Life With Braces – Orthodontic Treatment

Life with Braces

Eating with Braces
What can you eat? Let’s talk about what you shouldn’t eat! If you’ve wanted to drop a few pounds, the first-week
wearing braces is just your chance! For the first day or so, stick to soft foods. Avoid tough meats, hard breads, and raw vegetables. Before long, you’ll be able to bite a cucumber again. But you’ll need to protect your orthodontic appliances when you eat for as long as you’re wearing braces.

orthodontistFoods to Avoid

Chewy foods: bagels, hard rolls, licorice
Crunchy foods: popcorn, ice, chips
Sticky foods: caramels, gum
Hard foods: nuts, candy
Foods you have to bite into: corn on the cob, apples, carrots
Chewing on hard things (for example, pens, pencils or fingernails) can damage the braces. Damaged braces will cause treatment to take longer.

General Soreness

When you get your braces on, you may feel general soreness in your mouth and teeth may be tender to biting pressures for three to five days. This can be relieved by rinsing your mouth with a warm saltwater mouthwash. Dissolve one teaspoonful of salt in 8 ounces of warm water and rinse your mouth vigorously. If the tenderness is severe, take whatever you normally take for headache or similar pain. The lips, cheeks, and tongue may also become irritated for one to two weeks as they toughen and become accustomed to the surface of the braces. You can put wax on the braces to lessen this. We’ll show you how!

Loosening of Teeth

This is to be expected throughout treatment. Don’t worry! It’s normal. Teeth must loosen first so they can be moved. The teeth will again become rigidly fixed in their new – corrected – positions.

Loose Wire or Band

Don’t be alarmed if a wire or band comes loose. This happens occasionally. If a wire protrudes and is irritating, use a blunt instrument (the back of a spoon or the eraser end of a pencil) and gently push the irritating wire under the archwire. Simply get it out of the way. If irritation to the lips or mouth continues, place wax or wet cotton on the wire to reduce the annoyance. Call our office as soon as possible for an appointment to check and repair the appliances. If any piece comes off, save it and bring it with you to the office.

Care of Appliances

To successfully complete the treatment plan, the patient must work together with the orthodontist. The teeth and jaws can only move toward their corrected positions if the patient consistently wears the rubber bands, headgear, or other appliances as prescribed. Damaged appliances lengthen the treatment time.

Brushing

It’s more important than ever to brush and floss regularly when you have braces so the teeth and gums are healthy after orthodontic treatment. Patients who do not keep their teeth clean may require more frequent visits to the dentist for a professional cleaning. Adults who have a history of gum disease should also see a periodontist during orthodontistorthodontic treatment.

Common Issues with Braces

Sore teeth – Teeth are usually expected to be sore after braces are placed and after each adjustment visit. You can take common over-the-counter analgesics such as Tylenol, Ibuprofen and the likes to help relieve the discomfort. A warm washcloth can be placed over the jaw can help relieve the discomfort
Wire irritation – a wire may shift and cause irritation. Use the eraser end of a pencil or a cotton swab to move the wire away from the irritated area. Also, cover the end of the wire with a piece of wax given to you by the office. If the wire is long, a clean nail clipper can be used to cut off the long end.
Loose brackets – if a bracket comes loose, leave it alone and call the office to schedule a longer appointment to repair it. Brackets and bands are expensive to replace. If bands come off, please bring them to your follow-up appointment for repair.
Loose separators – if a separator comes loose, you can try to re-insert the separators yourself as instructed by the doctor or you can call the office to have it replaced.
Sports/Athletics – a protective mouthguard is advised for playing contact sports. You can buy a mouth-guard from your local pharmacy store or from our office.

Types of Braces We Provide

The Damon System

We are pleased to offer our patients new Damon System braces and treatment techniques.

Damon System braces allow your teeth to move more comfortably and easily than traditional braces. Thanks to these innovative new braces, achieving your perfect smile will be faster and easier than you ever thought possible.

Better Results in Less Time
With the new Damon System braces, we can achieve terrific results and finish your treatment faster. Depending on your case, this may mean saving many months. After analyzing your specific needs, we will be able to provide you with a treatment plan that will have you smiling soon!

orthodontic treatmentSimplified Procedures
Damon System braces are very precise and effective. With this system, we can reduce the need for many time-consuming and complicated procedures used with traditional braces.

