Let us start off by saying Happy Thanksgiving! Now, Thanksgiving is a time for family, fun, and a lot of different foods! But as you know, when you have braces you are going to have to watch out for the foods that will break your wires, unglue your brackets, or damage your braces in any other way.
Here we will list some of the common Thanksgiving foods and if they are SAFE or UNSAFE with an explanation.
1. Turkey: SAFE! Turkey is relatively soft and of course a Thanksgiving classic. The only thing you have to worry about is getting it stuck in your braces. Be extremely careful when chewing on drumsticks!
2. Mashed Potatoes: SAFE! Mashed Potatoes are one of the softest foods out there. Definitely not an issue.
3. Pies: SAFE! Be careful with pecan pie or other pies with nuts because if you bite hard on one you can dislodge your brackets.
4. Corn on the cob: UNSAFE! As in our other post Damaging Delectables, corn on the cob is not safe at all. What you can do is cut the corn off the cob.
5. Bread Rolls: SAFE! Bread is very soft and definitely fine.
6. Stuffing: SAFE or UNSAFE. It all depends on what it is made with. If it has nuts or other hard things you need to be careful.
Well those are the basic foods for a Thanksgiving dinner. Remember this is just a guideline. Just be careful eating the hard foods or sticky desserts such as caramel. Have a good Thanksgiving!
-Amanda and Erik
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Gingivitis Part 2
The fact that we are having a second post on gingivitis just goes to show you how big of an issue it is and how important it is to avoid/treat it. (See our previous post Gingivitis.)
Some things that are important to realize are the consequences of it. If it goes unnoticed your gums will become excruciatingly painful to the touch, your whole mouth/gums can become severely infected, and in the very, very worst case you can loose teeth! Imagine after all that work with braces or headgear loosing some of your teeth just because you didn’t keep up on cleaning your mouth regularly. Remember, they don’t grow back!
There are also different ways you can get gingivitis. There is one form that is caused by plaque build up. There are also ways to get it that has nothing to do with plaque build up. Some examples are through genetics, foreign bodies or viruses, and by fungus.
If you are interested here are some other links to learn more about gingivitis and its effects and treatments.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gingivitis
http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/gingivitis/overview.html
http://gingivitistreatment.org/
Makes you just want to go brush your teeth, doesn’t it! The main cause of gingivitis is not cleaning your mouth properly. But keep in mind that it can also be caused by unclean orthodontist appliances so if you have braces and headgear brush those too.
-Amanda and Erik
Some things that are important to realize are the consequences of it. If it goes unnoticed your gums will become excruciatingly painful to the touch, your whole mouth/gums can become severely infected, and in the very, very worst case you can loose teeth! Imagine after all that work with braces or headgear loosing some of your teeth just because you didn’t keep up on cleaning your mouth regularly. Remember, they don’t grow back!
There are also different ways you can get gingivitis. There is one form that is caused by plaque build up. There are also ways to get it that has nothing to do with plaque build up. Some examples are through genetics, foreign bodies or viruses, and by fungus.
If you are interested here are some other links to learn more about gingivitis and its effects and treatments.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gingivitis
http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/gingivitis/overview.html
http://gingivitistreatment.org/
Makes you just want to go brush your teeth, doesn’t it! The main cause of gingivitis is not cleaning your mouth properly. But keep in mind that it can also be caused by unclean orthodontist appliances so if you have braces and headgear brush those too.
-Amanda and Erik
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Old Orthodontics
Chances are when your parents were your age, they had braces or headgear. But their orthodontics were much different then yours. Here’s a little blast from the past to make you appreciate your gear now!
Braces: Back in the day of our parents, instead of gluing brackets onto your teeth, they would wrap a metal wire all the way around each individual tooth! Apparently this was an extremely process. And your teeth hurt for weeks and weeks after you got the braces on. These braces also dug into your gums way more than modern braces do. Every time you had them tightened it was like the first day all over again! They were bulky and there wasn’t any such thing as colored braces.
Headgear: Peoples view on this orthodontic equipment has come a long way. Around 40 years ago, head gear was one of the worst things you could get as a teenager. You got teased horribly even though it looks the same as it does today. Luckily for all of you nowadays it isn’t a big deal at all.
Other than that most of the things you have now (bands, retainers, brackets, bite planes) are the same as now. The main change is that since most of these were new, not that many kids had them because they were expensive. So anyone who had them were treated as pariahs. Be glad that today your braces just sit on your teeth and that orthodontics aren’t that big of a deal!
-Amanda and Erik
Braces: Back in the day of our parents, instead of gluing brackets onto your teeth, they would wrap a metal wire all the way around each individual tooth! Apparently this was an extremely process. And your teeth hurt for weeks and weeks after you got the braces on. These braces also dug into your gums way more than modern braces do. Every time you had them tightened it was like the first day all over again! They were bulky and there wasn’t any such thing as colored braces.
Headgear: Peoples view on this orthodontic equipment has come a long way. Around 40 years ago, head gear was one of the worst things you could get as a teenager. You got teased horribly even though it looks the same as it does today. Luckily for all of you nowadays it isn’t a big deal at all.
Other than that most of the things you have now (bands, retainers, brackets, bite planes) are the same as now. The main change is that since most of these were new, not that many kids had them because they were expensive. So anyone who had them were treated as pariahs. Be glad that today your braces just sit on your teeth and that orthodontics aren’t that big of a deal!
-Amanda and Erik
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Checking Retainer
After you have had your retainers about six months or so, your orthodontist will probably tell you to wear them only at night. This is because your teeth are setting in and so they don’t need to be held in place 24/7.
Now the next time you have a checkup they will check your teeth to make sure they are not shifting back. They will check this by fitting on your retainers and seeing if they are tight. If they are you will probably have to go back to wearing them all day long. Do not stress if this is the case you will soon be able to be metal free! It just means you are still growing and your teeth haven’t settled yet.
-Amanda and Erik
Now the next time you have a checkup they will check your teeth to make sure they are not shifting back. They will check this by fitting on your retainers and seeing if they are tight. If they are you will probably have to go back to wearing them all day long. Do not stress if this is the case you will soon be able to be metal free! It just means you are still growing and your teeth haven’t settled yet.
-Amanda and Erik
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