Orthodontic Tips

Ben N. asked:

I have been to Couser Orthodontics and the guy seems cool, great price, any opinions?

texas angel asked:

I was just wondering, if i went to school for dental assistant, if i’d have to do something extra or different to work in orthodontics? I asked the receptionist at my dentist office, but she was no help. Thanks!

When you think about braces, the first thing that comes to mind is an adolescent teen, and may consider them as the teen’s rite of passage into adulthood. If you get that picture, you would be partially right. Many children and teens do wear braces. However, in recent decades, many adults are also turning to their orthodontist to get straight teeth.

In North America, the number of adults who wear braces is increasing. In fact, one in five orthodontic patients today is an adult. The truth is a crooked teeth or broken smile can cause real confidence problems. Some people even avoid smiling altogether to hide their crooked smile. If this describes you then you will be happy to know that you can get straight teeth at any age by simply visiting your orthodontist. With your initial consultation, they will be able to recommend the right treatment for you to get your self-confidence back. Isn’t it time you treated yourself to straight teeth and a smile that really shines?

With recent advancements in orthodontics, getting straight teeth as an adult isn’t difficult at all. In fact, you have many choices to suit your lifestyle. You can choose from the smaller metal braces. If invisibility really matters, you may even be able to choose the Invisalign system. Whichever system you choose, one thing is certain. As an adult you can have straight teeth.

Choices in Adult Braces

When choosing which style of braces to wear, your orthodontist will likely have recommendations. Here is a quick guide to help get you started. We will cover the three most popular choices in adult braces. There are actually a few different choices in braces on the Internet such as those at Yes Braces or SureSmile. Your orthodontist can recommend a system that fits with your dental needs.

Damon Braces

For most adults that require traditional brace systems, self-ligating braces or popularly known as Damon braces are usually the better choice. These types of braces do not need the round elastics or the ligatures that hold the arch wire in place. Along with advantages like lower friction and fast-working action, the absence of elastics makes it much less likely for the braces to get stained from coffee or cigarettes.

The Damon brace system is the invention of orthodontist, Dr. Dwight Damon. Because of the efficiency and advantages of this type of system, many manufacturers now produce the patented Damon brace system.

Damon braces include smaller metal brackets and a titanium arch wire. Damon brackets are less visible than other metal braces since they are smaller and with brackets that don’t require elastics for lesser stains. This type of system also tends to get your teeth straighten up faster and requires fewer visits to your orthodontist.

Damon braces are a good choice for many adults.

Clear or Ceramic Braces

Another popular choice for adults is clear braces. With this type of system, the brackets are clearer than regular braces. The only visible portion when you smile is the arch wire itself. Clear braces can be self-ligating or the more traditional ligating systems. Its transparency makes this type of brace system a popular choice for many adults. With clear braces, you can get straighter teeth, and you can smile with more self-confidence since the brackets blend in with your teeth.

Invisalign: Another Popular Choice

A more recent advancement in getting straight teeth is the Invisalign system. For many adults this is their choice for achieving a straighter smile. The Invisalign system is completely clear and less visible than any other type of traditional braces.

Invisalign does not include traditional braces or arch wires. Instead it consists of a series of aligning trays that the patient wears. The trays are removable, easily cleaned, and are an effective way to get straight teeth if you wear them as your orthodontist suggests. Usually a new tray is required every couple of weeks.

If your orthodontist says that you’re a candidate for the Invisalign this may be the right choice. With the invisibility of the alignment trays, it will be more difficult for others to detect. If you follow your orthodontist’s instructions, they are an effective way to get straight teeth.

Conclusion

If you have crooked teeth, or a broken smile from gaps or missing teeth, you don’t have to suffer any longer. There is a reason more adults are choosing to wear braces. A straighter brighter smile can really go a long way in boosting your confidence. Whether they recommend Damon braces, clear braces, or the Invisalign system, you are likely only a few visits away from straight teeth, and a better smile.

Mom of Two asked:

I am 23 and just found out that I need braces. My current insurance plan doesn’t cover since I am past their age limit. Any good individual plans that cover orthodontics?

