Life With Braces

Eating with Your Braces
For most situations, common sense will tell you what foods to avoid. Hard foods, sticky foods and foods high in sugar must be avoided. Hard foods can break or damage wires and brackets. Sticky foods can get caught between brackets and wires. Minimize sugary foods; they cause tooth decay and related problems. Nail biting, pencil and pen chewing and chewing on foreign objects should also be avoided.

Examples of Sticky Foods to Avoid:
Gum (sugar-free or regular)
Licorice
Sugar Daddies
Toffee
Tootsie Rolls
Caramels
Starburst

Examples of Hard Foods to Avoid:
Ice
Nuts
Hard taco shells
French bread crust/rolls
Corn on the cob
Apples and carrots (unless cut into small pieces)
Bagels
Chips
Jolly Ranchers
Pizza crust
Uncooked carrots (unless cut)

Minimize Sugary Foods like:
Cake
Ice Cream
Cookies
Pie
Candy

Only Once a Day:
Soda
Sweetened tea
Gatorade
Kool-Aid
Drinks with sugar

Soreness
During the first week after your braces are in place and routine adjustments are complete, you will likely feel some pain, soreness or discomfort. To alleviate this pain, you may rinse your mouth with a warm saltwater solution, or you may take acetaminophen or other non-aspirin pain relievers while you adjust to your new braces. A warm wash cloth or heating pad may reduce the soreness in your jaws.

Sometimes discomfort caused by a wire on your braces can be resolved by moving the wire away from the irritated area with a cotton swab or eraser. If the wire will not move, try covering the end of it with a small piece of cotton or a small amount of wax. If the wire is painful, you can cut it with nail clippers or scissors that have been washed and sterilized in alcohol. If you cannot resolve the wire irritation, call our office for an appointment with Dr. Hansen.

Loosening of Your Teeth
Your teeth will loosen over the course of your orthodontic treatment. Please do not be alarmed! This is normal as your teeth loosen so they can move. Once your teeth are in their correct positions, they will become firmly in place again.

Loose Wire, Bracket or Band
Call our office immediately for advice if a wire, bracket or band is loosened. You may have a situation that requires cutting a wire or sliding a bracket off a wire at night or over the weekend. The bracket may need to be re-fitted as soon as possible. If you need to cut a wire in case of emergency, you may use fingernail clippers that have been washed and sterilized in alcohol. Please call our office the next business day, so that we may schedule an appointment for you with Dr. Hansen.

Brushing
The best way to ensure a clean and healthy smile is brushing and flossing. Food particles can accumulate on teeth and in braces, and over time, turn into plaque. The bacteria that results from this accumulation can lead to gum disease, tooth decay and even loss of teeth. To avoid these problems while you are in orthodontic treatment, take special care of your braces, teeth and gums to ensure you will have the best possible result.

Appliance Compliance
Each patient’s orthodontic condition requires a treatment plan based on a specialized diagnosis of the case. Braces have one aim: to use gentle pressure to move teeth into proper alignment. Treatment time varies depending on age, patient compliance and the severity of the condition. Generally, treatment lasts for 24 months and is facilitated by ideal patient cooperation. In order to complete your treatment effectively and on time, please be sure to wear your rubber bands, headgear, retainers and other appliances as prescribed by Dr. Hansen.

Retainer & Expander Instructions

Retainer Instructions

Until Dr. Hansen instructs you otherwise, please wear your retainer 24/7.
When eating, please remove your retainer and be sure to put it in your case!
Be sure to clean your retainer with warm water and toothpaste once a day. This will keep your retainer free of plaque and odors.
Please keep your retainer in its case when you are not wearing it! They can be easily lost, thrown away or chewed on by pets!
Practice speaking, reading aloud or singing to get accustomed to talking while wearing your new appliance.
Your retainer is breakable; if you break or lose a retainer, please call us immediately.
Please DO NOT adjust your retainers yourself. Dr. Hansen will do this for you if need be, so be sure to bring your retainer to every appointment. Replacing your retainer can be expensive, so please treat it with care.
Please remove your retainer when you are swimming.
To avoid melting, please keep your retainer away from hot water, hot car dashboards and the washing machine.
Please do not put your retainer in your pocket or in a napkin as they can break easily.

Removable Expander Instructions

Please wear your expander 24/7, including during meals and while sleeping.
Only remove the expander when brushing your teeth. Be sure to also brush your expander with warm water and toothpaste twice a day.

Fixed Expander Instructions

Please turn your expansion screws as instructed by Dr. Hansen. Be sure to properly insert the key into the hole and turn toward the arrow.
If you can not make an appointment, please STOP turning your expander.

Athletic Mouthguards
We are pleased to offer our patients custom-fabricated mouthguards for sports activities. Unlike stock mouthguards, which fit loosely because they are designed to accommodate many possible wearers, our sports mouthguards are tailored to fit your exact dental profile, providing the highest attainable level of comfort and security in a mouthguard.

The first step in fabricating these mouthguards is to take an impression of your teeth. We then use that impression and fabricate the mouthguard using special professional-grade materials. The perfect fit of these custom-fabricated mouthguards ensures that not only will your mouthguards fit comfortably, they will also offer the most protection and will interfere the least with speech or breathing. If you’d like a custom-made mouthguard, please call us to schedule a consultation with Dr. Hansen.