Heading Back to School with Braces and Confidence

August 1, 2019 Austin Orthodontics

While the summer fun isn’t over quite yet, it is time to start thinking about getting back into the routine of the school year. If you have pre-teens or teenagers, or if you are a college student getting ready to head back for another year, it can be a bit nerve wracking thinking about going back to school with braces. Luckily, you have plenty of reasons to feel confident about walking through your school doors while your going through orthodontic treatment. 

Getting Past the Nerves

Many people in school highly value the views of their peers, with many going to great lengths to gain approval. While many kids think having braces will be embarrassing, the fact of the matter is having braces isn’t viewed the way it used to be. In the old days, braces weren’t nearly as common and kids that had to get braces were often stuck with very bulky metal braces. Today, braces are much more common and far more subtle than they used to be, and you rarely hear kids bullying others because of their braces. 

In fact, modern options for orthodontic treatment can even make you feel excited to head back to school and show off your smile before your treatment is even over. When you visit Austin Orthodontics for your free consultation, be sure to ask about these fun options for braces. 

WildSmiles

Many tweens and teens go into their treatment with braces thinking they are simply going to have to tolerate them. However, your kids can find ways to have fun with their braces, and the options available with WildSmiles are proof of that. These fun braces work just as well as traditional braces but come in a wide variety of stylish shapes, including sports balls, diamonds, and stars. Your kids can mix and match their favorite designs when they get adjustments for different events or if they just feel like switching things up. 

Colored Bands

Each set of braces comes with elastic bands called ligatures, which connect the different parts of your braces together. Your kids can choose bright colors for their ligatures based on their favorite colors, teams, or for different seasons. There are even glow-in-the-dark bands available for a spooky addition to any Halloween costume. 

Subtle Treatment Options

There are plenty of options to choose from that make orthodontic treatment less visible. Ceramic braces work the same way as traditional metal braces, but have tooth-colored, medical-grade ceramic brackets instead of metal brackets. This makes these braces much harder to see throughout the course of the treatment. 

Invisalign is hands down the most discreet treatment option thanks to aligners that are completely clear. The additional advantage to this treatment option is the aligners are also removable for limited hours during the day, allowing for removal during meals or sporting events. 

Contact Austin Orthodontics today to learn more about treatment options that are perfect for going back to school! 

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Why You Still Might Need Braces Even if Your Teeth Look Straight

July 25, 2019 Austin Orthodontics

For people who are unhappy with their smile, getting braces makes sense. However, if you like the way your teeth look, you may not think you need braces. While this could be the case, there may also be issues that aren’t as noticeable when you look in the mirror.

Unseen Crowding

Even if you have a good-looking smile, there could be problems you can’t see. When you get orthodontic treatment with braces or clear aligners, it fixes far more than cosmetic issues.

One common issue is crowding, which is caused by a shortage of space between your teeth. When your teeth are crowded, it often affects the appearance of your smile, but some people can have crowding in the back of their mouth, leaving their smile still looking straight. The problem with crowding is food can easily get stuck in between your teeth, making it difficult to thoroughly clean them. This will inevitably lead to tooth decay and possibly worse oral health problems.

Crowding can also cause one or two teeth to be positioned higher than the surrounding teeth. This will cause a disproportionate amount of force to be put on those teeth, which erodes the tooth over time unevenly or causes cracking, both of which you want to avoid.

Underlying Issues

Not all orthodontic issues occur above the gum lines. X-rays often discover problems that need to be fixed but are currently not affecting a smile’s appearance. For example, some patients have adult teeth that have never erupted, either because there wasn’t enough space or the baby teeth never fell out. These trapped teeth can even end up sideways under the gums in an attempt to move into their proper positions.

Braces are often needed to fix these types of underlying issues, either as part of the initial treatment, or after the fact to return the smile to its straight, healthy state.

This is one of the many reasons we don’t recommend mail-order orthodontic treatment. These providers rely on impressions and selfies submitted by their customers, which means any issues hiding under the gums are not addressed.

Misaligned Bite

While your smile may look straight to others, many people have to force their smile to look normal due to an overbite or underbite. Both of these conditions can complicate your oral health by leading to uneven pressure in your mouth, speech or eating problems, or jaw pain. By getting braces or clear aligners, you can get your bite to a normal position and always bite down comfortably while never having to adjust your jaw to make your smile look straight.

To schedule a free consultation and see how braces can improve your oral health, contact Austin Orthodontics today!