Wearing dental braces can be one of the most difficult things one ever does in life. Yet, it doesn’t need to be that way. I write this from my heart to anyone who has braces and needs to know how to master them, instead of them mastering you. Dental braces don’t need to be a hardship, they can actually be fun, if you master a few areas from the first day you get them on…

I’m sure this letter is coming to a variety of age groups, which is my hope and prayer. You see, I’m 41 years old and I felt kind of weird getting full braces. Everyone in the waiting room was 7-25 years old, but my dentist said get them, or don’t expect my teeth to straighten. If your a child, I hope you love this article, If your an adult, I hope to encourage you to the utmost as well.

Let’s get to it. How do you master dental braces, instead of them mastering you. A little disclaimer: What has worked for me might not worked for you, so please, follow your dentist or doctor’s directions first and foremost, but I’m going to be blunt and to the point in order to help most of you out right now.

The best piece of advice that I got from the start. Relax. Relax and try not to think about them being in your mouth. In fact, the dental assistant told me: Don’t think about it. Just be yourself and be normal. That was priceless. Why?

The first day I got braces I wanted to take them back and tell the doctor to rip them off my face. I even thought about the $4,600 I had to pay (my insurance didn’t cover because I’m over 25) and thought about how I didn’t care even if I had to pay it, just stop this bottom bracket from tearing into my cheeks!

All-right. So I’m not trying to scare you, but wearing braces can be difficult if you don’t master them before they master you!

First and foremost you have to have fun, laugh, and be yourself just like you did before you got your braces. I know, I know, the directions say “don’t eat any sugar, no sweets, no caramel, etc, etc, etc., again, follow the directions of your dentist, but I say, use moderation instead, and enjoy your food!

Your teeth are going to hurt for a while. There are some things that are normal that you won’t feel are normal. I already called my dentist and all of the following are normal, believe it or not: teeth moving, you being able to touch your teeth and see them move, pain, tightness, and much more.

My dentist told me that I would feel normal in about one to two weeks. No way. It took me about a month and a half. After a month, I was beginning to feel like the old “me” and beginning to enjoy my food. Now, about the food. Please, don’t make the mistake I made, don’t try to eat with ALL your teeth right away.

I thought, ok, I better just be normal, so let’s go ahead and chomp away! Ugh! I got so much food stuck in my front teeth you could have filled up two gum wrappers with it! Don’t chomp away. Don’t eat like your teeth haven’t been affected. Granted, each person is different, but if I could please give you this advice. If you used to brush hard, brush medium, if you are a soft brusher, good for you. If you were a hard brusher like me, you are going to have to back off a little bit!

Let me explain. I went through a lot of undo pain the first few weeks just cranking away on my bottom teeth. Before I got the braces I would just scrub and scrub. However, the bottom tooth is the one that is crooked, so I was really scrubbing the daylights out of a tooth that’s MOVING. Not a good thing.

Realize, your teeth are moving now, you wouldn’t clean a moving car with a 500lb jet sprayer, so don’t do that with your teeth either. You’ve got to be a little more sensitive to yourself.

Again, the first two weeks for me, I wanted to take the braces back to the dentist. Now, I hardly know there there. Another thing is prayer. Seriously, pray and ask God for help at this time. I’m a Christian, and so one day I just prayed this simple prayer and I encourage you to pray it too: “Lord, please teach me how to eat again, with these braces on.”

He heard my prayer and I began to eat more with my back teeth. But first, there was a peace! God gave me the peace to move forward and I felt moved by him to stop brushing so hard, and to also eat more with my back teeth. Not to ignore my front teeth, and to chew with them too, but just to change them from the main chewers, to the backup chewers, if that makes sense.

The first three weeks for me can be summed up in one word: uncomfortable. Well, I can help you get through that too. I wanted to sit down at night and slurp on my nightly “Welch’s grape juice bars.” Uh-Oh. No way. They were history. They are history for now. Until I get the braces off. It was just too cold on my teeth and they all tightened up like they were preparing for war or something.

I’m a juice bar nut, but I almost like ice cream as much as juice bars. Come to find out, Ice Cream has less fat than some of those juice bars! Anyways, I needed some food I could enjoy. Before I tell you my favorite food wearing braces, let me encourage you by letting you in on some of my 2nd place finishers. I love to eat cream corn, ribs that are all the way cooked, because you can take them off the bone with your fingers…

A new love! Tapioca pudding! It’s actually an old love, but through the first few weeks it got me through! Also, health wise: Fig Newtons! Awesome soft food, healthy, and eating them is fun with your braces. Again though, you must focus on eating with your back teeth, not the front. Also, put a little food on your tongue and let it sit there for a minute, then move it to the back, because you don’t want it cramming into your front wires!

