5 Ways to Get Comfortable with Your New Braces

There is no way around it, it’s going to be a bit uncomfortable and somewhat painful when you first get your braces. While the entire experience will eventually get better, the first few days or even weeks are going to be filled with discomfort, soreness, tenderness, and pain. Luckily, there are some things you can do to make things more comfortable for you while wearing braces.

Tip #1 – Keep Yourself Hydrated

Keep yourself hydrated, it’s that simple. Staying hydrated will make wearing braces more comfortable. The coolness of the water can reduce any inflammation from the brackets or wires. Water will work as a temporary pain reliever, numbing agent, and anti-inflammatory.

Water will also prevent your mouth from becoming extremely dry. Braces can cause small cuts on the cheeks and gums if the mouth is too dry. Drinking water throughout the day will keep your mouth from getting sore or damaged.

Tip #2 – Rinse Your Mouth With Warm Salt Water

Combining a half teaspoon of salt with warm water can help you naturally relieve any pain and discomfort you experience in the first few days of wearing your braces. The warm water and salt rinse work to reduce inflammation. This makes things more comfortable for you by relieving some of your pain.

Tip #3 – Don’t Eat Crunchy or Hard Foods

Pecans, almonds, and hard candy should be avoided when you have braces. Your entire mouth is going to be sore and painful the first few days after getting braces. It’s recommended that you stick to only eating soft foods that require little to no chewing.

Eating soft foods, such as mashed potatoes, smoothies, and yogurt, will reduce the pain and discomfort you experience. It’s due to the fact that you’re not moving your mouth and jaw around a lot or as much. Limiting mouth and jaw movement will give you time to adjust to wearing braces. It also allows your teeth, gums, and mouth to naturally heal and adjust to the braces so that you experience less pain and discomfort.

Tip #4 – Try Eating Cold Foods

Just like water, the coolness of certain foods like frozen yogurt, ice cream, or popsicles can help reduce any gum swelling you experience when your braces are first put on. Try to incorporate these foods into your daily diet for the first few days as it will help reduce inflammation and even relieve some of your pain.

Tip #5 – Learn How to Use the Items in Your Orthodontic Kit

Every person who wears braces will have a small orthodontic kit that contains helpful tools and items. Learning how to properly use the items can help you reduce any pain or discomfort you experience. This will not only sooth the pain in the first few days of wearing braces, but also throughout the entire course of your orthodontic treatment.

Using your Orthodontic Kit

Some of the items that can be found in an orthodontic kit that will help any discomfort include:

Orthodontic wax – can be used to add a layer of padding to any sharp points or edges that can be found on your wires or brackets. Orthodontic wax is also helpful if your brackets or wires break throughout the course of your treatment. The wax can be put on the broken bracket or wire so the sharp parts don’t stick or poke your gums or cheeks.
Lip gloss or lip balm – protects your lips from getting cracked or scratched by your braces
Dental floss – floss helps remove any food that may be stuck in your braces. Stuck food can often cause pain and discomfort, especially when you get new braces.

Valderrama Orthodontist wants to make sure that every patient has a positive experience with wearing braces. That is why we take the time to make sure that each of our patients learns valuable tips and tricks that will reduce any pain and discomfort.

Have any additional questions about how to reduce pain and discomfort associated with wearing braces? Feel free to contact our office and ask any questions you may have. Our staff will try to help you find comfort in your new braces.

What to Do if You Lose Your Retainer

In a perfect world, you would always keep your orthodontic retainer nearby and never lose it. Unfortunately, things don’t always work that way and there is a good chance that at some point you will lose your retainer. Learn why your retainer is so important and what you need to do if you should lose it.

Why is Your Retainer an Important Part of Your Orthodontic Care?

After months and months of dealing with uncomfortable wires and stiff brackets, you have finally entered the last stage of your orthodontic treatment – wearing a retainer. This part of your orthodontic treatment may not seem like it does much, but it is one of the most important parts of your orthodontic care.

It is extremely important because it helps you keep your teeth straight and perfect. The braces with wires and brackets that you wore helped to shift and move your teeth into their new proper position. Unfortunately, your teeth will not stay in their new position and will naturally want to shift back to their “old” position. The retainer you wear helps to prevent your teeth from shifting back into their old position.

How Long Do You Have to Wear Your Retainer?

If you had orthodontic treatment, you will always have to wear a retainer. As long as you want your teeth to stay the same way as they looked when the braces were removed. But the length of time that you will have to wear your retainer per day will vary from person to person. Some people will need to wear their retainer regularly for 12 to 15 hours per day, others would only need them for 8 to 10 hours per night.

