Caring For Your Braces During The Holidays

With the holidays fast approaching the excitement of the festivities, food, and merriment is on a lot of our minds. It’s easy to forget the importance of caring for your braces or reminding your child to care for them through these busy months.

We here at Utah Orthodontic Care want you and yours to enjoy your holidays to the fullest and would like to share a few helpful braces tips to ensure that you or your child’s braces stay clean, intact, and will not require extra orthodontic care over the holidays.

Keeping a Clean Smile

While we do provide cheap orthodontics we also strive to provide excellent orthodontic care. Here are some of our expert tips for enjoying the holidays to their fullest and keeping your braces and smile clean.

Brushing:

Everyone knows the importance of brushing their teeth when they get up in the morning and, even more importantly, before bed. When you have braces it’s also imperative that you brush your teeth after each meal. We recommend using toothpaste that has fluoride.

Flossing:

Many also know the importance of flossing and it’s even more important to floss when you have braces. Floss threaders and floss that have a threader attached are great to help get in between the brackets and under wires get teeth extra clean.

Water Pik:

A great investment to make when you or your child has braces is a WaterPik. A WaterPik is an oral irrigation device that uses water to dislodge food particles caught in between teeth, behind wires, or next to brackets. This device is great to use to help with any possible pain or bleeding one may experience with flossing. It also can make flossing feel more fun!

Travel Kit:

Holidays often come with travels, near and far. If your family is planning on traveling over the holidays, having a travel sized braces kit is a great and handy thing to have. We recommend including a toothbrush, floss, mouthwash, wax, a small mirror to check your smile, and elastics if you use them. Beyond holiday travel use, these are great to have stashed in a car, purse, backpack, or locker.

Avoid Hard and Sticky Snacks

Beyond caring for your teeth after eating and celebrating throughout the holidays, it’s also important to avoid a few things that can cause problems. The number one holiday braces offenders: popcorn and caramel. We know these foods can be tricky to avoid whether due to temptation (they are both so tasty!) or due to the treats that are available over the holidays.

It’s important to avoid these tempting treats due to the havoc they can wreak on brackets and wires. Popcorn can get lodged in your brackets and wires and cause them to pop off. Caramel can get stuck in and on your braces and cause your wires to get moved around, poking you in the mouth. Caramel can also get so stuck that it can be difficult to get it off your braces and leaving sugar unattended in your mouth for too long can cause a whole new set of problems that no one wants to have to deal with!

We’re Here for All Your Braces Needs

Whether looking for “braces near me”, cheap orthodontics, expert orthodontic care, or all the above, we here at Utah Orthodontic Care are here for all your braces needs. We also hope you have a wonderful and joyful holiday season. Be sure to learn more about our Holiday Jammies Drive and how we, with your help, are spreading joy and holiday cheer around! Contact us today!