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Is Mail-Order Orthodontic Treatment Right for You?

July 9, 2019 Austin Orthodontics

Throughout the history of orthodontics, there have been several key innovations that have made orthodontic treatment more effective, convenient, and comfortable. One of the most significant developments in orthodontics is the Invisalign Clear Aligner system, which allows you to get straight teeth with invisible, removable aligners. 

One fascinating and slightly disconcerting development in orthodontics more recently is the trend of companies marketing mail-order aligners similar to Invisalign. The treatment is completed entirely at home and you get your aligners delivered to your doorstep. Sounds like the next big thing, right? Unfortunately, there are several major issues with this new type of treatment that should make you seriously think twice before using it. 

No In-Person Visits

Interestingly enough, the main selling point of mail-order braces is that you never have to leave your home to get orthodontic treatment. However, with no orthodontist, there is no actual orthodontic treatment. Instead, there’s mostly a lot of guesswork while you attempt to take care of your teeth on your own. Any help you get is all done remotely through images on computer screens.

This means you can never get the precision and personalized guidance that comes with having a certified expert looking at your teeth in person and taking xrays to uncover any underlying issues in your smile. During the whole process, you have to do the work yourself, trust the images you take, and hope it ends up well. You also miss out on the personal relationship you develop with an orthodontist and the team when you are seen at an office.

Inaccurate Impressions

The aligners you receive during the whole course of your treatment are based on impressions you take yourself. Again, this is meant to add to the convenience factor; however, and no offense to you, you’re not an expert at taking dental impressions. Sure, you will get instructions, but there are nuances to getting accurate impressions that can only be learned through the years of training and practice, which all orthodontists and their teams are required to complete. 

Possible Damage to Your Teeth

Without professional, in-person guidance, the inherent risks of doing mail-order braces go beyond just getting subpar results. For one, the at-home impressions often result in aligners that don’t quite fit the way they should. This can result in severe discomfort while your teeth are adjusted in the wrong direction. And since you don’t have anyone looking at your teeth, it is very easy to miss problems under the surface. 

Even if your mail-order braces give you teeth that look straight, that’s not the only reason you should get orthodontic treatment. You can have perfectly straight teeth but still have underlying issues that need to be fixed. If you simply rely on mail-order braces, those problems will never be addressed, leading to long-term oral health problems. 

When you see an orthodontist for the first time, he or she will draw up a comprehensive plan to treat all of your issues. However, this plan may need to be modified slightly throughout your treatment if things are not progressing as planned. With no follow-up visits, mail-order treatment cannot be altered, which means you may not be getting the treatment you really need.

To learn more about how expert, personalized guidance can get you the smile you want while setting you up for long-lasting oral health, contact Austin Orthodontics today to set up a free consultation.

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4 Ways to Limit How Much Sugar You Eat with Braces

July 3, 2019 Austin Orthodontics

The process of getting a straighter smile you’ll be proud of includes going through orthodontic treatment. Braces are still the most common method of straightening teeth and setting yourself up for good long-term oral health. This treatment method takes plenty of getting used to, but the results will be far more than worth it. One of the adjustments you’ll need to make during your treatment is cutting back on sugar.

Reasons to Avoid Sugar with Braces

Besides the fact that sugar is something you should always do your best to avoid, you have an increased chance of experiencing tooth decay when you have braces. This is because food can more easily become trapped around the brackets, making it harder to clean off with brushing. Having sugary food become stuck in your braces causes plaque to build up, which will lead to the formation of cavities.

Another problem people often experience if they don’t take good care of their teeth while they have braces is discoloration of their teeth enamel. If you aren’t keeping with cleaning and choose sugary foods, you can end up with darker spots around your braces when they are removed.

1. Cut Out Hard Candy

One type of food you should be avoiding for multiple reasons is hard candy. Not only can the tough texture of hard candy possibly damage your braces, but the sugary residue can hide underneath the archwire and brackets. You should also avoid sugary cereals for the same reasons.

2. Reserve Desserts for Special Occasions

When it comes to typical dessert foods like cookies, ice cream, and cakes, you should cut back on how often you eat these foods. The best practice is to reserve these sorts of foods for special occasions, such as if you are at a wedding or birthday celebration. If you still feel like you need to appease your sweet tooth, you can schedule a “cheat day” one day a week where you can have a dessert to satisfy your craving.

