Cleaning
While wearing braces, it’s more vital than ever to take good care of your teeth. Be sure to brush and floss regularly. It’s the only way to guarantee that the teeth and gums will be healthy after your orthodontic treatment is complete.
Regular and frequent visits to the dentist are also extremely important during orthodontic treatment. We recommend that each patient see his or her pediatric or family dentist at least once every six months, or more frequently under certain circumstances.
Eating With Braces
Immediately after you get braces, you’ll most likely want to eat softer foods. Your teeth are likely to feel a little sensitive and softer foods will help ease the transition. Before you know it, you will be completely used to your braces.
Generally, people can eat normal foods during orthodontic treatment. However, you will want to limit some foods, such as:
- Chewy foods: bagels, hard licorice, beef jerky, chewy energy bars
- Crunchy foods: ice, frozen foods
- Sticky foods: caramels, chewy candy, certain types of gum
- Hard foods: nuts, hard candy, hard energy bars
Chewing on hard things like pens and pencils can loosen and damage braces. Damaged braces can cause your treatment to take longer. Many repairs can be avoided by following our guidelines.
What if something breaks on my braces?
It’s not the end of the world if something comes loose. Stuff happens. If something comes loose, it is not an emergency. However, please call one of our Utah County offices and we will assess the situation and advise accordingly. Many repairs can be taken care of by adding time to the next scheduled appointment if it is not too far in the future. You can also Payson, Spanish Fork, Springville or Provo, UT dental offices here.