Fewer Visits to the Office
Because Damon System braces work more efficiently, fewer adjustments are required. As a result, your appointments will be faster and fewer in number.

Greater Comfort
Due to the unique design of our new braces system, we can move your teeth into their correct positions with much less discomfort than traditional braces. Also, Damon System braces are small, very comfortable, and easy to keep clean.

Orthodontic’s Appliances
Orthodontic appliances can be used to correct the jaw shape and direct the growth toward an ideal relationship between the upper and lower jaws. Because children are growing rapidly, they can benefit enormously from an early interceptive phase of orthodontic treatment. Orthodontic appliances are often used to correct these early orthodontic problems in the mixed dentition stage. We utilize a wide variety of removable and fixed orthodontic appliances in this early phase of treatment.

There are two basic types of tooth movement appliances, removable and fixed. Removable appliances are made of wires and plastic and can be removed from the mouth by the patient. Their success is totally dependent on the patient’s compliance in wearing the appliance exactly as instructed. Fixed appliances are attached directly to the teeth. There is better control of tooth movement with fixed appliances. However, cooperation from the patient in maintaining excellent oral hygiene while wearing fixed appliances is essential in preventing cavities and gum disease.

Braces do most of the work moving teeth into place. But you may also need to wear dental appliances to help move and protect your teeth. Learn how your braces and appliances work, and the know-how to take care of them. Wearing your equipment the right way is the fastest way to straighten teeth.

Braces put steady pressure on your teeth to move them into place. As your teeth move, your orthodontist will adjust the braces.

Retainer Instructions

Wear your retainers full time, until the doctor instructs otherwise.
Take your retainers out when eating…and always put retainers in their case! (Most appliances are lost in school lunchrooms or restaurants.)
Clean retainers thoroughly once a day with a toothbrush and toothpaste. Use warm but not hot water. Brushing retainers remove the plaque and eliminate odors. Efferdent® or other orthodontic appliance cleaners can be used, but do not take the place of brushing.
When retainers are not in your mouth they should ALWAYS be in a retainer case. Pets love to chew on them!
Initially, you may find it difficult to speak. Practice speaking, reading, or singing out loud to get used to them faster.
Retainers are breakable, so treat them with care. If retainers are lost or broken call us immediately.
If you have any questions or concerns about your retainers or your retainers need adjusting, call us. Do not try to adjust them yourself.
Always bring your retainers to your appointments.
Retainer replacement is expensive…with proper care, they will last for years!
Remove retainers when swimming.
Keep retainers away from hot water, hot car dashboards, pockets, washing machine, and napkins. More information on this website @ https://Cochranorthodontics.com

Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Systems

Reverse osmosis filters are systems that are used to purify and improve the quality of drinking water, as well as being used in many health care applications—such as dialysis—as well.

The reverse osmosis filter works by applying pressure to one side of a solution while pushing the pure solvent through to the other side through a protective membrane. This filters out the larger ions and particles—unwanted substances such as heavy metals and salt (reverse osmosis filters are often used to purify salt water) while purifying the remaining water for everyday use such as drinking and washing clothes or the body.

Reverse osmosis works differently than simple filtration. Filtration works primarily by simply straining out the larger unwanted particles and is not dependent on water pressure or microscopic concentration within the fluid. In contrast, reverse osmosis filtering works by diffusing the solution, so it is more dependent on the solution pressure, concentration, and the rate of solution flux. Basically, reverse osmosis filtration works by relying on the principle of osmosis: fluids moving through membranes in order to reach a state of equilibrium. In reverse osmosis, the process is shifted by applying pressure and forcing a high concentration solute through a membrane to reduce it to a low concentration solute, the opposite of osmosis that seeks simple equilibrium. Therefore, the concentration separation must be more active than simple reliance on the natural process of osmosis. In order to actively separate high to low concentration, the solution must pass through a tough, heavy membrane at high pressure, thereby forcing the solution to literally break down into its purest form—again, most often, drinking water.

water purificationReverse osmosis filters are used in many different ways. The most common application is installing a reverse osmosis filter in your home in order to purify drinking water. This is particularly useful in rural areas where water is not subject to a municipal environment’s built-in filtering systems. Reverse osmosis systems can be purchased at a variety of home building stores and are certainly available on the Internet. The system will fit under the sink without problem and can be easily installed by the home owner, as the system will come with explicit instructions and trouble-shooting tips to ensure it is safely and properly installed. Choosing to purify your water through a reverse osmosis system will also eventually save a good deal of money, as there will no longer be the need to purchase purified bottled water.

