4 best ways to care for your teeth after finishing braces and Invisalign treatment

After enduring through at least 18 months of braces and Invisalign treatment, your braces finally come off.  You are now in charge of your life and your new smile,  You are thrilled with the results but then comes the next question: "What's to do next?"  Dr. Nancy Phan recommends you these 4 steps to retain your beautiful smile. 

      1)      Wear your retainers
You need to wear your retainers full time during the first year, as per recommendations by your orthodontist. By the 2^nd year, you usually just need to wear retainers at bedtime. 
2)      Care for your retainers
You need to brush your retainers daily to prevent stain and tartar build-ups on your retainers.  Make sure you do not leave the retainer near the window facing hot sun light or near heated sources because the retainers can get distorted.  Retainers are made out of acrylic material, which is a high-pressed plastic material, thus in the presence of heat, they get distorted. When this happens, your retainers will not fit properly.  Avoid drinking hot coffee, tea or chocolate while wearing your retainers in your mouth.  If such event happened, you need to go back to your orthodontist right away to get them check out. You may need to order a replacement set of retainers.
3)      Care for your new teeth
Daily dental hygiene is very important to maintain your healthy mouth.  You need to brush and floss your teeth daily to keep them shine, white, and smelling fresh  Brushing and flossing also prevent cavity and gum disease.  Don’t forget to make an appointment with your general dentist to get a dental cleaning and a thorough cavity check after braces came off.  At that appointment, your general dentist can evaluate your wisdom teeth and give you recommendations on whether or not to remove your wisdom teeth. Your dentist would let you know if any restorative or cosmetic treatment such as dental whitening recommended.
4)      Avoid unhealthy habits
Avoid biting your pen, pencil or your finger nails.  Repetitive motions such as biting on pencil can wear down your enamel and place non-optimal force on your teeth to cause the teeth to shift.  Avoid smoking while you are wearing your retainers. The smoke can discolor your clear retainers and cause your wire (hawley) retainers to turn brown.  Avoid eating while you are wearing your retainers.  Chewing force may rock the retainers' wires and cause your teeth to shift.  Retainer arms can get bent and they change the fit in the mouth.  Eating with retainers in the mouth also shorten the shelf life of retainers. They will crack sooner.  

By following these tips, we hope you can best keep your fabulous smile for a life time. 

Care Orthodontics is located in San Jose California.  We offer:

Invisalign - clear removable aligners for adults and teenagers

Metal and ceramic braces – catering to your individual need

Headgear – to correct bad bite and different type of mal-occlusions

Retainers – to replace lost retainers or after orthodontic treatment 

Visit us at www.CareOrthodontics.com or call the office at 408-971-2885 for questions or to schedule an appointment.

3 things you need to know about getting orthodontic retainers

1) How many kinds of retainers are there?

When your orthodontic treatment is completed, Dr. Nancy Phan will order retainers for you. There are different types of retainers: wire retainers (or hawley retainers), clear retainers or bonded retainers.  Wire and clear retainers are removable types, which mean you take them out to eat, brush, floss and clean. The bonded retainer is a fixed type.  It stays glued to your teeth at all times unless the glue broke off or you have it removed. 

In general, most common retainers are wire or clear retainers.  Removable retainers are easier to clean and maintain. They are easier to detect when lost, broken, or if not fit properly. They do not interfere with eating, flossing and keeping your teeth clean.  

Bonded retainers require a bit more maintenance care.  You need to use a special tool, called floss threader, to clean in between your teeth, below bonded wire,  to prevent stains and cavities.  Regarding diet, you need to avoid biting into hard food as the glue may break off and allow your teeth to shift.  If you detect any broken part of the bonded retainer, call your orthodontist for a check-up and repair immediately.

2) Which type of retainers do I need?

Your lifestyle will influence what type of retainer that you have to wear.  If you have an active lifestyle and want rigid set of retainers, Wire retainers will be a good choice.  Wire retainers may interfere with your speech during the first few weeks; however, after the adjustment period, your speech will get back to normal. They are a lot thicker than other types of retainers so they are very durable.  On the other hand, if you lift weight or grind your teeth at night, clear retainers or a custom mouth-guard are recommended as they may protect you from wearing away your enamel.  Finally, if you are out and about and traveling a lot, or if you snack a lot, or if you tend to forget to wear removable retainers, bonded retainers may be a good choice for you.

3) How long do I need to wear them?

