Winter and its snowball fights are behind us, true, but there might be another kind of snowball heading your way. When you neglect the small steps involved in your everyday orthodontic routines, little problems can start to snowball into bigger ones, affecting your dental health and delaying your orthodontic progress.

Here are three areas where letting the small steps in your routine slide can have consequences:

Dental Hygiene

It can be harder to get your teeth their cleanest while you’re wearing braces. After all, there are wires to get behind and brackets to brush around, and you still need to get that floss in between your teeth. But neglecting your dental hygiene can have big consequences:

• Demineralization

The bacteria in plaque create acids that strip the minerals from tooth enamel. This process is called demineralization. Wherever plaque is allowed to build up, you’ll start to see white spots in the enamel. This discoloration is a sign that minerals are missing, and is often found around brackets, where it’s harder to brush. White spots can be treated cosmetically, but better to avoid them as much as possible, because eventually they can become . . .

• Cavities

As demineralization continues, the enamel becomes weaker and weaker, until a hole forms in the tooth—a cavity. Besides damaging your tooth, a cavity can put you behind your orthodontic schedule if you need parts of your braces removed for treatment.

• Gum Disease

When plaque builds up around the gums, gum tissue becomes inflamed and irritated—this is gingivitis, or early-stage gum disease. Symptoms often include puffy gums, redness, bleeding, and bad breath. Mild gum disease becomes more serious over time, so treat gingivitis early—or, even better, prevent gum disease with careful brushing and flossing.

Looking After Your Appliances

• Follow Care Instructions

Orthodontic appliances need love, too! Any instructions you get for their care are for a good reason. Brackets can become loose when you bite down on chewy foods. Wires can break when you eat hard candy. Aligners can warp if you leave them on a hot dashboard. If you follow instructions carefully, you won’t need to postpone your progress while you wait for repairs.

• Use Your Protective Case

If you wear aligners, or a removable appliance, or a retainer, don’t forget to protect these items when you’re not wearing them. This means placing them in their cases, not wrapped in a napkin on your lunch tray, or in the bottom of your gym bag, or anywhere your dog can reach them!

• Be Proactive If Accidents Happen

Unfortunately, accidents do happen, and loose brackets, broken wires, lost ligatures, and cracked or warped aligners can interrupt orthodontic progress and cause you pain and discomfort. Give our Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts orthodontic office a call to see if minor damage to an appliance can be handled at home, or whether you should be seen before your next regular appointment for repairs.

Following Your Orthodontic Plan

There’s more to following your orthodontic schedule than arriving on time for appointments. Depending on your treatment, you might be responsible for keeping track of the time you spend wearing:

• Elastics

Elastic bands can be used to help align your upper and lower jaws. If you don’t wear your bands as directed, you won’t make progress as quickly as you could. And remember to replace your elastics as often as recommended, because after hours of s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g they lose their effectiveness.

• Aligners

Most aligners are worn for around 22 hours each day. If you don’t follow your orthodontist’s instructions and wear your aligners for the recommend hours each day, your teeth won’t be in the proper alignment when your next set of trays is ready to begin work.

• Retainers

If you have a retainer and don’t wear it, your teeth will start to shift position. Skip wearing your retainer long enough, and you might need a return to your braces or aligners to repair any new misalignment.

Don’t ignore what seem like little dental and orthodontic responsibilities. Keep up with daily cleaning and brushing, take care of your appliances, and follow your orthodontic plan, and you’ll finish your treatment with a beautiful and healthy smile—right on schedule.

Your baby’s first smiles are precious—and you want to make sure those precious smiles are as healthy as they are beautiful. One of the most important ways to protect your child’s dental health is by preventing early childhood caries, or cavities.

You might be thinking, “Tooth decay? Babies?” Yes, babies and toddlers can get cavities, too. Studies suggest that over a quarter of children between the ages of two and five already have some form of tooth decay.

The bacteria that cause tooth decay are passed from person to person. Cavity-causing bacteria use the sugar and starches in our diets to produce acids—acids which attack the tooth’s enamel, breaking down its hard mineral structure until cavities form. Because baby teeth have thinner enamel coatings than adult teeth, they are especially vulnerable to tooth decay.

You can start your child on the path to a lifetime of healthy smiles by being proactive about cavity prevention during your baby’s first 12 months.

• Don’t Share Bacteria

Because cavity-causing oral bacteria are transmitted from person to person, doctors and dentists suggest that you don’t share a spoon with your baby, or put a pacifier in your mouth to clean it. And it’s a good idea to rinse toys used by other children with clean water before giving them to your child.

• Keep Bottles Out of Bed

Babies generally need a feeding before bedtime to ensure that they get all the nutrition their growing bodies need. But when a young child sleeps with a bottle, liquids pool in the mouth, exposing tiny teeth to these liquids throughout the night and preventing the natural flow of saliva from washing food particles away.

Bring your child’s happy day to a close with a lullaby, a bedtime story, a good night kiss, or whatever makes your baby feel comforted and loved—and take the bottle with you when you tiptoe out of the room.

