Caring for your teeth with traditional braces:

What can you eat?
Although each bracket is bonded on the tooth with a special adhesive, care must be taken to avoid causing a bracket to come off. Foods that are very sticky or very hard can cause damage, which will result in extra appointments, inconvenience for you, and delay your teeth’s progress, thereby extending your treatment time.

TO AVOID COMPLETELY
Bubblegum, taffy, dried fruit, raisins, caramels, nuts, Doritos, chewing meat off of the bone, chewing ice cubes or hard candy, granola cereals, peanut brittle, chewing on objects such as pens, pencils, finger nails.

ALLOWED BUT BE CAREFUL

  • Corn on the cob – cut kernels off the cob
  • Raw vegetables – cut into smaller pieces
  • Apples – cut into slender wedges
  • Peaches and Plums – cut away from the pit
  • Pizza Crust – cut hard outer edge into small pieces
  • Popcorn – only when popped, with no small kernels
  • Crusty Rolls, Bread and Bagels – cut into small pieces
  • Chocolate bars that have nuts and/or caramel e.g. Mars, Oh Henry, Mr. Big
  • Hard taco shells

Brushing and Oral Hygiene
It is important to maintain a clean mouth at all times, but it is even more important throughout your treatment. The care you take today will ensure a beautiful smile forever. This means that special care must be given to your teeth and gum tissue. We will show you in detail, how to take care of your braces, teeth and gums.

Poor oral hygiene can result in permanent “marks” or “scars” on your teeth, due to plaque build-up. These “marks” or “scars” are referred to as decalcification, which is actually the onset of DECAY, and can begin to appear within as little as two weeks of exercising inadequate oral hygiene habits.

We recommend that you come in for regular hygiene visits every 3-6 months, depending on your needs. A recommended interval will be discussed with your hygienist.

General Soreness
You may find that your teeth will be tender during the two or three days after you get your braces on. The wire that is attached to the brackets on your teeth applies pressure to your teeth and starts them moving. Nature helps the teeth loosen to relieve pressure, but there is temporary discomfort while this happens. Gradually, the fibers that support the teeth in the bone get stretched and squeezed. After about three days, the teeth feel much more comfortable.

At each appointment, the process is repeated. However, because the teeth are loosened from their original position, each new adjustment is easier and little or no discomfort follows.

Phases

Phase 1 orthodontics is sometimes called “Functional ortho” using dental appliances (fixed or removable). Used in the mixed dentition to correction jaw relationships. Sometimes called dental orthopedics. Phase 1 ortho changes the bite but doesn’t necessary straighten the teeth.

Phase 2 ortho
Permanent dentition – fixed braces or Invisalign (I’ve been certified provider for last 10 years)
If Phase 2 is needed to straighten teeth after phase 1 – its usually much shorter duration.

Appliances we use:

  • Twin Block
  • MARA
  • Sagittal
  • Tandem
  • Rick A Nator
  • Schwarz
  • Hyrax