When beginning orthodontic treatment, a small amount of discomfort is expected. This generally passes quickly, but in rare cases, some patients might experience an emergency and require help from their trusted orthodontist. Thankfully, these situations are quite rare; however, it’s always best to simply prevent their occurrence in the first place! Continue reading below for three must-know tips that’ll help you prevent orthodontic emergencies and ensure that your teeth-straightening journey is a resounding success.
Tip #1. Mind Your Diet
Whether you’re wearing traditional metal braces or undergoing clear aligner therapy, you’ll want to carefully consider your diet and avoid items that could potentially harm your orthodontic appliances. With clear aligners, this is relatively simple since you should be removing your aligners any time you eat anything. However, with metal braces, you’ll want to entirely avoid certain items that could damage the brackets and wires, including popcorn, hard and sticky candies, ice cubes, and other similar items. All it takes is one bite into something tough for you to pop off a bracket, snap a wire, or crack an aligner. Do yourself a favor and hold off on these items until the end of your treatment!
Tip #2. Protect Your Teeth
If you like to stay active or play sports, it’s always a good idea to protect your smile whether you’re undergoing orthodontic treatment or not. Mouthguards are the go-to answer for this; these are small, simple devices that can even be designed specifically for braces patients. Since it only takes a small amount of pressure on your braces to irritate the soft tissues of your mouth, or just one blow to the face to damage a bracket or wire, using a mouthguard even during practice can keep your mouth safeguarded from dental disaster.
Tip #3. Maintain Excellent Oral Hygiene
The purpose of orthodontics is to straighten teeth, correct bite issues, and ultimately improve long-term oral health. However, braces and clear aligners do nothing in terms of preventing oral health issues, meaning that it falls on the patient to closely maintain the health of their teeth and gums during treatment. If you aren’t brushing diligently after each meal, food debris and bacteria can easily become trapped under your aligners or brackets, leading to painful issues that also might set back your treatment timeline!
Orthodontic emergencies come in many different forms, but by following these tips and speaking to your orthodontist whenever you have concerns, you’ll be doing quite a bit to prevent these unfortunate situations while ensuring your newly straightened smile is delivered right on schedule!
About the Practice
Our team here at Simply Orthodontics Dayville has served the needs of patients in the Dayville, CT community for several years, and we’d be honored to help you and your family work towards straighter and healthier smiles for life! We proudly offer a wide range of orthodontic services for patients of all ages. If you have any questions about the blog or you’d like to get in touch with our team to schedule an appointment, feel free to reach out online or over the phone for further information or assistance. Telephone: (860) 774-2008.