Dr. Adar Finkel 4:53

Yeah. So orthodontics is an orthodontist is a specialist who focuses purely on, you know, the health and development and alignment of the teeth and the jaws. And um what I took, you know, why I took to this is I had my own um orthodontic journey growing up. I had a palate expander and um years of braces. Um, but I feel like it is probably the most life-changing specialty there is um in in dentistry. Um and the most, I almost want to say like delicate way to still life-change someone. So um it's always, I feel like patients are always surprised, like, is this expander gonna hurt? Actually, it's not. Like, are these braces gonna hurt? Actually, it's not. And then in a few months, their before and after pictures are un you know, it's incredible the changes. And I think, you know, that plus the the warm, comfortable environment. Um, you know, we can just, it's so much change that we can make um for a child, especially, um, which is such a delicate, also like, you know, time in their life, you want to make sure that you give them a good experience and cause no bad uh memories for them. So it's all very significant. Um so I thought that was that

Adult Options: Invisalign And Ceramics

Dr. Adar Finkel 6:32

was what spoke to me the most.

Doug Drohan 6:34

Nice, nice. Now, you know, primarily your patients are children, right? And but I guess there is uh, you know, when you talk about life changing and changing your smile and changing the way your jaw looks because your teeth are a certain way. Um, you know, it seems like for adults now there's like Invisalign and I guess adult braces. Is that something that's becoming more popular?

Dr. Adar Finkel 6:56

Definitely. I also treat a lot of adults, um, but like you you mentioned, they tend to uh prefer Invisalign, um like a clear liner therapy, or we also offer ceramic brackets, which are you know tooth-colored brackets, so it's a little less noticeable. Um what I find is you know, uh parents, you know, they focus on their kids, but then eventually they want to focus on themselves, whether it's a little bit of crowding as you age, the teeth shift forward. So people notice it. A lot of the times it's I've had orthodontics in the past, haven't worn my retainer, and now I notice my teeth are starting to crowd, especially on the lower. So that's a really common one and easy to um correct, where other times it's it could be more complicated where they they just never had orthodontic treatment ever, and now is the time and it there's it's never too late.

Doug Drohan 7:56

Teeth if if they grew up in England, I don't think the English are really into orthodontics too much.

Dr. Adar Finkel 8:01

That's right, that's right.

Doug Drohan 8:02

I lived in England for a year and I was like, You wow, you guys don't believe in braces anymore. Right, but it didn't matter. Like, you know, I see these guys with terrible teeth have these like you know really attractive girlfriends, and I'm like, okay.

Dr. Adar Finkel 8:14

Yeah, I know like Kate Middleton um had her some permanent teeth extracted, actually.

Doug Drohan 8:21

Okay, yeah, one thing. Yeah. So it it you know, it seems um, you know, I I think when you get to a certain age, right? I mean, you can either look at those teeth that you never fixed, or like you're saying, um, you know, some people get veneers and some people do other things, you know, cosmetic dentistry to improve their smile. And it seems like it's more uh popular now. You know, I don't, I'm sure it's not covered by insurance, but at the same time, it's uh like to your point, when you improve your smile, it does so much for your um not only your overall appearance, but I guess your your uh self-confidence, right?

Dr. Adar Finkel 9:00

Totally. Um, and another thing to to go up your point about restorations and veneers, um, a really important note on that is it's always good to check your bite first and try to put, you know, align the teeth and and put the everything in the in the best position before going into um veneers or crowns, because that way you're setting yourself up for um a better chance of success that those crowns and all that work that you've invested in at the dentist lasts.

Cosmetics, Bite Health, And Confidence

Dr. Adar Finkel 9:35

Um yeah, an important point for adults, especially.

Doug Drohan 9:39

So going back with um, you know, the children, like what's the age that you know someone should begin um orthodontic treatment? Is it normally like when they're losing all their baby teeth? And like what's what's the typical age?

Dr. Adar Finkel 9:53

So I'm happy you mentioned this.

