 We get it; everyone likes to save money where it makes sense, and good braces are not cheap. However, the do-it-yourself aligners advertised by mail can deliver unexpected results… and by unexpected, we mean potentially dangerous and painful.
But Really, Would You Tattoo Yourself? The promises are alluring—a beautiful smile at a fraction of the cost – no office visits required. It sounds like a good deal - freeing up your time and your money. Why not give it a try? Here’s why... we’ve all seen the awful tattoo fails on social media. People who have tried to save money on tattoos that are left with some pretty unattractive artwork decorating their body - forever. Tattoos, like orthodontia, can be fixed but it is a costly mistake to repair. A perfect smile and some extra cash in the bank isn't always the result you get with DIY aligners. You might actually end up needing additional, expensive procedures to repair unwanted results. Teeth are for Chewing and Biting We’ve seen a few “oh no” patients since the “braces by mail” fad took off. The most common complaint, after trying these aligners is that the teeth just don’t seem to work properly anymore. Meaning, they are not properly aligned for biting and chewing. This is what teeth are for! (Well, besides a splashy smile!) But what’s scary is that in some cases, teeth actually become loose, requiring an immediate dentist visit. Long-term problems can show up much later (such as tooth loss). It’s a big deal; saving now could cost you thousands later. What you’re being advertised, isn’t always what you’ll get! If you read through the offer completely and you review the limitations and qualifications, you could discover that they only cover a reduced treatment period or a certain number of trays. It might not include retainers or check-up appointments during the retention phase of treatment. This matters because shortcuts, especially unsupervised ones, are less expensive, but only in the short term. Remember, they think you value your dollars and time above quality and durability. Is that true? Love Your Smile A good orthodontist works with you until the malocclusion is corrected, the bite is aligned, and you have a smile you love. At OBC, patients understand that orthodontics is an investment in your oral health, your smile, and your self-confidence. It’s definitely not the best idea to take your smile and your dental health to the lowest bidder. Aligners by mail don’t allow for any “special case scenarios” - and let’s face it, we’re all a little unique. When you decide to orthodontically treat yourself, you’re unaware of the circumstances your orthodontist might see immediately in an office visit that could alter your treatment regimens. An in person exam allows the orthodontist to inspect the condition and general health of your gums, tissue, and bone that could impact the success of the aligners. Also, office visits include an inspection of your mouth and allow your doctor to see how your jaw functions throughout treatment - not just at the end when we have to potentially “undo” damage - if possible. The End Goal is a Functional and Beautiful Bite Orthodontia involves more than pretty, straight teeth; it includes a healthy and functional bite. If your back teeth no longer touch properly, a posterior open bite occurs making chewing difficult and uncomfortable. Can you see why we think it’s a bad idea? If you still think DIY aligners are a good idea to save time, call us about OBC Express. We can get you started quickly and send you on your way with reduced, but crucial check-ins. This works especially well for adults who have finished growing. Do-it-yourself aligners carry risks that you need to be aware of. Remember, DIY teeth straightening may cause irreversible damage that you can’t cover up with long sleeves, like you can a bad tattoo. If you have questions, please come in and let us take a look. Call our office at 703-263-0575.
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 A healthy diet is one of the primary concerns of most parents, and can go a long way in helping children keep their teeth healthy. Unfortunately, some of your child’s favorite drinks at the coffee bar are packed with sugar, and terrible for their teeth.
