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One of the sure signs that summer has arrived is the unmistakable aroma of barbecue drifting over backyards across the country.

If you’re new to braces, you might be wondering just how many of your favorite outdoor treats can still go on your plate. Good news! You have a lot of braces-friendly options available—with a little extra planning on your part. Two things to remember: tools and textures.

• BBQ Tools

We’re not talking about spatulas and tongs and skewers—the barbecue tools we’re talking about here are your knife and fork. Sure, many classic BBQ dishes are finger foods, but those are the very dishes which can cause problems for your braces.

Eating savory ribs or chicken legs, juicy burgers or hot dogs, or delicious corn on the cob the traditional way means biting into these foods with your front teeth. That biting puts a lot of pressure on your braces and can lead to bent wires and loose or broken brackets.

But there’s a way to get around this without giving up on your tasty favorites! There’s no rule against using your knife and fork at a BBQ, and there’s no need to bite into foods when you can cut them up into small, manageable pieces.

If you remove meat from bones before eating, if you deconstruct your grilled burger or brat by cutting it up into smaller pieces, if you slice the kernels off your corn on the cob, you can chew with your back teeth and avoid any damage to your brackets and wires. Cut grilled foods into manageable bites just like you do with your regular meals, and you won’t be leaving the party early!  

• BBQ Textures

Now let’s talk texture. Crunchy, hard, and sticky foods should never be on the menu when you’re wearing braces. These foods can damage your wires and brackets or get stuck between your braces and your teeth.

This is a time for clever substitutions. Exchange the corn chips for soft potato or pasta salad. Trade crusty and seeded buns for softer, seedless versions. Skip the grilled sticky s’mores and enjoy creamy, soft ice cream instead—but without nuts or other crunchy, sticky additions, please!

Cooper, Ford S. and our team are happy to offer suggestions for what to eat and how to eat it safely while you’re in braces at our Charlotte, NC or Spartanburg, SC orthodontic office. There are unavoidable events that can put a damper on outdoor activities. Pouring rain and insect pests—not much we can do about those. But taking simple precautions with your braces means no bent wires and broken brackets to ruin your BBQ fun. Now, dig in!

After getting your braces, it is important to know how to take care of your teeth in order to ensure that your braces stay intact and do their job so that your teeth are in top-notch condition after you complete your orthodontic treatment. Today, our team at OrthoCare Orthodontics thought we would provide you with five tips you need to know to ensure you undergo successful treatment at our Charlotte, NC or Spartanburg, SC office.

Flossing
Flossing twice a day or after every meal can help you clean areas between teeth and other places a toothbrush can miss. We also recommend using a floss threader, which can be used to help you navigate safely around your braces and brackets. It is vital to floss twice a day, preferably after lunch and before bedtime to keep gum disease and tooth decay at bay.

Brushing
Teeth and appliances should be brushed after every meal and before bedtime using fluoride toothpaste and gentle, soft strokes. We recommend using an interdental toothbrush, which can help you clean the hard-to-reach areas under wires better than an ordinary toothbrush.

Using Elastics
This phase of orthodontic treatment requires cooperation and consistency on your part. If your orthodontist has prescribed elastics, make sure they are worn at all times, except when eating meals or brushing teeth. It’s important that you wear the correct size elastics and have extras in case they are misplaced. By failing to wear your elastics for even one day, you run the risk your teeth moving back toward their original position.

Addressing Damage to Your Braces
In case your appliances are damaged, we ask that you call our team at OrthoCare Orthodontics immediately to set up an appointment.

Eat Friendly Foods
When undergoing treatment, there are certain foods you must avoid. Foods that are hard, sticky, chewy or sour can add months to your treatment time. These includes gum, caramels, taco shells, nuts, ice, chips or hard candies.

We hope that helps! If you have any questions, please give us a call at our Charlotte, NC or Spartanburg, SC office or ask us during your next adjustment appointment!

As you near the end of your orthodontic treatment, you’re probably already imagining the day when your brackets and wires finally come off. Or the moment you’ve finished with your last set of aligners. That day might come just a bit sooner if Cooper, Ford S. and our team recommend a positioner.

While not as well-known as other orthodontic treatments, a positioner is an appliance that can shorten your time in traditional braces and aligners by weeks or even months. Curious? Read on!

• What Exactly Is a Positioner?

A positioner resembles a clear mouthguard. Its arched shape is designed to fit snugly over your teeth. It’s sometimes called a finishing appliance, because it’s designed to make those last small adjustments to your alignment and bite. If you’re a good candidate for a positioner, it can replace your braces or aligners for your last several weeks or months of treatment.

• How Are Positioners Made?

This appliance is custom fabricated to fit your very specific orthodontic needs. Commonly, a mold is made of your teeth. A model of your teeth is made from this mold. Precision instruments are used to move the model teeth into your ideal alignment.

Once this model of your future finished smile is complete, it is used to create the positioner. When the thermoplastic material is molded to the model, it creates an appliance with an indentation for each individual tooth in its desired final location.

