LIFE WITH BRACES
Eating with braces - things that can loosen bands and brackets and bend wires: nuts, popcorn (hulls can become lodged under the gums), hard candy, crunchy foods, hard sticky candy such as taffy and caramel, whole apples and carrots, chewing gum. Please don't chew on any hard substance such as a pen, pencil, (you get the idea) as these may bend wires or break a bracket from the tooth. Bends in a wire may cause teeth to move in undesirable directions. :) Never chew on ice. Actually, any icy food can cause your brackets to pop off the teeth.
Do eat a nutritious diet high in fruits and vegetables and limit sugary foods to prevent decay. Nutritious foods such as apples and carrots that can cause problems with braces should be cut into smaller pieces rather than eliminated from your diet.
Care of appliances, teeth and braces: most of the appliances used are not removable so will need to be cleaned when you do your daily deep-cleaning oral care. Special tools are given along with instruction in how to use them. It is of utmost importance that you spend quality time daily with these items cleaning the teeth above and below the archwires and braces moving your toothbrush in a small circular motion, use the floss threader to carry the floss under the archwire where you can then floss normally. This will have to be repeated between each two teeth. The small round proxa brush is helpful to further clean around each bracket or parts of any appliance and the archwire. Please don't spend the time and money to straighten your teeth only to have them decay and have to be extracted or crowned later. Teeth are designed to last a lifetime.
Instructions on the wear and cleaning of retainers: If your retainer is removable the instruction will generally be to wear it only at night and keep it in your retainer case given to you when you got your retainer. You can clean it by brushing it with toothpaste and a toothbrush daily. A product advertised to be used for soaking dentures to freshen and remove stains can also be used, however, you would be soaking yours in the daytime rather than at night.
Your permanent, bonded retainer wire should be cleaned around when you brush your teeth using a floss threader to pull floss behind the wire so you can slide it across the back of the wire to remove food and plaque. You may also be able to work the bristles of your toothbrush or proxa brush around and under it. Be sure to call if any part of the bonded wire should come loose as it will need to be rebonded. Incidentally, you may want to be careful with hard or sticky food when you have a bonded retainer. And, again, no ice chewing. Besides putting undue pressure on the retainer it may also cause cracks in your teeth.
Caring for your braces when participating in athletics/sports: It is always advisable to use an athletic mouthguard to protect your lips and braces from injury during any contact sport. You may purchase a boilable mouthguard at stores that carry sports equipment, from our office or we can take an impression for a custom-fitted guard which will be replaced at least one time during your orthodontic treatment.
Franklin
250 White Oak Street
Franklin, NC 28734
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828-524-7477
email us
Murphy
426 Hiwassee Street
Murphy, NC 28906
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828-837-5004
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Robbinsville
41 Ghormley Street
Robbinsville, NC 28771
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Please contact either the Murphy or Franklin office except for certain Fridays when you
may call:
828-479-3937.
