Caring for your teeth with braces
| Brush your teeth a lot while wearing braces! Foods tend to
get stuck around them, which can accelerate decay. Besides which,
it feels gross! |
| Floss every day. In order to get the floss under your wires,
use floss threaders. |
| Use the special fluoride prescribed by your orthodontist
every day. It will not only prevent cavities, but also
help prevent decalcification around the brackets of your braces,
so that when you get your braces off your smile will be perfect!
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| Eat healthy foods! A healthy diet means a healthy body, healthy
teeth, and a better result for your orthodontia. |
Foods to avoid while wearing braces!
- Gummy Bears
- Chewing Cracked Ice
- Chewing Hard Bread Crust
- Hard Pretzels
- Hard Pizza Crust
- Apples (unless peeled & cut into bite sized pieces)
- Carrots (unless cut in strips)
- Popcorn
- Frozen Candy Bars
- Nuts
- Hard Candies
- Sticky Candies
- Meat on the Bone
- Beef Jerky
- Celery
- Granola Bars
- Corn on the COB!
- Bubble Gum
- Tootsie Roll / Bit-O-Honey
- Crunchy Chips
Remember:
Use common sense. If it is hard, sticky or chewy,
you probably should avoid it.
Retainers
Now that your braces are off and you are enjoying your awesome
new smile, we would like to give you some information about retainers.
Retainers are very important to your orthodontic
result and the first year after braces is always the most crucial.
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Until you are advised differently, wear your retainers all
the time, except for playing sports and eating. Some
hot-shots learn to eat with them in and rinse them off afterward.
It's up to you, but... |
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If you take them out, put them in your case, not in a napkin!
You don't want them accidently thrown away! |
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They can get yucky very quickly if you don't keep them clean.
Brush the retainers with cold water every time you brush your
teeth. Soaking them in mouthwash during dinner will give you
that after-dinner mint taste! Occasionally soaking in regular
denture cleaner is also a good idea. |
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Retainers can easily be broken if they are not in your mouth
or in their case. Avoid backpacks, back pockets, tabletops and
places where the family dog can attack them! |
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If you do break your retainers, don't try to fix it
yourself! Call us to get it repaired. |
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Be careful not to "click" them in and out all the
time or always be taking them out to show friends. This will
cause them to get loose and not fit properly. |
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Retainers don't like heat! Avoid hot water, sunlight and don't
microwave them (Yes, it's been done)! |
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You may talk funny or salivate more when you first get them.
This is normal and will improve with practice and time. If you
are a student, you may want to let your teacher know why you
may sound like Daffy Duck for a few days! |
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Remember: Retainers are difficult to make and are expensive
to replace. Take care of them and keep your recall appointments
with us! With proper care, your retainers will serve you well
for a very long time. |
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