Straight Teeth in Less Time
3 Tips To Prevent Your Ceramic Brackets From Cracking
Lois Murray
The braces installation process involves a number of components including brackets and arch wires. Brackets are tiny squares that are attached to the front of your teeth and are used to hold the arch wires. The arch wires are installed to help guide the movement of your teeth. Brackets come in a variety of different materials, including ceramic and stainless steel. Ceramic brackets are frequently used because they can be colored to match the rest of your teeth. However, ceramic brackets are more susceptible to cracking compared to stainless steel. Once a bracket becomes damaged, it will need to be replaced. Therefore, there are a few tips you can use in order to keep your brackets from cracking.
Avoid Eating Hard Foods
Hard foods can wear down your own teeth and lead to unnecessary damage to dental devices. Foods like corn on the cob, carrots, and hard candies are abrasive to the brackets in your mouth. The surfaces of these hard foods place an excessive amount of pressure on your brackets each time that you chew. The process of chewing hard foods is like taking a hammer to a smooth surface. If enough pressure is applied to the surface, then it will eventually crack. As a result, if you want to eat hard foods, then they should be cooked until they are soft or avoided altogether.
Avoid Biting Your Nails
Nail biting is detrimental to the health of your normal teeth as well as your brackets. Nail biting causes extreme damage to teeth because it is a habit that is usually done multiple times in one day. Your teeth are not meant to interact with hard surfaces throughout the entire day, every day of the week. Ceramic brackets are even more delicate than your regular teeth. They will not be able to withstand the constant friction created when your nails come into contact with them. The easiest way to stop nail biting is to look for triggers that cause you to bite your nails. Once you understand what causes it, you can look for another way to deal with these triggers, like exercising.
Use a Soft Bristled Toothbrush
Your toothbrush will come into direct contact with your ceramic brackets; therefore, it is important to make sure that it is gentle against your teeth. A soft bristled toothbrush will clean your teeth without damaging your brackets. The bristles of these toothbrushes are designed to be a lot more flexible and smoother than a hard bristled toothbrush.
Keeping your ceramic brackets in good condition is important to ensure that your braces perform properly. Use these tips to keep your ceramic brackets from cracking. Contact a company like Braces Inc. for more information.
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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.