The Right Age To Start: Seven

Dr. Adar Finkel 9:55

Um, people don't realize that we recommend seven as around seven as the age to first come in for a consultation. There's a huge misconception that kids are supposed to wait until all their permanent teeth are in before seeing the orthodontist, but that's just not accurate at all. Um, in fact, it's pretty uh it's it's very important that we see the kids um around seven when at that point it's usually just the front few teeth that are already the permanent teeth that are already in. Um at that time, we can get a really good sense of how the jaws are developing, if there's any issues with the teeth coming in, um, you know, if there's like severe crowding and if we need to intervene, or we don't have to, you know, or you may not have to, but um, now is the time to get in there if we do see problems to to correct them um before it becomes a bigger problem.

Doug Drohan 11:00

Got it, got it. So it's not necessarily that they're coming in for braces at seven, it's just that you're giving you getting a baseline

Growth Windows And Early Intervention

Doug Drohan 11:08

an idea of where they're going to be in another year or two.

Dr. Adar Finkel 11:11

That's right. And um, as the kids get older, especially around like you know, 12 and older, the suture, the mid-palatal suture, so like the the roof of your mouth, that uh tends to harden. So you kind of lose the window to be able to gain space that way if you need it. Um, so you're kind of dealing with this uh window of time and um also just the jaws. If there's any crossbites in certain ways, you want to correct those as soon as possible so that you're not locking the jaws in. You want to allow Mother Nature to develop the way it's intended to.

Doug Drohan 11:51

Got it, got it. So, what are the um, you know, one of the things that my son that's kind of cool is they have different color braces. Yeah, you know, and you could change the colors. Uh, what are what are some of the technological

Tech, Brackets, And Compliance

Doug Drohan 12:03

changes like from when you were a kid and had braces to, you know, what you can do now?

Dr. Adar Finkel 12:08

Yeah, so there's a lot of different um developments, you know, that you can definitely play with, but at the end of the day, the tried and true metal bracket and wires um is kind of the gold standard.

Speaker 2 12:28

Yeah.

Dr. Adar Finkel 12:29

And, you know, based off of the practitioner, like in the practitioner's hands, you can do wonders with that alone. I mean, you can get fancy and do Invisalign on kids, um, but I feel that you know the compliance may not always be there. So the metal brackets is just a sure thing for for these kids.

Treatment Length And Rubber Bands

Doug Drohan 12:55

And how long do they typically uh have the braces on for?

Dr. Adar Finkel 12:58

Usually I'd say around two years on average.

Doug Drohan 13:02

Yeah.

Dr. Adar Finkel 13:03

Then you get into the rubber band wearing, that's where the the patient can uh kind of help determine time of treatment because if they're really good at wearing their rubber bands, it can definitely speed up treatment. Um that's all about adjusting the bite. And that kind of lays in their hands, actually.

Building A Practice And A Brand

Doug Drohan 13:23

So I want to go into your uh your journey as a business owner because a lot of people I speak to, especially medical professionals, you went to medical school, you went to dental school. I don't know if they have any accounting or marketing or entrepreneur classes in uh in medical school. I'm guessing no. So uh, but your dad owned his own practice, right?

Speaker 2 13:44

Yeah.

Doug Drohan 13:45

So you had that as a role model. Did you always, you know, you mentioned you had worked uh you know as a general dentist initially. Did you always know that you wanted to go off on your own and start your own practice?

Dr. Adar Finkel 13:56

So not necessarily. Um, I thought it was like a high, I mean, that's like the ultimate goal, uh, which I would love to have, you know, I'm so grateful that I got here, but I didn't know. I mean, I I had my first child in residency, and then I was pregnant with my second when I graduated. So I was just, you know, inundated with kids.

Speaker 2 14:23

Right, right.

Dr. Adar Finkel 14:24

Once I finally got out of that newborn, you know, toddler phase with most of them, then I was able to kind of focus in on what I want to do. Um, and um that's when, with the help of my husband who owns started his general dental practice in the city, um, with his help, uh, we kind of just got this my business off the ground.

