The braces that Dr. John R. Schouten, installed into your mouth are designed to realign your teeth to improve the overall function of your mouth and give you a winning smile. Braces apply a light amount of tension to the braces, which stretches the periodontal ligaments that anchor your teeth. If any part of your braces is damaged, bent, or pulled loose, it could potentially increase your orthodontic treatment time.
To help prevent this, Dr. John R. Schouten offers some simple suggestions to prevent damage to your braces.
One of the most common causes of damage comes from chewing gum or eating sticky foods. The suction these actions create can potentially loosen a bracket, band, or spacer.
Another thing that can damage braces is eating hard foods. This has the potential to bend wires, break bands or even knock a bracket loose from the face of a tooth. This also extends to other activities like crunching down on ice or nibbling on pencils and pens.
If you frequently participate in rigorous athletics, our orthodontist strongly recommends using a high-quality mouth guard. Any blow to the face has the potential to cause oral injury or damage to your braces.
If you have questions about how to maintain or protect your braces in Price, Utah, you can call 435.637.0820 to seek advice from a member of our Schouten Orthodontics team.
