8 Things You Can Do to Get the Best Results from Braces

If you are unhappy with your smile and wish that your teeth were straighter, the good news is that today, adult braces are easier to access than ever before, with lots of different options to choose from depending on your teeth and what they will need to get the results that you want. Straightening your teeth doesn’t always have to involve having a mouth full of metal for months as you can get clear aligners, aligners that you only wear when you’re asleep, and even clear fixed braces if you need a fixed brace but don’t fancy having a silver smile for the next year. 

Wearing aligners or braces is a treatment option that can be used to fix all kinds of misalignment problems with your teeth. Not only will it improve the appearance of your teeth, but it can also boost your dental health as having straighter teeth will make them easier to clean and take care of. 

Investing in braces or aligners for your teeth is a big decision, which often involves a significant amount of time and money. So, it’s always worth knowing what you can do to make sure that it all pays off in the end and you get the smile you have always dreamed of. 

Choose the Correct Type

The first step is to ensure that you are getting the correct type of braces or aligners for you. This is normally easy as you will have a consultation with an orthodontist, or a specialist dentist before you go ahead with the treatment. These days you can either do this in person or remotely by taking impressions of your teeth to send to them. They will let you know if you are a suitable candidate for aligners or if your misaligned teeth need a little bit of extra work, like some teeth removed and a fixed brace. Fixing misaligned teeth with ALIGNERCO aligners, for example, is usually best for mild to moderate misalignment issues. 

Fix Any Issues

Wearing a fixed brace or clear aligner means that your teeth are going to be moving a lot, so they need to be in good health before you start. You certainly don’t have to have perfectly healthy teeth to straighten them, but they should be in decent shape. Before you make an appointment to discuss straightening your teeth, it’s a good idea to get a check-up to see if there are any issues that your dentist needs to fix beforehand such as cavities that need to be repaired, or old fillings that need to be replaced. 

Keep On Top of Your Dental Health

Whether you are using clear aligners or are fitted with a fixed brace, keeping on top of your dental health throughout the treatment is crucial. With clear aligners, this is easy to do as all you need to do is remove the aligner to brush and floss your teeth as normal. However, if you are wearing a fixed brace, it can get a little trickier to clean your teeth effectively in between the wires. For this reason, it’s recommended that you invest in an electric toothbrush if you do not have one already. You can get brush heads for electric toothbrushes that are designed with braces in mind to make it easier to clean your teeth. A water flosser is also a great buy if you are struggling to floss your teeth with a brace on. 

Keep Up with Your Appointments

Whether you are wearing a clear aligner, nighttime aligner, or a fixed brace, it’s essential that you keep up with all your dental and orthodontic appointments. This includes your regular check-up with the dentist every six months, along with the appointments you set with your orthodontist to have a new aligner made or your fixed brace tightened. If you are using one of the popular online services for a clear aligner, then make sure that you send it off for your next aligner as soon as it is due. This is because, over time, your aligners or braces will need to be made gradually tighter in order to help push your teeth into the straight position you want them to be in. Otherwise, your teeth simply aren’t going to move anywhere. 

Be Careful with What You Eat

When you are wearing fixed braces in particular, it’s very important that you are careful with your diet as certain foods might cause damage to your brace. Hard foods like nuts, for example, can snap the wire and potentially cause injury to your mouth. Biting into foods like full apples is also not recommended as this can cause damage to the brace, so chop them up into bite-sized pieces instead. When your brace is first fitted or tightened, it might be quite painful to eat – so make sure that you have soft foods available like mash or soup. While you don’t have to worry about the issue of damaging the brace with your food when you have a clear aligner as these can be removed to eat, your teeth might be a little bit tender, so you may want to avoid anything too crunchy or chewy straight away. And avoid eating anything that’s very sugary – whether you have braces or not, this will damage your teeth and increase the risk of cavities. 

Consider Composite Bonding

Along with wearing a clear aligner or a fixed brace, there are other treatments you can have once your teeth are straight to help improve their appearance even further. Composite bonding is a popular option as it smooths out any rough edges on your teeth and makes them a uniform size and shape, improving their appearance overall. You might want to get this treatment if you have any chipped teeth or if your teeth have irregular edges, or if some are of different shapes and sizes. 

Have Your Teeth Whitened

Having your teeth whitened after having braces or a clear aligner treatment is another popular option. There are several ways that you can whiten your teeth. Sometimes, a scale and polish that is designed to remove stains from the surface of your teeth might be all you need to get a whiter, brighter smile that’s now perfectly straight too. This can be ideal if you have ever smoked or if you drink a lot of coffee and tea. For a more intense treatment, you can have the dentist whiten your teeth using a professional whitening solution. This can either be done by the dentist at their office, or you can get a home whitening kit to do yourself at home. 

Wear Your Retainers

After your fixed braces are removed or once you have finished your final clear aligner and no longer have to wear them for straightening your teeth, you might be surprised to hear that your teeth can start moving back to their original position quite quickly. This might happen even if you have had some teeth removed before starting the treatment. Because of this, you will be given a retainer that is generally worn at night to keep your teeth straight. Make sure that you wear it, otherwise, you may have to start the entire process again!

Getting braces or clear aligners to correct your teeth is a big investment of your time and money, so it pays to keep these tips in mind to help you get the best results. 

Other Articles Related to Your Search

The New Dental Treatments: 6 Things You Should Know

Cosmetic and Family Dentistry Dr. Michael Miller, DMD Del Mar

7 Important Daily Self-Care Tasks