Hmm…let’s see. Other foods you may like: peas, cream corn-man this is satisfying with braces. Also, Chili! Yes, Chili! Do you have a Farmer Boys near your house? Best thing you can do for your little one after they get braces is just take them to Farmer Boys for a nice hot bowl of Chili! Farmer Boys makes them with meat in it, and not so many beans, and the meat is thin, so you will be nourished and you’ll feel normal again right away! Chili my friends! Chili!

Hmm..what else? Also, soft fruits are great. Watermelon, cucumbers, and orange slices are awesome with braces.

But remember above all else. You need to cut up everything! You can’t just sit down and eat a cheeseburger! You need to cut up all your sandwiches into fourths or eighths, make everything bite-sized. You can’t eat huge anymore.

Watch out for nuts! They seem to be the hardest thing to eat with braces. You can eat them once in a while, but let me teach you how. Anyone like chocolate nut clusters? Me too! However, you can NEVER, ever eat these with your front teeth! You just can’t! Eat them with your BACK teeth only. Believe me, you’ll thank me later. I tried to eat one the first three days and almost popped everything off in my mouth. Also, if you eat candy, eat just one! Believe me, one is going to feel like four with your braces on.

Secondly, eat slowly, enjoy, and chew up your food. Never before has chewing become so important! Chew! Chew! Chew! Enjoy! You’ll be glad you did.

Also, lastly, you’ve got to relax and watch out for wax! The doctor kept telling me to put wax, wax, wax. I have a scientific mind and it told me that I am just postponing the inevitable. Those braces by the cheek are going to have to tear in and make an indention or bruise eventually. So, after using wax for just a day or two, I gave it up.

Then, of course, there was the usual pain, but after a day for me, it started going away. Yes, yes, the braces made an indention in my cheek and if I swirl my tongue around under my cheek I can feel the scarred tissue or whatever that is, but hey, my cheek has toughened up, and I don’t need wax anymore. I’ve talked to people who waxed for months!

Ok, I promised to tell you my favorite food. It’s vanilla, sherbet, or strawberry ice cream. I eat just a scoop or two at night three or four times a week because it is so soothing to my mouth. At first my mouth started tightening up a bit, but after I did it for a day or two, the tightening has lessened and is hardly noticeable. Plus I feel so good after having the ice cream because it is so soothing to my mouth!

Now, again, follow your dentist, but at my first braces checkup, I am way ahead of schedule. I believe I’m going to get my braces off in 8 months or less! And that’s eating ice cream too!

My crooked truth has almost fully straightened and it’s been less than three months! Also, I am wearing Damon Braces, and they are very comfortable and they are a brand new technology that works with the natural movement of your teeth, and they don’t require tightening near as much as standard braces! If you’re a parent shopping for braces don’t forget that name!

Lastly, if I can do it at 41 years young, you can too. Don’t let braces master you. You must master them. And a final word on flossing too. You are NOT going to be able to floss everyday. It’s too difficult and you’ll get frustrated. Floss regularly, but most important, brush regularly, and use lots of mouthwash. It’ll sooth your mouth! Mouthwash with Peroxide! Colgate makes a great one.

Also, my dentist recommends Colgate Total for the best results while wearing braces. Let me tell you why I agree with him. I’m a public school teacher of 20 years, and I once had a sixth grade student who did an in-depth science experiment comparing Colgate Total, Crest, Agua-Fresh, and more. Long story short, the Colgate Total came out on top in every area: less cavities, less tooth decay, and most of all more whitened teeth than any other brand.

That student was one of my smartest ever and her research was intensive. I was actually a Vice-Principal at the time and a science fair judge. That said, please, enjoy your new braces, and remember, be the master of them, before they master you! God bless!

ria asked:

How much is the average orthodontics braces?
how much is the average full package here in vancouver *for normal teeth*? without the dental insurance yet..

just give an estimate or whatever..

oh, and how aboout how long do you have to wear the braces , just an estimate or average for normal teeth?