If you have braces, it is important to adjust your eating and oral hygiene habits in order to continue caring for your teeth. Though it may take some extra time to clean in and around the hardware of your braces , proper care is essential for achieving a good outcome when your braces are removed. If you are considering orthodontics in Schaumburg, here are some great tips for caring for your teeth after you are fitted with braces:

Maintain Good Oral Hygiene

Food particles can easily become trapped between the brackets of your braces. This means that you must take extra care to brush and floss your teeth regularly. If you don’t practice proper oral hygiene with braces, a build up of plaque and food particles can begin to cause dental problems such as cavities and gum disease. For patients with braces, orthodontists recommend brushing after each meal. Your orthodontist may also recommend other tools to help clean your teeth, including a proxabrush, which is a special toothbrush designed to fit between your braces. Waterflossers and fluoride mouthwash are also highly recommended.

Avoid Certain Foods

There are certain foods that can become quite problematic and can even damage the hardware of your braces. Therefore, it may be best to simply avoid these foods altogether. Foods such as apples, taffy, licorice, corn on the cob, nuts, and popcorn are examples of foods that can easily damage brackets. Orthodontists recommend avoiding bubblegum and also discourage potentially harmful habits such as chewing on ice cubes.

Protect Your Mouth While Playing Sports

If you play sports, you will need to use caution with your braces. If you run the risk of being hit in the mouth with a ball or other object during practice or a game, your orthodontist can fit you with a mouth guard. The mouth guard is designed to fit over your braces in order to prevent injury to your mouth or damage to the brackets and wires. Depending on the sport you are playing, a full-facial guard might also be appropriate. Strips of dental wax are also good options for protecting your braces and the soft tissue of your mouth during sports play.

Reference: http://www.webmd.com

Most people with missing teeth feel self-conscious about the look of their smile. Missing even one tooth can cause serious health issues in the mouth, however. Keep reading to find out why it is so important to visit your dentist near Schaumburg to find a solution for your missing teeth:

Without teeth holding the bone into place, your jaw might start to change shape, which can affect the appearance of your face. Once this starts to happen, it will also affect the gum tissue, which could cause other teeth to loosen. As a person loses more teeth, he or she has less function in the mouth and more difficulty talking and chewing.

The holes created by missing teeth also create the perfect space for plaque and food to build up. Without the dedicated care of a dentist, these spots become much more vulnerable for periodontal disease. If you are already missing one or more teeth, you should talk to your dentist about how dental implants can help.

Reference: http://www.deardoctor.com

If you want to get good news at your next visit to the dental office , it is important to properly clean your teeth at home. Floss is an integral element of an oral health routine and helps you prevent tooth decay and gum disease in Schaumburg.

Choose the right kind of floss for your teeth. Waxed floss slides in easily and is a popular option. If you have wide gaps between your teeth, you should use taped floss. Break off about 18 inches and wrap most of it around your index fingers.

You should move the floss gently back and forth between the teeth and the gums. Repeat the process on other teeth with a new section of floss. Learn more about the proper technique in this video.