Doug Drohan 14:52

Wow, that's great.

Dr. Adar Finkel 14:53

Yeah.

Doug Drohan 14:54

So how long has it been now?

Dr. Adar Finkel 14:56

Um, I would say two and a half years.

Doug Drohan 14:58

Yeah.

Dr. Adar Finkel 14:59

Um, yeah, in April it will be two and a half years.

Doug Drohan 15:02

Yeah. And as we mentioned, you're in Rivervale,

Lessons Learned And Authentic Care

Doug Drohan 15:05

New Jersey. And and why did you choose Rivervale? I mean, you you live nearby, you're in Bergen County, but wh why Rivervale?

Dr. Adar Finkel 15:13

Um, so we were kind of scouting office locations and towns, and felt Rivervale had a great just vibe to it. Um, you know, just felt good. And then the space was perfect. I loved the little space we found in the plaza. Um and there weren't really any orthodontists too close by. Um and I just, I mean, I'm getting to know the people, and everyone is really so nice and uh appreciative, and and um yeah, I couldn't be happier with this.

Doug Drohan 15:52

I mean, if you walk out of your office, you could hit three general dentist offices, but to your point, there's no orthodontic uh practice in in Rivervale that I'm that I'm aware of, or uh even Harrington Park, where I am, all Japan, uh kind of, but not really. So yeah.

Speaker 2 16:10

Yeah.

Doug Drohan 16:10

Um, so what advice would you give to a let's say a dentist who is thinking about starting their own practice? Like any, I mean, everybody I speak to who's a business owner, especially in the early days, you know, there's this one word people use to describe the experience. It's like a roller coaster. Um, like, do you have any like advice of things you did you wish you'd done better, or just is it more of a mindset, or did you have a real, did you have a business coach, or was it more of like your husband who'd already you know started his own practice, or your father? Like, did you have a plan saying I

Location, Community, And Differentiation

Doug Drohan 16:45

have to do A, B, and C, and this is where I want to be in year two? Or was it some people I speak to, they just kind of wing it, you know, which I don't think I'd recommend, but sometimes it works out. Like what, you know, what was your path and would you advise anybody to, you know, learn from what you've done, or maybe some of if you've made mistakes you feel?

Dr. Adar Finkel 17:04

Yeah, so I I de you know definitely had the help of my husband's experience, um, but I definitely made mistakes, um, hiring mistakes, um, you know, that cost me. Uh, but I would say that in general, um my goal was just to be myself, have the best intentions, to give the best treatment to patients. And my kind of way of of of doing of doing this is treating patients as if they were my own kids. And so I think honestly, that we it started everything I kind of built it around myself and the fact that um I am the only kind of woman orthodontist in the area. I'm offering something different than others. I am a mother, and I think that really speaks to patients'

New Patient Experience And Next Steps

Dr. Adar Finkel 18:10

parents. They see me as like, you know, uh a fellow parent. Um and so I just went with that. I went to the fairs, um, as you know, and um just word of mouth, and um, you know, I'm I'm I'm definitely up and down, but we made it through the rough start. And um again, I think that it's just what I'm offering is I think different than what you can find um yeah, you know, anywhere else. And I kind of just banking on that and kind of went on that roller coaster ride and I'm still learning, I'm still making mistakes. It's like a learn as you go situation.

Doug Drohan 18:56

Sure, sure. Yeah, um, but I I have a saying, it's uh you know, in sales they say ABC always be closing. My acronym is ABL, always be learning, yes, which equals always be growing.

Speaker 2 19:09

Totally.