• Avoid Sugary Drinks

How do parents make sure their babies get the nutrition they need without giving cavity-causing bacteria the fuel they need? With a healthy diet. Breast milk and formula have healthy nutrients, carbs, and sugars which are necessary for baby’s growth and development. Sugar water, sweet juices, and sodas—don’t.

Added sugars provide a feast for cavity-causing bacteria, and the more your child is exposed to them throughout the day, the greater the risk of tooth decay. Talk to Drs. Cartsos and Zavras for the healthiest drinks for your baby’s bottle or sippy cup.

• Clean Baby’s Teeth and Gums

Dentists recommend cleaning your baby’s gums even before teeth begin to arrive. After washing your hands, using a clean, damp, soft cloth or gauze pad to gently wipe the gum surfaces to remove bacteria and food.

As soon as the first tooth appears, it’s time to start gentle brushing. Use a baby-sized toothbrush to gently clean the erupting teeth once in the morning and once after the last feeding of the day. And as soon as two baby teeth touch, it’s time to talk about flossing.

Not sure about baby-friendly tooth care products, toothpastes, and techniques? Talk to Drs. Cartsos and Zavras! Learn about cleaning little gums, baby-size brushes, when to begin using fluoride toothpaste and how much toothpaste to use, when to brush, and when to start flossing.

• Establish a Dental Home for Your Child

The ideal time for your child’s first visit to our Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts office is sometime between the appearance of your child’s first tooth and your child’s first birthday. It’s a gentle way to introduce your baby to the dental team who will be caring for those little smiles for many years to come.

During that first visit, your child’s dentist will check tooth and jaw development. There will be a child-friendly examination to look for plaque buildup or any signs of early decay, such as white spots on tooth enamel. You can talk about any concerns you might have and learn the best ways to prevent tooth decay with proactive dental care for healthy teeth and gums.

Why are we so concerned about baby teeth? Decayed teeth can cause pain and self-consciousness. And more, those tiny teeth have big responsibilities. Baby teeth influence your child’s speech development. They promote healthy eating and chewing habits. Baby teeth serve as placeholders to make sure that your child’s adult teeth will be able to erupt just where they should.

Your baby’s first smiles are precious. And when you’re proactive with early dental care, you’re preparing your child for a lifetime of healthy smiles.

At Convivial Dental, we know that brushing your toddler’s teeth can be an intimidating prospect. So we’re providing a few tips in the hope of making the process a lot more easy, effective, and all-around enjoyable for everyone!

Start by getting into a position that gives you control and enables you to see well into your child’s mouth. If you can see clearly, you will be able to maneuver the toothbrush better around your son or daughter’s mouth for a better quality of brushing.

It’s important to choose a time when your toddler is calm. Have your little one sit with his or her favorite stuffed animal, or play a fun movie in the background so your child can focus on something comforting while you’re brushing.

Using a circular motion, brush all sides of their teeth. Be sure to let your toddler have a turn after you’re done, to start getting used to it. This way, he or she is more likely to repeat the brushing and flossing exercise when your youngster is old enough.

Drs. Cartsos and Zavras and our team agree that brushing and flossing need to be performed with kindness and care. To ensure your child learns good dental hygiene habits early on, be gentle and make this time a happy, learning time.

Your child should also have regular appointments at our Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts office for checkups and cleanings to keep on track!

Some foods are just terrible for your teeth — think cookies and candy bars — but there are certain foods that are beneficial to your oral health. Below, Drs. Cartsos and Zavras and our team have covered five of the top foods to keep your teeth and gums healthy!

1. Crispy, low-acid fruits and vegetables: Fruits like apples and vegetables such as carrots and celery act like “natural toothbrushes,” helping to clear plaque from your teeth and freshen your breath.

2. Kiwis: These little green superstars are packed with vitamin C which is essential for gum health. The collagen in your gums is strengthened when you consume foods that are high in vitamin C, like kiwis, thus helping to prevent periodontal problems.

3. Raw onions: Onions have long been studied for their antimicrobial, antibacterial, and antioxidant properties. Proliferation of bacteria is what leads to tooth decay and cavities. By including raw onions in your diet, you'll be doing your part to wipe out those little microbes before they can multiply!

4. Shiitake Mushrooms: A specific compound in shiitake mushrooms, lentinan, has been shown to have antibacterial properties that target the microbes that cause cavities while leaving other beneficial bacteria alone. It may also help prevent gingivitis, or inflammation of the gums.

5. Green Tea: Often lauded for its high antioxidant content and many health benefits, it turns out green tea also benefits your oral health! A Japanese study found men who drank green tea on a regular basis had a lower occurrence of periodontal disease compared to men who drank green tea infrequently. It's believed this is due to the catechins in green tea, a type of flavonoid that may help protect you from free radical damage, but more research needs to be done. Either way, drink up for your overall health, as well as your teeth!

If you have any questions about your oral health, or are looking for even more oral health tips, contact our Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts office!