Sugar feeds the harmful bacteria on teeth, and creates acid that erodes enamel. This causes plaque and ultimately cavities, which is why you should limit the number of sugary foods and drinks your child consumes. Unfortunately, most of your kid’s favorite drinks from places like Starbucks are absolutely LOADED with sugar. The American Heart Association recommends that children limit their daily sugar intake to less than 26 grams per day, and adults should have less than 36 grams per day. Unfortunately, most of the items on the coffee bar menu far exceed 30 grams of sugar – even if the drink is a “small” (tall) on the menu. 1 – Any Frappuccino Frappuccinos come in a variety of flavors, but each of them contains far more sugar than your child needs to consume in one day. 2 – Iced White Chocolate Mocha Another iced drink, is Iced White Chocolate Mocha contains 54 grams of sugar per drink, which is far too much sugar for one drink to contain. 3 – Cinnamon Dolce Crème The Cinnamon Dolce Crème doesn’t have caffeine, but it is loaded with sugar at 28 grams of sugar in a tall drink, and 37 grams in a grande. Visit Our Office We suggest that your tweens and teens avoids visiting coffee bars, and instead focuses on drinking more water and real fruit juices. Drinks from coffee bars are loaded with sugar that can cause cavities, and lead to other oral health issues. Visit our office for more information about a mouth-healthy diet that can help your child grow a healthy smile. Call our office at 703-263-0575.  Orthodontic treatment will last from 18 months to three years. Any normal person is bound to crave a chocolatey caramel bar or sugar fix during treatment. Don't give in; sugary treats will compromise your progress and they are never good for your teeth, braces or not.
Sugars are fuel for the acidic bacteria that destroy teeth. For teeth without braces, candy is a threat, but when you add in the brackets, bands, and wires, tooth decay becomes an almost certainty. There are just too many places for bacteria to hide. You have probably heard that the type of candy makes a difference in the overall effect on the teeth. NOT TRUE. Hard, soft, sticky or crunchy, it’s all bad for your brace covered teeth. The problem with eating candy while undergoing orthodontic treatment is that the sugar has so many different places to hide. It can hide under the wires, in the brackets and around other components of the system. Hard and chewy candies are particularly damaging, as when you bite down on them, your tooth becomes stressed by the force. With brackets and wires on your teeth that additional force may break or pop off a component of the orthodontic system. Better Sugar Fix Alternatives These are some of the better choices you can make while undergoing orthodontic treatment:
If you want us to break the news to your child, please let us know! Call our office at 703-263-0575.  Yay! Your Braces Are Finally Off
It’s finally time for your orthodontist to remove your braces and take your ‘after’ photo with your stunning new smile. But that does not mean that your orthodontic journey is complete. You are now entering the retention stage, which begins as soon as your primary treatment phase ends. This stage is key to the success of the entire orthodontic process. Back in School... Remember Don’t throw your retainer away with your school lunch! But if you do, call the office right way so you aren’t without it for long. Solidify Success Your teeth are not rigidly set; you need to consistently wear your retainers for around the next two years. Your retainers are designed to keep your teeth in place and prevent them from shifting. This is applicable for all our patients who have just removed their braces or aligners. Why? Retainers are an important part of your orthodontic treatment. Once phase one is complete, you want your teeth to stay aligned in the correct position. Retainers keep your newly straightened teeth in the correct position. If you do not consistently wear your retainer, your teeth will shift back to their original positions and will require further orthodontic treatment to realign them. Retainers are used for all patients, both teens and adults, and are necessary after both traditional braces and Invisalign. Just Wear It Here are a few reasons to keep wearing that retainer: To Stabilize Your Bite: The soft tissues in your mouth and bones still need time to adapt to their new position. By continually and consistently wearing a retainer, your tissues and bones will stabilize and any shifting that occurs will be minimal. Wisdom Teeth: For most patients, they will receive braces during their preteen and teen years, meaning right around the time that wisdom teeth show up. By wearing your retainer, you will ensure that the eruption of wisdom teeth don’t move your straight teeth out of their new position. Bones & Gums Are Aligned: Retainers not only straighten your teeth and keep them in the desired position, but they also align your bones and gums with your teeth. Your retainer will strengthen and stabilize your teeth along with your bones and gums. Prevent More Orthodontic Treatment: By wearing your retainer every day and night, you will prevent your teeth from shifting, preventing more orthodontic treatment. You’ve put in effort and time wearing your braces. You don’t want to let those efforts go to waste. Your smile will be beautifully straight and your teeth will stay in the correct position by wearing your retainers. Removing your braces got you closer to the finish line, but wearing your retainer will allow you to cross it. If you have questions or concerns, or you lost your retainer at school, please call our office at 703-263-0575.  