More About Orthodontics

Life with Braces
Well if you have wanted to drop a few pounds, the first week wearing braces is your lucky chance! For the first day or so, stick to soft foods. Avoid tough meats, hard breads, and raw vegetables. Before long, you'll be able to eat normally again. Remember to always protect your orthodontic appliances when you eat for as long as you're wearing braces.

Foods to Avoid:

  • Chewy foods: bagels, hard rolls, licorice
  • Crunchy foods: popcorn, ice, chips
  • Sticky foods: caramels, gum
  • Hard foods: nuts, candy
  • Foods you have to bite into: corn on the cob, apples, carrots
  • Chewing on hard things (for example, pens, pencils, or fingernails) can damage the braces. Damaged braces will cause treatment to take longer.

General Soreness
When you get your braces on, you may feel overall soreness in your mouth and certain teeth may be tender to biting pressures for three to five days. This can be relieved by rinsing your mouth with warm salt water. Dissolve one teaspoonful of salt in 8 ounces of warm water and rinse your mouth vigorously. f the tenderness is severe, take Advil or whatever you would normally take for headache or similar pain. The lips, cheeks, and tongue may also become irritated for one to two weeks as they toughen and become accustomed to the surface of the braces. You can put wax on the braces to lessen this discomfort and our orthodontic team will show you how!

Loosening of Teeth
This is to be expected throughout treatment. Don't panic! It's very normal and necessary. Teeth must loosen a little first so they can be moved. The teeth will become rigid again in their new proper positions, which is exactly what we want them to do.

Loose Wire or Band
Don't worry if a wire or band comes loose. This happens occasionally. If a wire protrudes and is irritating, use a blunt instrument (the back of spoon or the eraser end of a pencil) and gently push the irritating wire under the arch wire. Simply get it out of the way. If irritation to the lips or mouth continues, place wax or wet cotton on the wire to reduce the annoyance. Then, call our Woodstock dental office as soon as possible for an appointment to check and repair the appliances. If any piece comes off, save it and bring it with you when you come to the office.

Care of Appliances
To successfully complete the treatment plan, the patient must work together with the orthodontist. The teeth and jaws can only move toward their corrected positions if the patient consistently wears the rubber bands, headgear, or other appliances as prescribed and directed by the doctor. Damaged appliances lengthen the treatment time.

Brushing
It is extremely important to brush and floss regularly when you have braces so the teeth and gums are healthy during and after orthodontic treatment. Patients who do not keep their teeth clean require more frequent visits to the dentist for a professional cleaning, and may develop cavities that require correction. Adults who have a history of gum disease should be seen 3 to 4 times a year during orthodontic treatment, and may also need to see a periodontist (gum specialist).

Athletics
If you play sports, it's important that you consult us for special precautions that may be necessary. A protective mouth guard is advised for playing contact sports. In case of any accident involving the face, check your mouth and the appliances immediately. If teeth are loosened or the appliance is damaged, call us immediately to make an appointment. In the meantime, treat your discomfort as you would treat any general soreness.

Ortho Dictionary:
Parts of Braces

  • Appliance: Anything your orthodontist attaches to your teeth which moves your teeth or changes the shape of your jaw.
  • Arch Wire: The metal wire that acts as a track to guide your teeth along as they move. It is changed periodically throughout treatment as your teeth move to their new positions.
  • Band: A metal ring that is cemented to your tooth, going completely around it. Bands provide a way to attach brackets to your teeth.
  • Bond: The seal created by orthodontic cement that holds your appliances in place.
  • Bracket: A metal or ceramic part cemented (“bonded”) to your tooth that holds your archwire in place.
  • Coil Spring: A spring that fits between your brackets and over your archwire to open space between your teeth.
  • Elastic (Rubber Band): A small rubber band that is hooked between different points on your appliance to provide pressure to move your teeth to their new position.
  • Elastic Tie: The tiny rubber band that fits around your bracket to hold the archwire in place. They come in a variety of colors.
  • Headgear: Headgear uses an external wire apparatus known as a facebow to gently guide the growth of your face and jaw by moving your teeth into proper position. The force is applied to the facebow by a spring-loaded neck strap or head strap. The straps have a safety release that disconnects if the facebow is pulled or snagged.
  • Headgear Tube: A round, hollow attachment on your back bands. The inner bow of your headgear fits into it.
  • Hook: A welded or removable arm to which elastics are attached.
  • Ligature: A thin wire that holds your archwire into your bracket.
  • Lip Bumper: A lip bumper is an archwire attached to a molded piece of plastic. The lip bumper holds back the molars on your lower jaw to provide more space for your other teeth.
  • Mouthguard: A device that protects your mouth from injury when you participate in sports or rigorous activities.
  • Palatal Expander: A device that makes your upper jaw wider.
  • Retainer: An appliance that is worn after your braces are removed, the retainer attaches to your upper and/or lower teeth to hold them in place. Some retainers are removable, while others are bonded to the tongue-side of several teeth.
  • Separator or Spacer: A small rubber ring that creates space between your teeth before the bands are attached.
  • Tie Wire: A fine wire that is twisted around your bracket to hold the archwire in place.
  • Wax: Wax is used to stop your braces from irritating your lips.

Orthodontic Procedures

  • Banding: The process of fitting and cementing orthodontic bands to your teeth.
  • Bonding: The process of attaching brackets to your teeth using special orthodontic cement.
  • Cephalometic X-ray: An x-ray of your head which shows the relative positions and growth of the face, jaws, and teeth.
  • Consultation: A meeting with your orthodontist to discuss a treatment plan.
  • Debanding: The process of removing cemented orthodontic bands from your teeth.
  • Debonding: The process of removing cemented orthodontic brackets from your teeth.
  • Impressions: The process of making a model of your teeth by biting into a soft material that hardens into a mold of your teeth. Your orthodontist will use these impressions to prepare your treatment plan.
  • Invisalign®: An alternative to traditional braces, Invisalign straightens your teeth with a series of clear custom-molded aligners. Invisalign can correct some, but not all, orthodontic problems.
  • Ligation: The process of attaching an archwire to the brackets on your teeth.
  • Panoramic X-ray: An x-ray that rotates around your head to take pictures of your teeth, jaw, and other facial areas.
     

New Patients Always Welcome. To experience distinctly different dental care, call today and reserve your appointment with Dr. Harden and our wonderful staff. Fountain View Dentistry serves the Woodstock, Acworth, Canton, Kennesaw, and Marietta communities with general dentistry and cosmetic dentistry for all ages.

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