Doug Drohan 19:10

And I think if you can have that kind of um attitude, then then the sales follow, so to speak. Um you do a little bit of local advertising, we won't let we don't have to plug that, but I think what you said was that um, you know, there's there's a guy that I follow his podcast and I read his book. Uh his name is Larriet Levine, and it's called Selling from the Heart. And it's about being authentic as a business person, whether you're in sales or whatever it is that you do. And that if you really truly have your customers' best interest in mind, then you know, then the success will follow. I think a lot of mistakes people make is they're so money focused and everything's about bottom line. And eventually customers can see through that. But if you truly are authentic and be who you are, like you're not trying to be somebody else. Like you said, you're a mother and you have the empathy and the experience of not only having kids, but having had braces yourself and growing up speaking about teeth all the time, you know, you're just being yourself and people see that you're not trying to do something that you're not. And I think that's a really important lesson for people to um, because there's a lot of business coaches and a lot of self-help books and things like that, and a lot of videos and Instagram reels and people you try to learn from, but at the end of the day, it's got to speak true to you. And uh I'd say, you know, again, going back to what I started our conversation with when my son met you for the first time, it was he was put at ease, you know. And Eric, Eric's good with kids too.

Speaker 2 20:37

So but yes, yeah.

Doug Drohan 20:39

Um yeah, no, I think that's great. And I, you know, I I love talking about the journey of how people get to where they are, and and obviously the journey doesn't end, but it's interesting. Like, I always also look at people that come from an entrepreneurial family, like is it built in your DNA? You know, your father had his own he's a dentist and your brother and you, and and I often find people that I speak with, they grew up in a household where anything was they were taught that anything is possible, and they've seen from examples of what their parents have done, whether it was just owning any kind of business or it was in the medical field. Yeah, but more importantly, in the medical field, I see that the the way that they saw their father or mother uh with patients inspired them. And um, yeah, I'm sure that comes through when people meet you, right?

Dr. Adar Finkel 21:28

I I will say I my dad, I don't think he was the greatest business person. I don't think I'm definitely not, that's not my innate uh like quality, but he was an extraordinary dentist and just a person, and that's what you know did it for him. And I I think that's kind of the same as me in terms of like just being the best I can be for the patients, and then the business part will follow.

Doug Drohan 21:58

Yeah. So I want to just Go through uh real quickly, like what would so how would somebody contact you, and then what's the experience of the first time uh they meet you? So you're in Rivervale, you're on Westwood Ave in that little plaza by four corners. Um the exact address is 688 Westwood Avenue, suite two. So anybody that knows the area, there's a running store, you know, a sneaker shop, running shoe shop that's been there forever. It's in that plaza where Armando's is, and there's a preschool there. And uh so if you know you've driven past it a million times, I'm sure. Uh and the phone number, the best phone number to reach you?

Dr. Adar Finkel 22:37

Mm-hmm. 201-613-1100.

Doug Drohan 22:42

So if somebody sets up an appointment, like what's, you know, what should they expect the first time?

Dr. Adar Finkel 22:47

Yeah, so the initial consultations are completely complementary. So you'll um get in touch with our treatment coordinator beforehand and she'll have you fill out medical history forms. Um, you know, she'll ask questions about insurance. We try to make it as easy and seamless as possible for the patient so that most of the work is already done, uh, paperwork before you even come in. And um that first visit, your you or the child will have records taken. So that includes photos, um a 3D scan of the teeth, and um x-rays. And with all of that information, then I will look at it and kind of go through the patient's mouth together. We'll take a tour of everything, talk about what I see, and then what if we need to do anything at the at that time. Sometimes yes, or other times it's just you know, monitoring and see you in a few months.

Doug Drohan 23:55

Right, right. Well, that's great. I really uh this has been very uh, you know, I I've enjoyed the talk. It's been very informative. I, you know, I I really enjoy hearing um, you know, what drives you, like what your passion is, and I think it comes comes through when when they, you know, when patients meet you. So Dr. Finkel, thank you very much for being on the show.

Dr. Adar Finkel 24:15

This was so fun. Glad to be here.

Doug Drohan 24:17

Yeah, I'm gonna have Chuck just say a few words and you and I will

Closing And Listener CTA

Doug Drohan 24:20

be right back.

Dr. Adar Finkel 24:20

Got it. Thank you.

Intro/Close 24:22

Okay. Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpbergen.com. That's gnpbergen.com or call 201 298 8325.