Other applications for reverse osmosis filters are also used in urban areas to purify both waste-water and rainwater. This process is usually done in power plants and is performed by boiling water and using pressure to force purification at a very large scale and then distribute the purified water back to the residents of the cities. Finally, reverse osmosis filters have the health care applications mentioned above, particularly in the process of dialysis, where the blood is purified of harmful toxins such as urea through reverse osmosis and then forced back into the body where it can effectively nourish the body minus the damaging bodily waste-products.

water filtration
Water purification filter with activated charcoal and other filter substrates

Using a reverse osmosis system is one of the easiest and surest ways to ensure that you are consuming purified water. The systems also assist in numerous other ways, as mentioned above. And considering the benefits of using water and other substances that have been purified through the process of reverse osmosis, the cost of using such systems is very well justified.

Are you one of the car accidents statistics in your state?

If you have recently gotten involved in a car accident in one of the more popular car accident cities such as Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Houston, Dallas, Denver, and Illinois, there are some things you should know. You’re not alone!

personal injury attorneysThough these popular cities are great places to live in, car accidents are more common in these places mainly due to the high population and heavy traffic streaming through these cities.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, most of the Personal Injury cases in the U.S. are caused by car accidents. So make sure you know what to do and how to deal with car accidents in the popular cities of the U.S.

Fort Lauderdale Car Accidents Statistics

Fort Lauderdale is a city in Florida lying just along the Atlantic Ocean. The city is known as the Venice of America and gets more than 10 million visitors every year. The area is home to a hundred boatyards and marinas, more than 4000 restaurants, and hundreds of nightclubs. As expected, the crowded area also gets several car accidents in a year.

Most car accidents are caused by heavy loads or cargo shifting inside the vehicle, drugs and alcohol, over-speeding, traffic, long distance driving, and vehicle condition. If you encounter a car accident in Fort Lauderdale, find a Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyer to help you out.

personal Injury attorneysOrlando Car Accidents Statistics Report

Orlando is one of the major cities of Florida and is the third largest metropolitan in the state. It is also the sixth most populous city there, which means that it could get particularly crowded, especially with the Walt Disney World Resort and Universal Orlando Resort. This is certainly a recipe for car accidents.

In Orlando, the largest number of car accidents is caused by driver misbehavior and driver distraction. Most distractions are caused by cell phones, passengers, the radio, and driver fatigue. Orlando records also cite several car accidents resulting from over-speeding.

Houston Car Accidents Statistics Report

As the fourth largest city in the United States, Houston is a booming and densely populated area. As such, it is also prone to car accidents. The leading cause of car accident in Houston is DWI and vehicle rollovers.

accident attorneyVehicle rollovers are also observed to be the most fatal type of accidents in Houston. In fact, most rollovers almost always lead to deaths. For help with car accident issues in Houston, you can seek the assistance of Houston car accident lawyers.

Dallas Car Accident Stats

With a population hitting 1.3 million this year, Dallas is no doubt an economic center with a huge population. This makes car accidents quite common in the city, and most of them are caused by driver fatigue, driver impairment, rollovers, speeding, and bad weather.

In case you encounter car accidents, you can contact Dallas car accident lawyers specializing in car accidents and personal injury if injury is involved.

Denver Car Accidents Statistics Report

Denver is the most populous city of Colorado. It also gets many visitors each year. Denver car accidents are also related to high levels of personal injury, most of which are whiplash cases.

personal injury lawyerIn Denver, driver negligence is cited as the most common cause of car accidents. For help with car accidents, contact a Denver car accident lawyer who can assist you in making your claims.

Illinois Car Accident Reporting Statistics

Illinois, known as the fifth most populous state in the country, is also susceptible to a lot of car accidents each year. Careless and reckless driving is the number one cause of car accidents in Illinois.

With the crowds of Illinois and drivers’ negligence, Illinois roads pose a threat to motorists. In case of car accidents, contact an Illinois car accident lawyer.

The Verdict On Car Accidents Statistics

Car accidents are part of life on the road. By knowing what causes the accidents, particularly in popular cities such as Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Houston, Dallas, Denver, and Illinois, you can try and avoid such accidents, so you don’t become a statistic, too.

But if not, you can avoid huge damages by contacting the right car accident lawyers in these cities to be sure that you get proper compensation for any loss.