Depending on your malocclusion and the complexity of your case, your orthodontist will let you know how long to wear the retainers.  Generally, most patient wears retainers full time during the first years out of braces then go to night-time wear the 2^nd year and after.  The more crowded your teeth started out with, the longer you need to wear retainers full-time after braces removal.  

Your teeth are constantly experienced forces and pressures by the opposite teeth, jaw muscles and tongue; thus they need constant retention to prevent shifting   In general, life- time retention is recommended. 

Whether you are a teenager or an adult, you will need to wear some type of retainers to prevent your teeth from slipping and getting re-crowding after braces. If you have any question, Dr. Nancy Phan, your orthodontist in San Jose, can help with answers.  Visit our website at www.CareOrthodontics.com or call Dr. Nancy Phan in San Jose CA at 408-971-2885 to schedule an appointment.

Discover your smile and enjoy a healthy life

Smiling is a powerful human contact and is an important gesture and communication cue.  It identifies you, your moods, your appearance and your outward expression.  It sends a signal to the receiving person that you are warm, connected and open to connect to others.

Your smile affects your biological health:  

According to Discovery Communications¹, the human face typically has 43 muscles.  To initiate a smile, your brain first send out nerve signals to cause certain facial muscles to express a smile.  This signaling process turns on other parts of your brain, such as the hypothalamus, to release chemicals that directly impact your sensory responses.   Through the pipelines, a gesture of smiling can cause your body to release many good chemicals, such as oxytoxin, to make you happy, excited, contentment.  The same gesture can minimize stress.  At the cellular levels, your body produces less cortisol, a chemical that put your through fight and flight and wear down your body overtime.  Essentially, by smiling, you take active steps to promote healthy heart, lower blood pressure, reduce stress, reduce anti-aging chemicals, and lives longer². 

Your smile affects your confidence:  

To live a passionate life, you need the confidence to explore and engage in many new adventures in life.   To gain this confidence, it is easier to start out with a straight and pleasant smile.  Unlike crooked teeth which wedge food particles and collect stain, straight teeth are easier to brush and minimize food impaction.  Straight teeth allow you to brush and floss better to reduce cavities and bath breath.  Straight teeth can improve your speech and reduce risks of temporo-mandibular joint dysfunction.  These parts contribute toward your confidence and how you carry yourself.  With a short visit to the orthodontist, you can seek more information on how to achieve a dazzling smile.

Your smile affects your overall life:

When you open yourself and smile to others, you invite new friends, make more connections and enjoy life happiness.  If you have crooked teeth, unaesthetic gaps, or protruding teeth and that causes you to be afraid to smile, we here can help.  Dr. Nancy Phan at Care Orthodontics in San Jose CA can help you create a dazzling attractive smile.  Achieving straight teeth and a confident smile may be easier to achieve than you thought.  Nowadays with the added benefits of thinner brackets, cosmetic brackets, clear braces and Invisalign, you have many options and can choose a treatment that most fitted for you.

Our office offers:

• Invisalign - clear removable aligners for adults and teenagers
• Metal and ceramic braces – catering to your individual need
• Headgear – to correct bad bite and different type of malocclusions
• Retainers – to replace lost retainers or after orthodontic treatment 
• Dr. Nancy Phan is a Board-certified orthodontist and dedicated many years to bring out the true beauty of your smile and strong bites.   Visit our website at www.CareOrthodontics.com or call Care Orthodontic today at 408-971-2885 to schedule an appointment.

References:

1)       https://blog.bufferapp.com/the-science-of-smiling-a-guide-to-humans-most-powerful-gesture

2)       https://www.reference.com/science/many-muscles-face

How long would my braces treatment take?

How long would my braces treatment take?  At Care Orthodontics, we get asked this question a lot.  It’s understandable because you want to fix your teeth but get the job done quickly so you can get back to your normal life as soon as possible.  On average a case may take 2 years.  However, there are variations in treatment time depending on individual variations such as complexity of dental crowding, overbite, overjet, degrees of jaw deviation, patient’s age, bone density, bone biology and the health of the gum and jaw. 

For a child who are less than 10 years old:

Children this age may need a phase I braces or also called interceptive braces.  Phase I braces takes an average 18 months.  Instances when children need a phase I treatment such as small jaw, constricted jaw, or misaligned jaw.   In some children, their jaws may be too small to fit all their teeth and a phase I jaw expander can help to create space for permanent teeth.   In other children, genetic factors may cause a misalignment in both upper and lower jaws.  These children may need other orthodontic appliances such as to elongate one jaw and restrict growth on the opposite jaw.  The purpose of phase I treatment is to fix jaw discrepancy and to create balance facial skeletal structure. 