3. Avoid White Bread

One type of food many people don’t think of as being sugary is starchy white bread. While this may not exactly be a dessert food, white bread processes in your body the same way sugar does. The same goes for your teeth. White bread processes into sugar in the mouth, which quickly leads to tooth decay. In fact, the texture and contents of white bread can be even worse for your teeth than cane sugar.

4. Read Food Labels Carefully

It can be surprising just how much sugar gets packed into foods that seem like they are meant for meals rather than desserts. This is especially true in America, where sugar is a common ingredient in foods that are marketed as being “savory.” Many sauces like ketchup and barbeque sauce can have surprisingly high levels of sugar. When you go shopping at the store, be sure to read each label and look for the sugar content.

If you have any questions or concerns about life with braces, feel free to contact Austin Orthodontics.

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What the Elastics on Your Braces Do

Austin Orthodontics

During your orthodontic treatment with braces, you’ll become familiar with the various aspects of the orthodontic products being used. One of the most important parts of your braces is rubber bands, or elastics. Elastics play a major role in the process of correcting your teeth during your treatment, so it’s worth getting to know a little bit more about what they are and how they work.

What Are Orthodontic Elastics?

It may seem strange to put elastic bands in your mouth, but these bands are specially designed to provide necessary adjustments to your teeth. Orthodontic bands are quite a bit smaller than the typical rubber bands you might think of and are stiffer than conventional rubber bands to provide the force needed for adjustment. Orthodontic elastics are also made to be durable and to last a significant amount of time attached to your teeth.

There are two types of elastic bands you may end up having as part of your orthodontic treatment: elastic ligatures and interarch bands.

Elastic Ligatures

Most likely, you’re familiar with what braces look like. One thing you’ve probably noticed when you see someone with braces or a photo of braces is the tiny bands that surround each bracket of the braces. These small elastic bands hold the archwire in place against the bracket. The level of tightness of your elastic bands also helps in creating the pressure needed to straighten your teeth.

Your elastic ligatures will stay on your braces throughout the course of your treatment, and your orthodontist will often adjust or replace them when you go for your follow-up appointments. Many orthodontists have these bands in different colors, which means you can get them in your favorite colors, be festive for the holidays, or wear the colors of your school or favorite team.

Interarch Bands

Whether you get traditional metal braces or the Invisalign Clear Aligner System, you could also have interarch elastic bands. Rather than helping straighten your teeth to fix issues of crowding, large spaces, or crookedness, interarch bands fix problems with the jaw alignment. Interarch elastic bands run from the lower jaw to the upper jaw, connecting at attachments on your brackets, or on your teeth when it comes to Invisalign.

The pressure created by the interarch wires helps fix instances of overbites or underbites. As you wear your interarch bands with your braces, the pressure pulls the jaw in a direction that corrects your bite over time. In the instance of an underbite, the elastics attach towards the front of the jaw on the bottom and attach towards the back on the upper jaw, and vice versa for instances of an overbite.

When it comes to interarch bands, you’ll most likely wear these for the full length of your treatment, but you will need to replace them frequently yourself rather than waiting until an appointment to have them changed.

To learn more about how elastics play a role in your treatment, contact Austin Orthodontics today!

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How to Successfully Move with Braces

June 4, 2019 Austin Orthodontics

Sometimes, you just need to pick up your roots and plant them elsewhere. When you’re in the middle of a move, there are already plenty of factors to consider. Between finding ways to transport all of your items, meeting new neighbors, and learning about a new city, the stress can pile up quickly! At Austin Orthodontics, we want to do what we can to help make your move as smooth as possible if you have a family member with braces. Here are some tips to help you have an easy transition.

Make a Visit to Your Current Orthodontist

When you are approaching the move, be sure to make a special appointment with your current orthodontist to let them know you are moving soon. Your orthodontist can provide a summary of your treatment progress along with a projection for the remainder of the treatment. This treatment summary can be handed over to you in addition to all of your x-ray and digital scan images. If you don’t want to be responsible for these items, you can always have your orthodontist send them over to your new orthodontist so they can get fully up to speed on your treatment needs.

The American Association of Orthodontists also provides a transfer form that your orthodontist can complete and send over to your new orthodontist. This form provides information not found on your regular records, including a full history of orthodontic problems and an estimate on how much time is left.

