After your time with braces, you want to keep your smile as straight and beautiful as possible for life. How can you ensure that your smile looks its best after your orthodontic care?

Wear Your Retainer

Your orthodontist will have your retainer ready for you on the day your braces are taken off. Retainers are often made of wire and plastic and are uniquely shaped to fit your smile perfectly. You’ll need to wear these little trays every day and night for a full six months after getting your braces off. After six months, you’ll still need to continue wearing your retainer for a while. How long? Orthodontists recommend wearing your retainer nightly for life in order to maintain your straight smile and keep your teeth from shifting!

Get Regular Dental Checkups

Getting checkups with your dentist can also be an opportunity for you to check in with your dentist regarding your retainer. Your retainer may need to be replaced or may not fit correctly. If this is the case, bring your retainer with you and talk to your dentist or orthodontist about getting a replacement.

If you stop wearing your retainer, chances are your teeth will shift, so it’s imperative that it fits correctly and is comfortable to wear at night. Getting regular dental exams can also ensure that your teeth haven’t shifted and that your retainer is doing its job!

Take Care of Your Retainer

You’ll need to brush your retainer every day in order to remove bacteria and plaque that can build up on the surfaces of the retainer. Always store your retainer in a safe place—your orthodontist has likely given you a small, hard case to store it in. Keep it in a familiar place in this protective case!

Losing your retainer could end up being a costly replacement, so always keep it at home when you wear it nightly. When you remove it, always put it back in its case. By taking care of your retainer, you help to take care of your smile and keep your teeth straight and pretty.

Practice Excellent Oral Care

Maintaining the same great oral care habits that you had while receiving orthodontic treatment can help prevent tooth loss. Losing teeth will provoke shifting among the remaining teeth in your mouth, so taking the best possible care of your smile is crucial to prevent this from happening.

Pay attention to any changes in your smile—whether you notice food getting stuck in odd places or shifting teeth, schedule an appointment with your dentist if you notice any changes. Brushing twice daily for two minutes and flossing between your beautiful teeth can keep them clean and free of decay!

Taking care of your smile doesn’t stop just because your braces are off. Keeping your teeth straight, beautiful, and healthy is easy when you check in with your dentist, wear and take care of your retainer, and practice great oral care habits. Enjoy your new smile for life!

Image courtesy of yodiyim at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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So how does Invisalign work to transform your smile?

Custom-Fitting Trays Adjust Your Teeth

Instead of using metal brackets, Invisalign uses custom-fitting trays to slowly move your teeth into place. These trays are designed specifically for your teeth and are changed out every two weeks to keep your teeth moving into their correct positions. These series of aligners are pre-made for you after your orthodontist designs your treatment plan.

The aligners are clear and, hence their name, virtually invisible when worn. Invisalign aligners are meant to be worn for 20-22 hours every day. During each phase of treatment, certain teeth are moved into their correct positions due to the constant, gentle pressure of the aligners. This makes the treatment easy and the best part—no bracket adjustments!

Corrects Most Alignment and Bite Issues

Invisalign transforms your smile by correcting nearly any problem your smile has. These orthodontic issues that could be impacting the beauty and quality of your smile include bite problems, misaligned teeth, or crowded teeth. Invisalign can help correct overbites, underbites, and even open bites and cross bites. They can correct gapped teeth and overcrowded teeth as well.

These seemingly minor structural problems in your smile can lead to bigger problems like trouble speaking and chewing. Complex bite problems could even lead to the development of pain in your jaw muscles and joints, also known as temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder. When you receive treatment with Invisalign, you can correct your smile and be totally transformed without the use of traditional braces!

Boosts Your Confidence

Invisalign helps to boost your confidence in two ways—you have no braces and no change in your appearance while receiving treatment, yet you have straighter teeth! People won’t even notice you’re transforming your smile yet they’ll notice something different about you. Invisalign gives you the power to attain your dream smile without having to deal with the appearance of metal braces.

Don’t worry about chewing with metal braces— with Invisalign aligners, you have the option of fully removing the trays before eating. This isn’t an option when you have traditional braces. So don’t worry about getting food stuck in your brackets, instead you can simply remove the aligners until you’re ready to wear them again.

Invisalign treatment is a great choice for kids and adults alike. From students who are sensitive about the inconvenience or appearance of braces to adults who want a perfect smile without announcing to the world that they’re receiving treatment, Invisalign just works. Schedule a visit with your orthodontics provider to talk about whether or not you qualify for Invisalign to perfect your smile!

The post How Invisalign Can Completely Transform Your Smile appeared first on Your Dental Health Resource.

Many at-home whitening products can effectively remove surface stains on tooth enamel. Stains that penetrate the enamel and darken the next layer, the dentin, are still visible because the enamel is translucent. Zoom whitening works by penetrating the tooth enamel and breaking up stains on the dentin. With Zoom, all stains are removed, so nothing shows but white teeth.

There are several Zoom whitening products, and which one is best for you can be decided during a consultation appointment with the dentist. Teeth whitening procedures in the office are generally short, but repeat visits are usually needed before results begin to be seen. It is possible to have visible results the same day as your first whitening with certain Zoom products.

Zoom also offers at-home whitening kits. These are purchased from the dentist and can be used as the only whitening procedure or in combination with in-office procedures.

The results of teeth whitening can last a long time, but smoking or consumption of staining foods and beverages will gradually stain teeth again. Zoom at-home whitening can help to maintain your white smile. Zoom at-home whitening kits include trays that are customized to your mouth. This ensures that the whitening gel will only come in contact with your teeth and not your gums.

Your first step to whiter teeth and a more beautiful smile begins with a consultation. Call now to set up an appointment to discuss Zoom whitening and learn how it can best work for you.

The post Smile Confidently with Zoom! Professional Teeth Whitening appeared first on Your Dental Health Resource.

Invisalign may sometimes be called clear braces, but the aligners are not braces and actually work much differently. Invisalign aligners are trays that are custom fit over your teeth and are completely clear, making it very hard for anyone to know you are wearing them unless they are very close. Invisalign trays are removable, and you take them out when you eat and when you brush your teeth. This means you no longer have to worry about sticky gum and foods sticking to your braces and wreaking havoc! The trays themselves are cleaned separately, and about every two weeks during your treatment you get a new set.

With all of the benefits of Invisalign, you may wonder if they work as well as braces at straightening the teeth. In most cases, the answer is yes. Braces are still best for cases of severe bite problems or when teeth need to be rotated or moved vertically, but for most people who need horizontal movement of their teeth to straighten them, Invisalign is a great option. Invisalign is ideal for adults who are hesitant to wear metal braces. Invisalign Teen is specifically designed for teenagers. Young people who have most of their permanent teeth can get Invisalign.

While treatment with braces can take years, Invisalign straightens your teeth in about a year or even less! Invisalign does require consistency on your part. You should wear them as much as possible, including while you are sleeping for maximum results. They must be removed for cleaning, brushing your teeth, and for eating, but they should be worn at all other times. The more you wear your aligners, the better they will work and the sooner you can finish treatment and have beautiful, straight teeth and smile!

If you would like to learn more about Invisalign aligners, how they work and if they are right for you, the first step is to call for a consultation appointment with the professionals at DC Dental Spa today. If you thought traditional metal braces were your only option for straighter teeth, you may be in for a pleasant surprise with Invisalign!

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