What’s for lunch? If your child got new braces this summer, the answer just got a little more complicated. Once kids return to school, you’ll have to take into consideration the challenges they will face when eating with new braces without your guidance. Our team has been giving that some thought and here’s what we’ve come up with to help keep your kid on the fastest track to a straight smile: Healthy Tooth Snacks Teeth need a steady supply of calcium, phosphate, vitamin D, and other minerals and nutrients, which can be found in foods like:
Each of these are also easy to brush off the dental surface before they need to get to their next class. Post-Tightening Appointment Lunches Immediately after your child’s braces tightening appointments, their teeth may be more sensitive than normal. Sandwiches and foods that require a lot of chewing should be avoided for a day or two. Foods that require minimal chewing and discomfort include:
What Not to Pack
Foods that can stick to or damage your child’s braces should be avoided, such as;
Plan Ahead for Braces-Friendly Lunches Surf into the new school year. You might need to get a little more creative, but packing a lunch that works with your child’s new braces is less difficult when you plan ahead. Need some inspiration? Check out Calla’s recipes for some braces friendly meals! If you have questions or concerns, please come in for answers. Call our office at 703-263-0575.  Life is busy, and sometimes families need to snack while away from home. But, you don’t have to sacrifice your oral health just because you’re snacking on the go. Here are some ideas for healthy snacks-on-the-go!
Nuts Nuts are rich in protein that helps to build stronger teeth. Nuts are a great healthy alternative to potato chips, or other salty snacks that your kids may crave. With braces, it’s best to use nut butters like almond butter and peanut butter. You need to avoid chomping down on hard foods. Apples Apples are high-fiber fruits, which naturally clean teeth as they’re being eaten! Apples scrub your teeth, gums and tongue, help fight plaque buildup, and help remove surface stains from teeth. Apples also fight bad breath by removing traces of bad plaque and residue from the back of the tongue. Keep the skin on the apple slices, so that your child gets all of the oral health benefits. Cut the apple into slices; don’t risk biting into an apple. Like Snow White, you will regret it. Cheese Cheese is high in calcium and promotes strong teeth. But the benefits of cheese don’t end there. It also contains a protein called casein, which strengthens tooth enamel and helps to prevent cavities. String cheese is a healthy FUN snack that everyone loves to eat! Always Bring Water Water is one of the best tools for keeping mouths clean. When preparing a snack for your child on the go, grab a water bottle instead of a juice box. Encourage your kids to swish water around in their mouth after they’re done snacking- it helps remove food bits that get caught in their teeth and can lead to enamel loss and acid buildup. Healthy Diets Mean Happier Teeth A mouth-healthy diet is an important part of maintaining optimal oral health. If you’re concerned about how your child’s diet may be affecting their teeth, then bring them into our office. We can discuss healthy, delicious dietary options that kids love, and strengthen teeth. If you have questions, we are here to answer them! Call our office at 703-263-0575.  Summer is winding down, and that last trip to the beach is behind you. It’s time to gather together your football equipment, hockey sticks, lacrosse gear and all that other stuff you’re going to need for the new school year. Be sure to check out your mouthguard. Clean it up, inspect it for damage, and get a new one if you need to. If it was not cleaned and packed away right, it might not be something you want to put in your mouth, but you can’t play without it.
Almost any sport or activity can be made safer when you use your mouthguard. While you’re playing sports at school or at home, remember to look out for your smile. Biking, skateboarding, rollerblading—it only takes one fall to make you realize that roads, sidewalks, and concrete are not ideal landing pads. If you do take a spill, using a mouthguard, along with your helmet, will help protect your teeth and jaw. If you wear braces, we can customize a mouthguard -in our office- that will be a perfect fit for your teeth and bite. Call our office at 703-263-0575 if you are interested in a custom mouthguard  Here’s a fun fact - babies can imitate smiles as early as the first 36 hours of life. Crazy, right?! Another amazing thing science has discovered is that babies don’t just smile out of reflex, they smile because they want to and because they’re responding to stimuli from their parents from the very beginning! (more here!)