For a teenager between 10-14 years old:

During this age range, teenagers usually have all permanent teeth already and would need full braces or comprehensive orthodontic treatment.  Full braces can take anywhere between 18 months to 2 or 3 years.   On average treatment time takes 22 months.  During comprehensive treatment, all of bite issues would be corrected and all the permanent teeth are finalized in the permanent position.  At the end of treatment, the permanent teeth have to occlude well, to help the individual chews food well, and to articulate well.  Some sounds required teeth shield and lip shield and occasionally a bad bite can prevent a good lip shield to interfere with communication.  A good occlusion must satisfy many esthetic requirement to give a good smile. Your smile is the focus of your face and your presence. Thus is must serve a a vehicle to display your best esthetic profile and exude confidence when you communication with others.  

For an adult who are 18 years or older:

For adults, braces may include correction the teeth along with other complexities such as orthodontic dental relapse, orthognathic surgery (jaw surgery), or orthodontic treatment in the presence of periodontal disease such as deep gum pockets, bone loss, bone resorption, or gum recession.  Some adults may have missing teeth and will need braces in additional to prosthetic correction such as porcelain crowns, dental filling, dental implants, dental bridges, etc.    Treatment time varied due to the complexity of each case and the degrees of collaboration among dental specialists and dental insurance to collaborate, communicate, and render care.  

Braces treatmentfor your smile:

If you are thinking about getting braces, the best recommendation is to schedule a face-to-face orthodontic consultation so the orthodontist can evaluate your bite, feel your teeth and give a customized treatment plan that is specific to your need.

Our office offers:

• Invisalign - clear removable aligners for adults and teenagers
• Metal and ceramic braces – catering to your individual need
• Headgear – to correct bad bite and different type of malocclusions
• Retainers – to replace lost retainers or after orthodontic treatment 

Visit us at www.CareOrthodontics.com or contact Care Orthodontics in San Jose CA at 408-971-2885.  Dr. Nancy Phan is a Board-certified orthodontist and dedicated many years to find and bring out the true beauty of your smile.

Which retainers should I get: fixed or removable?

At the end of braces or Invisalign treatment, patients often ask which kind of retainers are best to have, removable or fix?  There are advantages to each one and Dr. Nancy Phan at Care Orthodontics can give you recommendations on the ones that are most appropriate for you.  To educate yourself, it is also very helpful to know the difference between these retainers.  Below are the breakdowns of pros and cons for each type.

Removable retainers:   They are best retainers since they allow you the flexibility to remove while you eat, brush, floss and important social events while wearing them at night and initially during the day while the braces first come off to keep your teeth well aligned and in shape.   Of the category of removable retainers, there are 2 kinds:  Hawley and clear retainers.  Hawley retainers are often seen with a wire run across the front teeth and a customized process acrylic adapted to the back of the teeth.  This type of retainers is thick and durable; however, they require 2 weeks of adjustment time when first wearing them.  The clear retainers are made out of a special kind of clear, shape-performance plastic to wrap around your teeth.  These retainers are very thin, comfortable, and satisfactory both esthetics and retention requirements.

Fixed retainers are glued-in retainers:  There is a piece of wire that was glued behind your front teeth.  These retainers are great in that they are ‘fixed it and forgot it’.  They are in 24-7 and you don’t have to remember to put on retainers.  However, these retainers require more maintenance care.  You need to use a special tool called ‘floss threader' to floss daily.    It usually takes a few minutes longer to floss with fixed retainers daily.  They are also required to be checked periodically by your general dentist or orthodontist for stain or breakage.  If any of the cement broken off from any of bonded teeth, they need to be fixed or the teeth may move.  Also these retainers tend to break overtime and may need to be switched over to removable retainers in the future.

So, which retainers should you choose?  Although some orthodontists may recommend upper removable retainer and lower bonded retainer, at Care Orthodontics, Dr. Nancy Phan often recommends upper and lower removable retainers for ease of care and cleanliness.  Ultimately, the most important thing is to wear retainers as directed, regardless of which type.  As long as you wear retainers, you will be able to retain your best smile results.  

Give our office a call if you wish to schedule a complimentary consultation.  Our orthodontist is Board Certified and committed to the highest standard of excellence.  For more information, please visit our website, www.CareOrthodontics.com.

Remind me again…what is so important about keeping my teeth clean?

What is so important about keeping your teeth clean? Let’s cover the why and how, even if you wear braces.

Why is it important to clean your teeth?

