Straight Teeth in Less Time
Bad Habits You Should Quit When You Have Braces Put On Your Teeth
Lois Murray
You might have some bad habits you do with your teeth and you may be lucky and get away with those habits without much in the way of consequences. However, things can change drastically once you have braces put on your teeth. Those habits you once got away with can become the reason your braces break or you experience other problems when wearing them. This article will explain which habits you should definitely quit once you have braces on.
Chewing on your nails – Your nails are full of bacteria, and chewing on them can leave germs caught between your braces and your teeth. These germs can make you physically ill and they may even cause cavity producing bacteria to grow. Also, chewing on your nails puts added stress on your braces, and pieces of your nail can break off and get stuck between the small parts of your braces.
Eating hard candies - Hard candies and other hard foods can also break the wires or the brackets. If you do eat hard candies, you should suck on them and avoid biting down on them.
Chewing sunflower seeds – When you chew sunflower seeds, the small slivers of the shells can easily slide up between the spaces between the braces and cause you a variety of problems. These problems can include gum irritation, bacterial growth and the chance that the wires will break.
Chewing gum - Chewing gum can be a hard habit to break. However, when you have braces on, the gum can get stuck to the braces. If it gets stuck well enough, it can take a long time to remove. While the gum is on your braces it will cause food particles to get trapped against your teeth, which will significantly increase the rate at which plaque buildup occurs.
Chewing on pens and pencils - Chewing on pens and pencils should also be avoided because it will put added stress on the wires and brackets of the braces. This can lead to them loosening or snapping.
If you have any of the habits listed above, it's important for you to try to not do them for the duration that you are wearing braces. Each time you break your braces, you will need to go back in to the family dentist have them repaired. This can cause you to have to wear them for a longer duration and it will also increase the amount of money the treatment is costing you.
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I had braces when I was a kid. Back then, you had to wear those metal wires and rubber bands for what seemed like forever. When I saw that my child’s teeth were going to be crooked like mine, I was dreading the years of braces and orthodontist appointments and limited diets that I saw stretching ahead of us. I was pleased to find out that braces today are very different from braces when I was a kid. They don’t need to be worn for nearly as long, and they aren’t as intrusive, either. My daughter got braces that can barely be seen, and she can remove them when she eats, so she doesn’t have to give up her favorite foods. I was so impressed that I started a blog to talk about modern day tooth straightening techniques. Braces have come a long way.