What does this tell us? Smiles are something that is very natural and they matter! So, why then do we put off brushing and flossing? When you get your braces, dental hygiene becomes even more important. You have to be sure that the teeth under the braces are clean otherwise you can develop cavities on the front, visible side of your teeth! Think of all that effort to get them straight and then you have to get the fronts fixed! Eeek! Here’s the thing - braces won’t cause cavities, decalcification or gum disease, but not cleaning food particles out from under them could. The good news is that brushing and rinsing often will help eliminate the risk. Our Famous Brush Talk When you get your braces at OBC, you’ll sit through our quick but helpful “brush talk” - and you’ll also get an awesome electric toothbrush too. We think gadgets are cool and new technology always helps motivate us! In our brush talk, we will demonstrate proper techniques. Don’t hesitate to ask questions; it’s important that you feel comfortable with your new task when you go home. Don’t forget to keep up your regular dentist visits and cleanings. Your orthodontic visits do not replace those. It is still important to get your regular check-ups to make sure your teeth are clean and healthy. A few quick tips:
Have questions? We’d be happy to answer them - just give us a call!  When is the right time to get braces on? It’s a question we hear a lot - not just from an age standpoint, but from a school year perspective. Parents and kids alike are often apprehensive about getting their braces on because they aren’t sure what they’re signing up for - and sometimes parents have negative memories of wearing braces themselves.
The good news is that technology has changed so much, even in the last 10 years - the braces you may have worn as a kid are definitely different from the smile systems we use at OBC. Have you stopped by our office? At OBC, we try to put parents and kids at ease by not only keeping things low key and relaxed with our beach themed office but also by providing the information you need to make the right decision for you and your family. While we’re on the topic of the beach, you guessed it, SUMMER is a really great time for your kid (or YOU!) to get braces. Why? To state the obvious, school is out in summer - that means most kids have more free time. We believe it’s the perfect time to begin orthodontia work because you won’t be stretched to fit both your schedule and your kid’s school schedule into our office hours. (Also, it’s easier, here in the Northern Virginia region where there’s usually lots of traffic, to get in and out even faster!) Another reason to consider summer is that it will give your child time to adjust to the look and feel of their new braces before heading back to school in the fall. We all know that teenagers are self-conscious and that adjustment period of summer can help them ease into their new look. Having time to get used to the new smile, away from the classroom, is especially good for children who struggle with self-image. They will get used to talking, smiling, and eating with braces before they have to do those things at school. A benefit of starting in summer is that when kids are at home more, they are less likely to forget to care for the brushing and extra care braces require because they have fewer distractions. It’s a great time to develop good oral hygiene habits that will keep their teeth in good health while the braces are on. And last but not least, summer is great for ice cream cones and frozen treats - and that is just what feels great on new braces. While we know braces aren’t as painful as they used to be, we are firm believers that ice cream always helps!  If you are among the millions of Americans who suffer from headache pain, including migraines, OBC is excited to offer you some relief with Trudenta. This cutting edge technology uses ultrasound, electrocurrents and low-level laser, in addition to trigger point therapy to reduce and/or eliminate headache and migraine pain.
With the TruDenta system, we can target strained muscle forces in the head, neck, and jaw areas that are often at the root of head, face, jaw, and neck pain. Many people are surprised to learn that their bite can be directly related to the pain they’re experiencing with chronic headaches. Our patients have shared with us how extraordinary the difference is before and after treatment. If your migraines or headaches have not responded to other treatments that you have tried, make an appointment with us. We will evaluate the musculoskeletal system of your head, neck, and jaw for signs of inflammation and tension that can lead to chronic headaches or migraines. As part of your exam, we will also check the delicate nerves and ligaments that run through your head and jaw for things like misaligned teeth and old injuries that might throw your system out of balance. OBC is the place to go for therapeutic, state-of-the-art technology and best practice techniques. Committed to staying on the cusp of new technology, Trudenta is just one more way that we are looking to help our patients. |
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