Everyone needs to wear retainers regularly to prevent their teeth from shifting back into their old position.

Don’t Panic if You Lose Your Retainer

It is important that you don’t panic if you lose your retainer. While it is an important part of your orthodontic care, you won’t experience problems if you are unable to wear it for few days or a week.

It usually takes a few weeks of not wearing your retainer for your teeth to shift back to their old position. So, as long as you get a replacement retainer relatively quick you won’t have to wear braces again in order to fix your smile.

Schedule an Appointment with Your Orthodontist to Get a Replacement Retainer

A replacement retainer can be ordered through your orthodontist. Depending upon how long ago you got your retainer, you may be able to just call your orthodontist’s office and order a new retainer. However, if it has been a while since you got your retainer, you may need to come into the office and have measurements taken for a new retainer.

Retainers May Feel Tight the First Few Weeks with the New Retainer

The first few weeks of wearing your new retainer you may notice that they feel tighter and a bit uncomfortable. This is completely normal. The retainer feels uncomfortable and a bit tight because your teeth have started to shift. The retainer is gently guiding them back to their proper position.

If you don’t want to deal with any potential discomfort from your new retainer, you will want to replace your lost one as soon as possible. The longer you wait to get a replacement retainer, the more time your teeth will have to shift and you have a higher chance of experiencing slight discomfort.

Tips for Preventing the Loss of Your Retainer

There is no guaranteed way to prevent you from losing your retainer. However, there are some things you can do to lessen your chances of losing your removable retainer. Some things you can do to prevent yourself from losing your retainer include:

Never wrapping it in tissue as it could accidentally get thrown out
Keep it stored in the same place. For example, store it on a table next to your bed or in the bathroom.
Keep it stored in the protective case when you aren’t wearing it.
Try to keep to a schedule when wearing it. This helps you create a routine and lessens your chances of misplacing it.

Recently lost your retainer and in need of a new one? Call Valderrama Orthodontics to schedule an appointment to get a new retainer or to place an order for a new one.

Why We Recommend Starting Early Orthodontic Treatment

Timing is everything when it comes to orthodontic treatment for your child. Some orthodontic problems can wait for several years before being addressed – slightly crooked or gapped teeth can be fixed with tooth straightening or other cosmetic dental procedures at nearly any age. Other orthodontic problems become more difficult to address over time. In some cases, dental professionals recommend early orthodontic treatment.

Early treatment means that the orthodontist provides treatment while the patient still has some baby teeth. Orthodontists also refer to it as an interceptive treatment because it addresses problems in their earliest stages before they can pose a serious problem.

The American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) suggests every child has his or her first checkup with an orthodontist by the age of 7 years. By this age, there are permanent teeth for an orthodontist to evaluate the child’s developing teeth and jaws. This early evaluation can provide a wealth of information that can guide the child’s dental and orthodontic care for years. Of course, a child should see an orthodontist earlier than the age of 7 if an orthodontic problem develops sooner.

What to Expect at the Checkup

The initial checkup will likely have one of three outcomes:

No immediate treatment is necessary, and treatment will not likely be needed in the future
The orthodontist will recommend treatment in the future and follow the child periodically, as the child’s face and jaws continue to grow and develop
The orthodontist spots a problem that could benefit from early treatment

Orthodontists have the training and skills needed to spot subtle problems, even in young children. They can also perform a wide variety of procedures to address these problems early when the issues are more likely to respond positively to treatment.

Early Orthodontic Treatment Goals

Early orthodontic treatment has a number of goals. Orthodontists can guide the growth of a child’s jaw, for example, or guide permanent teeth into a more favorable position. This early treatment can improve appearance and improve the way the child’s lips meet. Early orthodontic treatment can correct harmful oral habits, and even lower the risk of trauma associated with protruding front teeth too.

While most orthodontic problems benefit from treatment after all the patient’s permanent teeth have come in, there are some issues that become more serious over time. The goals of early treatment are to detect developing problems, eliminate the root cause of an orthodontic issue, guide the growth of a child’s facial and jaw bones, and to provide enough space for the incoming permanent teeth.

Some patients who receive early orthodontic treatment require a second course of treatment later after all their permanent teeth have come in.

