Lock it Down

You’ve just gotten your taken braces off and your smile looks awesome! Now, if you want to keep that super straight, amazing smile you are going to need to make sure you wear your retainer.

We know you know this…the braces come of, the retainer goes on. But we can’t stress it enough. If you don’t wear your retainer as prescribed, your teeth are going to move out of alignment and back into their original, crooked places…just as if you never even had braces at all.

Here’s something you may not know… your teeth aren't set rigidly into your jawbone like you might think. They are held in place by bands of fibrous tissue called the periodontal ligaments. After your teeth have been moved into their ideal position by your braces and/or other orthodontic appliances, it takes time for the periodontal ligaments to adjust. When you’re not wearing your retainer, pressure from your lips and tongue can cause your teeth to shift. Even if your teeth and smile don’t look like they are moving, that doesn’t mean they haven’t. If you go without wearing your retainer for long periods of time, your teeth will continue to move until misalignment is visibly noticeable, and that crooked smile you thought was a thing of the past is back again.

So, if you don’t wear your retainer as prescribed, your nice straight teeth won’t be nice and straight for long. And we know you didn’t go through orthodontic treatment just for fun.

Protect Your Smile!

Each year during the month of April the Academy for Sports Dentistry, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, the American Dental Association, the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, and the American Association of Orthodontists sponsor National Facial Protection Month.

National Facial Protection Month focuses on spreading awareness about the importance of protecting children and adults from oral and facial injuries. Many injuries that do occur during sporting activities could have been prevented had the proper protective gear had been worn. An estimated 12 million people between the ages of 5 and 22 years suffer a sport-related injury annually. A recently published study by the University of Alabama at Birmingham analyzed data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), a database of injuries treated at hospital emergency departments, for the period 2001-2008. Researchers found the five most common causes of childhood injuries were, in order of frequency, basketball, football, bicycling, playgrounds and soccer.

For our patients we want to remind you that it is important for you to protect your mouth during treatment. For protection you must wear a mouth guard. A mouth guard can help prevent injury to the teeth, mouth and even jaw. Mouth guards are made of flexible material that is fitted to protect yourupper and lower teeth. You can buy a stock mouth guard or get a custom guard made. The right fit mouth guard will act as cushions protecting your mouth from hits and preventing serious injury.

To help promote National Facial Protection Month Dr. Wilmot has began the "Protect Your Smile" contest. To enter our "PROTECT YOUR SMILE" contest for a chance to win a gift card to Academy Sports. Send us a photo of you wearing your mouthguard and you will be entered in the contest. Email your photos to smilesblossom@jjwilmot-ortho.com or drop it off at our office.

To learn more about National Facial Protection Month please visit AAOMS.org

NO Pain NO Gain

When thinking about orthodontic treatment the first question people usually have is, "Will it hurt?”. There seems to be a common fear among everyone with regards to the pain orthodontic treatment might bring. Well Dr. Wilmot has some good news! Orthodontic treatment is not as bad as you think it is.

Orthodontic treatment has improved dramatically over the years. But as a general rule, initially, braces do make your teeth tender and sore for the first few days after having them placed. But the soreness is not unbearable. The slight soreness you feel comes from the fact that your teeth are beginning to move and they are not used to the pressure the arch wire and brackets are causing. As time goes by, your teeth will get use to the braces and your soreness will go away.

It is important to know that today’s braces are more comfortable than ever. But if you still think braces might hurt more than we are letting on, here are a few tips that will help reduce any soreness you may feel:

•     Take an over the counter medicine...like Advil. 
•     Rinse your mouth with warm salt water. 
•     Eat soft foods like yogurt and mash potatoes. 
•     Place heating pad or warm was rag on jaw. 
•     Avoid acidic drinks; those drinks with acid can irritate a sore mouth. 
•     Use over the counter oral anesthetic like Orajel. 
•     Apply wax to any bracket or wire bothering your cheek, tongue or lips.

If you have any questions about starting orthodontic treatment at our office, please feel free to give us a call anytime, or leave a question on our Facebook page!