Summarizing Why Dental Braces Do Really Work - Pavlo Orthodontics

Imagine someone tells you that you’ll have to give up your favorite snack for the next two years. Your mouth will feel sore, and you’ll have to brush your teeth a lot more often. Wearing dental braces means making sacrifices and achieving outstanding results.

Still, it is understandable you’d try to make sure that your braces do really work and that you won’t waste time and resources.

Don’t worry. You won’t waste anything.

Braces do work. You just have to make sure to follow some rules and recommendations if you want to achieve your goals efficiently. Let’s talk about how these appliances work and what you should avoid to keep them in top shape.

Dr. John A. Pavlo and the rest of the team at Pavlo Orthodontics try their hardest to join their patients every step of the way and help them achieve their desired smile. Many patients are anxious to see good results from their treatment. We want to remind everyone that it is essential you follow professional recommendations to get the best results.

How Do Dental Braces and Other Appliances Work?

The goal is simple: we want to realign your teeth and jaws without any surgical interventions. To that end, specialists like us choose from a variety of appliances to help you fix your misaligned teeth.

Depending on their design, your traditional braces will apply a constant force to push and pull your teeth into the correct position. Unlike dental braces, clear aligners can only push your teeth into a specific position. Your orthodontist carefully examines your medical history and your current dental structures’ status to move your teeth and jaws safely.

Your orthodontic specialist will recommend you use one type of orthodontic appliance or another depending on several factors. Chief among them is your oral health. Can we safely move each tooth? Which movements are necessary? How severe is the malalignment? These are all questions your orthodontist asks before they recommend one option or another for your treatment.

If you want to lead a successful treatment process, you must avoid doing things that hinder your braces or clear aligners. According to this study, successful completion of your orthodontic treatment leads to a better quality of life. Putting in the work to finish this treatment is always worth it.

What Can We Do To Make Treatments With Dental Braces Faster?

There are several things you can do and some others you should definitely avoid through your orthodontic treatment. Let’s tackle a few of them here.

Watch What You Eat When You Wear Dental Braces

Your diet can heavily influence your treatment efficiency. There are some foods and beverages you’ll want to avoid depending on the type of orthodontic treatment you follow. If you are wearing metal braces, you’ll want to stay away from hard or crunchy foods. We say this to avoid damaging your braces and putting your metal brackets at risk.

Food particles like hard taco shells or popcorn can lodge between your tooth and the bonded bracket or dislodging the wires connecting each stainless steel bracket. If you are using ceramic braces, you should be even more careful not to damage your ceramic brackets. This discreet alternative is cosmetically appealing but less durable than its metal counterparts.

We also want to remind our clear aligner users that they should remove their trays when they go grab a bite. If you are using Invisalign clear aligners, there won’t be any metal or ceramic brackets to break. Still, eating sticky foods or drinking the likes of black tea or cola soda could stain your trays and defeat the whole “clear” aspect of your clear aligners.

We will work on a full list of foods you should avoid while using traditional metal braces or clear aligners. Of course, it wouldn’t be very nice if we stayed here saying that you cannot eat popcorn, candy, sugary beverages, potato chips, or crunchy vegetables. There are some foods you could integrate into your diet, especially at the beginning of your treatment.

At first, you will feel your mouth a little sore, and it might hurt to bite into things. Try preparing meals that include some of the following safe-to-eat-during-your-treatment soft foods:

• Soft tortillas
• Pancakes
• Cheese
• Cooked rice
• Mashed potatoes
• Meatballs
• Tuna

Good Hygiene and Oral Care for a Better Dental Health

Could we say we are a good orthodontist and dentist if we didn’t dedicate an entire subsection to remind you of the importance of your oral hygiene? According to this study, it is crucial that dental specialists help their patients understand the importance of oral hygiene during their treatment.

When you wear dental braces, regardless of the material used to manufacture them, you have to pay even more attention to your oral hygiene routines. People with braces have more places in their mouths where food particles get stuck, giving harmful bacteria a chance to grow and erode your tooth enamel.

The purpose of maintaining good dental hygiene is to remove food particles leftover from your last meal, decrease the risk of bacteria-induced tooth decay, and prevent dental health issues.

The reasoning is pretty similar if you use clear aligners instead of braces, though the methods might differ slightly.

A regular dentist will often recommend you brush your teeth twice a day and floss once every day. We have to crank up those numbers during your treatment plan. You will have to brush your teeth after every meal, and this also applies if you use removable aligners.

Consider using a soft-bristled toothbrush to avoid damaging your brackets. You could also consider investing in a water irrigator or interdental toothbrush to clean your braces thoroughly. Floss daily with a floss threader to get rid of food particles lodged between individual teeth.

Rinse your mouth with water at the beginning of your routine and finish at night with mouthwash for maximum effect.

We make all these recommendations to help prevent severe dental health problems. The last thing we want is to leave tooth decay unattended, leading to periodontal disease from gingivitis to periodontitis.

Pay attention to your oral hygiene and you won’t suffer any delays during your treatment.

Get In Touch With a Team That Bets on You and Your Dental Braces

The team here at Pavlo Orthodontics is thrilled to help you start that journey towards a healthy and beautiful smile.

Please remember to follow our recommendations as you start your treatment. Your braces will work if you avoid the things that can cause unfortunate setbacks during your treatment.

Consult with a professional orthodontist about which appliance works best in your case, what you should pay special attention to, and how long should your treatment last.

We hope to see you soon if you are near either of our offices in Newburyport or Peabody, MA. Set your next appointment right here, or give us a call.