Orthodontic Problems that Benefit from Early Treatment

Early orthodontic treatment effectively addresses several orthodontic problems, such as:

Underbite – when the child’s lower front teeth sit ahead of the upper front teeth
Crossbite – when the patient’s jaw shifts to one side
Very crowded teeth, which can push each other out of place or damage teeth
Excessively spaced teeth that cause gaps between the teeth
Extra or missing teeth
Teeth that meet abnormally, or don’t meet at all
Habits, such as thumb sucking, finger sucking or use of a pacifier, which affect the teeth or jaw growth
Inherited orthodontic problems
Injuries from accidents
Orthodontic problems resulting from dental disease or abnormal swallowing

Early orthodontic treatment is an umbrella term that covers many procedures. Early treatment may include the use of a fixed or removable appliance that moves teeth, changes the position or the jaw or holds teeth in place to bring about desirable changes. Early orthodontic treatment may involve the removal of some baby teeth to help permanent teeth come in easier and straighter.

For more information about starting early orthodontic treatment, consult with your child’s dentist or with Dr. Natalia Valderrama, our orthodontist and dentofacial orthopedist at Valderrama orthodontics in Suntree. She has more than 20 years of dental and medical experience and can answer any questions you might have regarding with child’s growth and development. Her consultations are complimentary! Keep in mind that early orthodontic treatment can give your child something to smile about for the rest of his or her life. Remember – timing is everything when it comes to early orthodontic treatment.

All about Lingual Braces – What You Need to Know about these Invisible Metal Braces

If you or your child has crooked teeth and need braces, you are not alone – more than four million people in the United States have braces. About one-fourth of those wearing braces are adults. There are several types one can get: lingual braces, traditional, or even clear braces.

While braces do a good job of making your teeth look and function nicely, many people are unhappy with the way traditional braces look. Traditional braces typically have a lot of metal brackets, wires and rubber bands that sit on the outside of the teeth, where they can be seen when you smile, talk, laugh and eat.

Fortunately, Dr. Natalia Valderrama, our orthodontist at Valderrama Orthodontics offers lingual braces. These technically advanced braces are virtually invisible. This is very important for anyone who is concerned with how he or she appears, such as business people, teachers, medical professionals, and other individuals. Anyone who works in front of a camera may opt for lingual braces. People who play wind instruments or engage in certain sports, such as contact sports, may prefer lingual braces over traditional braces. While it is not surprising to see teenagers with traditional braces, teenagers can be especially sensitive about their appearance.

About Lingual Braces

Traditional metal braces go on the front of teeth, where they are easily seen. Lingual braces, by comparison, go on the back of the teeth where they cannot be seen.

Not all orthodontists offer lingual braces; only dentists who have taken specific continuing education courses have the know-how to use the equipment required to place lingual braces. Patients should seek out the care of orthodontists with the training and experience to place lingual braces correctly.

Dr. Valderrama not only has that training but she is also the only Orthodontist in Brevard County with actual existing cases and more than 10 years of experience in lingual braces.

Are Lingual Braces Right for You?

Lingual braces are not right for everyone. These braces do not work well for children or for adults with exceptionally small teeth, as short teeth do not provide enough room to glue the braces on the backside of the tooth. People with excessive bite problems, such as severe overbite, underbite and crossbite, may not be able to have lingual braces.

Some people have trouble adjusting to lingual braces because the position of the braces affects the tongue. At first, some patients may have trouble swallowing without thrusting their tongue against their teeth. The force of the tongue pushing against the teeth during swallowing can even lead to more dental issues. Fortunately, you can learn how to swallow without thrusting your tongue by touching your teeth together lightly and then your palate or the roof of your mouth before swallowing.

Other patients may have trouble speaking clearly for the first few weeks after getting lingual braces. To overcome this, try over-enunciating your words.

Caring for Your Lingual Braces

Keeping your teeth clean is important, no matter which type of teeth straightening approaches you use. Removing food particles and bacteria from the surface of teeth and braces is important in preventing tooth decay and gum disease.

Because your lingual braces are hiding behind your teeth, you may forget they are there when you brush. The placement of lingual braces can also make harder to check whether you have brushed away all the food particles. If you have trouble cleaning your lingual braces, try using a toothbrush with a narrow tip, which can make it easier to clean the back surface of your teeth.

To keep your teeth and your lingual braces in top condition, brush after every meal. Be sure to brush each tooth at its gum line, and both above and below the brackets of your sublingual braces. Also, usually while in lingual braces, more frequent appointments for cleanings with your general dentist are required. Typically every 3 months a cleaning is needed to keep lingual braces clean.

For more information about lingual braces, and to find out if lingual braces are right for you, speak with an orthodontist with the training and experience in these special braces. You might be glad to learn that you can get straighter teeth without the embarrassing appearance of metal brackets and wires of traditional braces. Call Dr. Natalia Valderrama at Valderrama Orthodontics in Suntree, Melbourne today. 321.425.5050 or visit us at www.valderramaortho.com to learn more.