Whether you have baby teeth or permanent teeth, you want good healthy teeth so you can eat well, live well and enjoy a life free of pain, disease and discomfort. Once you lose all your baby teeth, it is even more urgent that you work hard to keep your teeth healthy, since you only have ONE set of permanent teeth. They are so precious because, if you lose one, you lose it for life. 

If you don’t brush well, you can develop decalcification, which is equivalent to having scar marks on your teeth. These spots are not only unaesthetic, but they weaken your teeth and lead to higher chances of cavities and decay. Tooth decay leads to pain associated with things like fillings, root canal treatment, expensive restoration, crowns, bridges, fillings, implants and even dentures. Unhygienic brushing can lead to gingivitis, gum disease, bone loss or tooth loss.

While you can go through oral rehabilitation to restore your teeth once they are broken or damaged, it is best to prevent these things from happening in the first place. You will save yourself pain, time, expense and headaches, and maintain great oral health. Getting braces is not an excuse for inadequate brushing.  You need to spend more time to remove plaque and bacteria that sits around the brackets, teeth and gum surfaces.

By taking good care of your teeth while wearing braces, you will gain the benefits of having healthy teeth and a confident smile. 

How to keep your teeth clean:

Begin with good daily habits. Brush your teeth at least 2-3 times daily after meals. Flossing is equally as important as brushing. Flossing allows the removal of food and bacteria in between the teeth and gums to keep them healthy. 

If you have children, explain the reasons to them. Teach them the skills, and help them maintain daily discipline and habits of brushing and flossing. Visiting your family dentist twice a year is part of an important oral heath regimen.

Care for your teeth while wearing braces:

It is even more important to maintain good oral hygiene while wearing braces. There are more surfaces for food to get stuck around the braces and in between your teeth. You need to brush, floss and remove plaque daily to keep your teeth clean, prevent bad breath, and avoid irreversible damage to your teeth and gum tissue.   

Dr. Nancy Phan recommends avoiding sticky foods and carbonated drinks. The sugar in these items can create an acidic environment and easily break down enamel, which can cause damage to the teeth.

Dr. Phan and the staff at Care Orthodontics can give you a list of foods to avoid while wearing braces and instructions on how to brush, floss and take care of your teeth while undergoing orthodontic treatment. Visit us at www.CareOrthodontics.com for more information.

7 tips to care for Invisalign aligners

There are some important things you need to know while wearing aligner trays. Here are 7 tips that will help you properly care for your Invisalign aligners:

1. Remove them to eat. You should not wear aligners while eating since food will accumulate in the trays. The food particles make your trays unappealing. More importantly, the acidic food particles and bacteria can quickly demineralize your teeth and cause many issues such as cavities, stains and hyperflourosis.

2. Except for with water, remove them to drink. Drinking carbonated or sugary drinks with the aligners in place can lead to the demineralization of teeth, which can cause cavities and bad breath.

3. Brush your aligners daily. To maintain the crystal clear invisible look that Invisalign are known for, the aligners need to be brushed daily. Dr. Phan recommends brushing aligners three times a daily, every time you insert them back in the mouth after a meal, with soap and water.

You can also brush with toothpaste and water. You can use aligner cleaning tablets or a sonic cleaner machine to clean aligners. The ultimate goal is remove stains and build-up around aligners in order to keep them looking nice - clean, clear and free of yellow stains.

4. Keep your aligners away from heat. Your aligners are made out of a special type of proprietary shape-memory plastic material. However, as with any type of plastic material, if you leave them out on your car dashboard or near the window where the sun gets too hot, the plastic can get distorted and your tray may not fit properly. If you soak your aligners in hot water, they will shrink and will not fit properly.

5. Keep your aligners in the case when not in use. From time to time, Dr. Phan finds some patients lost the trays or they threw them out in the trash by accident because they forgot to carry the case. Occasionally, someone may step on them while they are out of the case or on the floor, and now the trays no longer fit. Remember, your trays are your medical correction device.

If you had a ventilation machine, you would not throw it, kick it or step on it and expect it to work properly. The same goes with your orthodontic correctional devices; they are custom-made to fit the shape of your teeth and are programmed to move your teeth, so you need to handle them with care.

6. Remove the aligners to chew gum. Chewing gum while wearing Invisalign damages the material and the retention of the trays, thus affecting the fit and the programmed movements.

7. Do not soak the aligners in mouthwash. Many mouthwashes have color pigments and they can stain the trays.


If you have any questions regarding tips and advice to achieve a successful Invisalign experience, contact our orthodontic office, www.CareOrthodontics.com.