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We know that your life has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Nadine Egger and our entire EO team have worked tirelessly to return to a "new normal" in order to better serve you and your family. Click here to read about our newly implemented patient safety protocols and procedures.
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Protecting Your Braces

At Egger Orthodontics, we are ready to help give you the highest quality braces to address any tooth alignment problems. But simply wearing braces is not enough when it comes to moving your teeth to their proper positions; you need to protect your braces while they do their work. Our orthodontists have seen many patients suffer damage to their braces that might have been preventable. Learning more about what can cause this can help save you from requiring additional treatment or from starting over with an entirely new set of braces.

Where Are Braces In The Mouth?

To best understand how to protect your braces, it is important to know where they will be in your mouth and what materials they consist of. Though there are many kinds of braces, referring to the layout of traditional braces is most helpful because they tend to take up the maximum amount of space. These and many other braces consist of brackets, an arch wire, and elastic bands. They usually go horizontally across the front and backs of your teeth, across each individual tooth. Because of this, you will want to try to be careful of taking any hits to your teeth at all while you wear them.

Food And Drink Can Damage Your Braces

While you wear braces, it is important to try and consume foods and beverages that will not harm them. High acid food and drinks like tomatoes, pineapples, vinaigrette dressings, and soft drinks can cause damage over time to your teeth and braces. Hard foods like apples and nuts can break braces, so if you do crave something like carrots for a snack, make sure to chop them into small pieces before consuming. Damaged braces can cause additional appointments and extended treatment time, so altering your eating habits until your braces are removed can help you to avoid this inconvenience.

Bad Habits Can Harm Your Braces

In addition to increased scrutiny on what you eat and drink, it can be helpful to change some personal habits if they are capable of causing damage to your braces. We see many patients that tend to bite their nails and, if this pertains to you as well, you should try to be aware of this and make an effort to stop it. Ice chewing and nervous picking at your wires are also habits that can risk breaking your braces. Unnatural tongue thrusting is rarer but can still have a significantly detrimental effect on the ultimate goal of aligning your teeth into the ideal position.

What If I Play Sports?

If you enjoy playing competitive sports, then you can be at risk of damage to your braces as you come into contact with bats, balls, the ground, and other players. However, you do not need to give up sports entirely while you wear your braces. Our orthodontists can help set you up with a mouth guard to provide an extra level of protection. This can comfortably cover the braces as well as the gums and teeth. Through the use of such a mouthguard, you can continue to enjoy healthy exercise while worrying less about any harm that could come to your braces and your mouth.

Eating safely, pursuing healthy habits, and resorting to a mouthguard if need be are all great ways to keep your braces protected and intact. If you wish to learn more about how to protect your braces, call us today at 425.270.1616.

Our Reviews

All of the staff members are consistently friendly and warm! They are wonderful with children (even the little sister that wanted to closely watch)! Dr. Egger and her staff are very gentle, knowledgeable and professional and spend quality time educating patients and family. We feel like we are getting excellent care!

- Kristina M.

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Egger Orthodontics
425.270.1616
Meadow Creek Office Park
22530 SE 64th Pl.
Suite 130
Issaquah, WA

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