CALL NOWto schedule your free initial consultation!
623-572-8855
Affiliated Orthodontics
Dr. Wm. Randol Womack
7505 W. Deer Valley Road,
#120
Peoria, AZ 85382
Phone: 623-572-8855
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Shortcuts:
The Greatest Oral Hygiene Principle in the World!
Oral Hygiene
General Dental Care
Foods, Beverages, and Pernicious Oral Habits
What to Expect
Appliance Management and Elastic Wear
Activities and Your Treatment
The
Greatest Oral Hygiene Principle in the World!
The only time food should be in your mouth is while you are eating it. All
other times your appliances, teeth, gums, tongue, palate and inside of your
cheeks should be clean and free of food debris.
Microbial fermentation of food debris left in the mouth between meals and
snacks produces dangerous acids and sulfides at 98.6 degree Fahrenheit or 37
degrees Celsius. The acid produced is damaging to your teeth and gums. The
sulfides cause bad breath. Compliance with this concept requires cleaning following
all meals and snacks.
Oral Hygiene
Braces are natural food traps and require extra effort on your part to avoid
damage to the teeth and gums.
Teeth, braces and appliances should be thoroughly cleaned after eating. Cleanliness
should be determined by careful visual examination with good lighting.
A Water Pic can be used to aid the removal of food debris lodged on and between
the teeth but will not remove plaque. Plaque must be removed with toothbrush
bristles, dental floss and other mechanical aids.
Floss at least once daily. Use a floss threader to pass floss under the archwire
or brace.
Thoroughly brush, floss, and rinse with a supplemental fluoride after your
last snack or meal of the day. Your mouth will remain clean until breakfast.
Maintain a well-balanced, soft-textured diet that is free of hard, sticky,
acidic and high sugar foods.
Clean your teeth and appliances before orthodontic appointments. Otherwise,
visibility is obscured and early decalcification or damage to your teeth may
not be seen.
Tongue-in-Cheek, Clean only the teeth you want to keep.
General Dental Care
We recommend a thorough dental examination and professional tooth cleaning
before braces are placed on your teeth. Clean, healthy teeth move faster!
Follow your general dentist.s guidelines for periodic dental examinations,
cleanings, and fluoride treatments.
Food entrapment during orthodontics imposes a period of increased oral hygiene
risk. To minimize this risk, we encourage an increased frequency for dental
examinations, cleanings, and topical fluoride treatments. The final decision
regarding your general dental care remains between you and your dentist, and
appointments should be scheduled as your dentist recommends.
Remain under the periodontal supervision of your general dentist or periodontist
throughout appliance therapy. This is of added importance for adult patients
and those with preexisting gum disease or loss of bone support for the teeth.
Foods, Beverages, and Pernicious Oral Habits
Maintain a well-balanced, soft-textured diet that is free of hard, sticky,
acidic and high sugar foods. Hard and sticky foods cause mechanical damage
to your braces and appliances. Acid produced during the fermentation of sugar
encourages gum inflammation and tooth decay.
Foods and beverages to avoid:
- Chewy foods: bagels, hard rolls, licorice
- Crunchy foods: popcorn, ice, chips
- Sticky foods: caramels, taffy
- Hard foods: nuts, candy
- Foods you have to bite into with the front teeth: corn on the cob, apples,
carrots
- Candies: Sweet Tarts, Jolly Rancher candies, peanut brittle.
- Acid and sugar containing beverages: colas, fruit and vegetable juices
Foods to enjoy:
Don't chew gum, tobacco, or had objects!
- Pens, pencils, and fingernails can damage your braces.
- Damage to your braces will increase treatment time.
- Chewing gum causes repetitive stress on your braces or appliances.
What to Expect
What should I expect when I receive a new appliance or braces are first placed
on my teeth?
You may feel tenderness of the teeth and gums, and experience increased salivation
and difficulty swallowing, speaking and eating. The soft tissues opposing your
new appliance or braces may become irritated. These problems are temporary
and soon subside as the teeth begin to move. Tylenol, aspirin, or other over-the-counter
analgesics are seldom needed.
Slight mobility of teeth is necessary for teeth to move
This is to be expected throughout treatment. Don't worry! It's normal. After
the corrective movements, teeth will again become rigidly fixed in their new,
corrected positions.
When a wire, bracket, or band breaks or loosens
Don't be alarmed. This will occasionally happen. If a poking wire, loose band
or bracket irritates the inside of the mouth, place wax or wet cotton over
the offending appliance to reduce the annoyance. Call us without delay, describe
the problem, and a scheduling coordinator will arrange a suitable appointment
for adjustment or repair. Save and bring any loose pieces of your appliance
to this appointment.
Appliance Management and Elastic Wear
The success of your treatment depends upon responsible care and wear of your
appliances
When you begin treatment you will receive a Guide to Successful Treatment
with a section devoted to Appliance Management. Compliant wear, cleaning, inspection,
detection, reporting, and prompt adjustment and repair of appliance problems
are essential.
When elastic wear is prescribed
Elastics may be used to apply motive force to move the teeth. Your teeth must
be subject to light, continuous force if they are to be moved. When prescribed,
elastics must be worn at all times unless otherwise directed. If elastics cannot
be worn according to prescription call our office without delay.
Tenderness of the teeth is common when elastic forces are first applied to
the teeth. This initial discomfort will subside as your teeth begin to move.
Occasional or intermittent elastic wear not only produces discomfort but will
not move teeth. Adherence to our guidelines for elastic wear is essential for
the success of your treatment.
Activities and Your Treatment
Athletic Participation, Swimming, and Playing of Musical Instruments
Please consult our office regarding the advisability of appliance wear during
athletic participation, swimming and playing of musical instruments.
If you play sports, consult your athletic supervisor and us for special precautions.
A protective mouth guard should be worn while playing contact sports. After
any accident involving the face, check your mouth, teeth, and appliances immediately.
If teeth have been loosened, the soft tissues lacerated, or the appliances
damaged, phone at once for an appointment. In the meantime, treat your discomfort
as you would treat any general soreness.
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