Don’t Forget About Finances

When you are in the process of moving and switching orthodontists, make sure your finances are in order. You orthodontist should refund the portion of the treatment they won’t complete if you already paid in full, allowing you to give that money to the orthodontist who will complete your treatment. Be sure to cancel your payments if you are having automatic payments withdrawn from your account each month when it comes time to switch over to your new orthodontist.

Ask for Recommendations

Orthodontists often attend networking events on a regular basis, so before you try to find a new orthodontist on your own, ask your current one if they have anyone they would recommend. You can also have them look up a licensed orthodontist in the area you are moving to in the database provided by the American Association of Orthodontists. Our very own Dr. Seth Briggs is a trusted member of the American Association of Orthodontists, so you’ll likely see his name show up if you’re moving to the Austin, TX area.

When you arrive in your new city, don’t hesitate to contact your new orthodontist so they can pick up where your last orthodontist left off right away. Be sure to provide them with your medical records and transfer form if they haven’t received them already and switch over your financial information.

If you’re planning on moving to the Austin area, contact Austin Orthodontics today for a smooth transition and seamless completion for your orthodontic treatment.

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The Benefits of Early Orthodontics

May 22, 2019 Austin Orthodontics

Most people are familiar with getting braces as a teenager or as an adult to correct the alignment of their teeth, but getting early intervention is often an important first step for children. Sometimes referred to as two-phase orthodontics, early orthodontics can greatly help kids with more severe orthodontic problems, setting them up for a healthier smile as they get older.

What is Early Orthodontics?

Most people get orthodontic treatment in their teen years or adulthood, but some kids require a treatment plan when they are around the age of seven. Early orthodontic treatment plans are designed to make more difficult adjustments when the jaw is more malleable at a younger age, making the second phase of treatment easier. Not every child will need early orthodontics, but it’s definitely worth it to bring your child to see your orthodontist when they are about seven years old to see if it is right for them. Otherwise, they could require more invasive procedures later on in life, such as an especially long phase with braces, getting teeth pulled, or surgery.

What Does Early Orthodontics Fix?

There are several reasons your child could benefit from early orthodontics. One reason could simply be excessive crookedness or large spaces between the teeth. Whether due to bad habits like thumb-sucking or genetics, you might notice your child’s permanent teeth are appearing in all the wrong places. To avoid needing a long time with braces or perhaps having surgery, your child could get treatment while their jaw is still growing, making the necessary adjustments far easier.

Sometimes, the jaw itself grows irregularly, causing the teeth to not bite down properly. This can also lead to underbites, overbites, and crossbites, which can be more difficult to fix later on in life. When the jaw doesn’t grow correctly, it can also cause teeth to become impacted, which is when a permanent tooth doesn’t have room to erupt. Early orthodontics can fix these issues with little intrusion and short-term solutions, preventing more involved and costly treatments in the future.

Common Early Phase Treatments

One of the most common types of early phase treatments is partial braces. When your child is young and their jaw is still growing, partial braces can quickly make precise adjustments to fix issues of crowding and spacing. Partial braces will only be installed on the teeth that are the most severely misaligned, positioning them to more easily adjust with a full set of braces when they are older.

Another common method of early intervention involves using a palatal expander. When the upper jaw is too small, it can lead to issues like a misaligned bite, crowding, and impaction. A palatal expander is a small metal device adhered to the roof of the mouth, with extensions that apply pressure to the inside of the upper jaw. This early phase treatment will expand the upper jaw to make room for all the teeth to erupt properly and for the jaw to bite down comfortably.

Contact Austin Orthodontics today and schedule a free consultation to see if your child could benefit from early orthodontics.

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Welcome to the Austin Orthodontics Blog!

April 17, 2019 Austin Orthodontics

Hello! We are excited to introduce you to our brand new blog here at Austin Orthodontics. We pride ourselves in offering personalized service that puts the needs of our patients at the forefront to help them achieve their ideal smile. From the moment our patients enter our doors to when they leave after each visit, we work hard to create a comfortable and stress-free experience. We achieve this through friendly service, clear communication, and careful implementation of all procedures.

We want to extend this experience to our current patients and anyone exploring orthodontics online by providing tips, insight, and helpful information about the power of orthodontic treatment and caring for your smile. Keep an eye out for regularly updated posts as we discuss what to expect during orthodontic treatment, exciting options you may have never heard of, how to fit braces or Invisalign into your budget, and much more.

For additional information, you can contact our office by calling (512) 331-7900, or you can schedule your free consultation online to learn how to get started on your new smile!

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