Good oral hygiene is very important for everyone.
The health of your mouth and teeth can have a large affect on your overall health. Nutrients and vitamins your body needs to function enter through your mouth. Teeth need to be strong and healthy in order to chew food that provides the body with these important vitamins.
Good oral care is also important to prevent caries. Caries are what occurs when a tooth starts to decay. When decay begins to occur on teeth, an undesirable appearance and smell accompany the process. Decay can also cause teeth to be sore and/or sensitive. Speech can also be affected in a negative way since teeth are necessary for proper speech.
Proper Oral Hygiene is Important and Possible with Braces
Yes, it is possible to have clean and sparkling teeth while having orthodontic care! Patients will often tell us that it is challenging to get their teeth clean while having braces. Dr. Alison and her team strive to help patients learn the technique necessary to have good oral hygiene while in orthodontic treatment as well as emphasize the importance of maintaining good oral hygiene to help optimize the orthodontic result. Clean teeth will move faster than dirty teeth during orthodontic treatment resulting in effective and effecient orthodontic treatment. In addition, plaque and tartar can react with the bacteria in your mouth to cause the enamel of the teeth to deteriorate. The result is permanent white spots (or decalcification) on the teeth. The appearance of the white spots can be blended in with the color of teeth to some extent with bleaching after braces are removed. However, the white spots will not go away completely and in severe cases these white spots result in decay that have to be restored or filled.
Pretreatment Post treatment with decalcification
Pretreatment Post treatment with no decalcification
While a patient has braces on their teeth, sugary foods should be avoided or at least limited. Soda or sweet tea are both beverages that can increase the chance of tooth decay due to there high sugar content and low Ph value and should therefore be avoided or limted as well. The above photos are some examples of two orthodontic patients before and after treatment. One patient maintained excellent oral hygiene throughout treatment while unfortunately another did not.
Proper oral hygiene does take time and attention to detail but is important to your overall health. So take the time to ensure a healthy and happy smile to last a lifetime!
Look for Dr. Richard Reid at your school
Dr. Richard is continuing his visits with some of the county schools for dental health month in March. The visits are always a highlight of the year for all involved.
March 8th- Edneyville March 22nd- Immaculata and Fletcher
Look for Dr. Richard and Bugsy the bug to visit your school!
Dr. Richard’s patients: Bring in your recall card!
We want to show our appreciation to our family of patients. When you keep your previously scheduled cleaning appointment, you will be able to enter your name in a drawing for a $30 giftcard. We had a great response this past February with lots of entries and have already selected one lucky winner. You or a family member could be next!