Available in a variety of materials, a positioner is most often designed as a clear single piece, covering both your upper and lower teeth. This makes sure that your teeth are not only aligned properly, but that your upper and lower teeth are working together for a healthy bite. Openings in the positioner provide airways which allow you to breathe easily.

• How Do Positioners Work?

Because your teeth haven’t settled firmly into place yet (this will happen as you wear your retainer), they’re still able to move. That’s why your positioner is shaped to fit your teeth in their future ideal placement, not where they are at present.

Positioners require your active participation. Your teeth move to the ideal spots molded into the positioner through “exercise”—biting down on your appliance for 15-20 seconds before relaxing your bite, usually every 10-15 minutes during your daily wear. The gentle force provided by your jaw muscles helps guide your teeth into position more quickly. Cooper, Ford S. will give you instructions on just how to—and how often to—do these exercises.

• How Long Are They Worn?

Positioners are commonly worn at least four hours a day to start with and all night long, or Cooper, Ford S. might recommend 24 hour a day wear for the first week. As you progress, you’ll wear them for shorter periods during the day, gradually tapering off until your treatment is complete.

Depending on the amount of correction that’s still needed, positioner use ranges from several weeks to several months. One thing that will ensure that your time in a positioner is as short as it can be is your willingness to follow our instructions. The speed and effectiveness of your final tooth movements is largely up to you!

• Caring for a Positioner

Gentle treatment is best. Clean your positioner before and after wearing it using a toothbrush and mild toothpaste. Never boil it or expose it to heat. We will give you instructions for how to clean it more thoroughly, if needed.

Like retainers, clear aligners, and mouthguards, a positioner needs to be protected when it’s not in your mouth. Your positioner will come with a case, so be sure to use it!

Positioners aren’t recommended for every orthodontic patient. But if you feel this might be an option worth pursuing, talk to us when you visit our Charlotte, NC or Spartanburg, SC office. A positioner could be an effective, time-saving step on your path to a lifetime of healthy smiles.

What do you imagine when you picture an orthodontic office? Do you see a steady stream of teenagers walking through the doors? Teen magazines in the reception room? Backpacks stowed under every chair? If so, we have an update for you.

In today’s office, you’ll find grade school kids, teens, and adults (and children’s books and games, and even the occasional golf magazine). Today’s orthodontic patients are more diverse than ever before!

Why? Because today, more than ever, more of us can benefit from orthodontic treatment.

Young Children

Even before a child’s adult teeth come in, a visit to OrthoCare Orthodontics is a good idea. In fact, dentists and orthodontists recommend an orthodontic exam around the age of seven for every child.

Early intervention can make sure that there’s enough space for those incoming permanent teeth and can help correct jaw alignment problems for a healthy bite.

• Palatal expanders can gently enlarge a small upper dental arch to make room for adult teeth.
• Space maintainers will save room for an adult tooth to erupt in just the right spot if a baby tooth is lost too early.
• Treatment for malocclusions like overbites, open bites, and underbites while young bones are still growing helps create a more comfortable, healthy bite and may prevent more complicated treatment in the future.

Older Adults

If you’ve always wanted straighter teeth or a pain-free bite, don’t let an imaginary age limit prevent you from getting orthodontic treatment! As long as your teeth and gums are healthy, orthodontic treatment is a terrific way to keep them healthy.

• If you have painful bite issues which have never been treated,
• If you’ve always wanted straighter teeth,
• If your teeth have become more crowded over time,

there’s no time like the present to start working toward the smile you’ve always wanted.

Bonus: new technology in braces and aligners makes orthodontic treatment more subtle and discreet than ever before.

• Traditional braces—brackets are smaller than ever, and come in a choice of several materials and colors, including ceramic brackets and tooth-colored and clear brackets.
• Lingual braces—the least visible treatment, because brackets and wires are attached behind the teeth.
• Clear aligners—a removable and almost invisible way to straighten teeth.

Tweens & Teens

Teenagers still make up the majority of patients in orthodontic treatment. Orthodontists often recommend starting treatment between the ages of ten to 14, because:

• Most of the adult teeth have come in, so problems with crowding, spacing, or crooked tooth alignment can be diagnosed and corrected.
• The jawbone is still growing, and the bone is not as dense, so it can be easier to realign teeth and jaws for straighter teeth and a symmetrical bite.

Today’s treatment choices offer more options and are more effective than ever before. Depending on a teen’s orthodontic needs, Cooper, Ford S. might suggest:

• Traditional braces or aligners
• Elastics (rubber bands) used with braces to bring the upper and lower teeth into alignment.
• Functional appliances—together with braces or aligners, appliances like the Herbst® appliance, the Forsus™ device, the twin-block appliance, and headgear can work inside and/or outside the mouth to help correct problems with tooth and jaw alignment.

It’s no longer just the middle school and high school crowd you might meet in your orthodontist’s waiting room. Children, teenagers, and adults can all benefit from orthodontic treatment at our Charlotte, NC or Spartanburg, SC office. If someone in your family is one of those people, give your orthodontist a call to see just what orthodontic treatment can offer. Welcome in!