By Dr Sezer Olcay, Holmdel Orthodontics

Thinking about getting braces or getting them for your child? Braces are one of the most common orthodontic treatments, but it’s normal to have lots of questions before committing to the process.  Types of orthodontic treatment include braces, metal or ceramic and aligners, and plastic trays.

Here’s a guide that covers everything you need to know, from the types of braces available to what you can expect during treatment.

1. Why Do People Need Braces?

Braces help correct a range of dental issues, including:

• Misaligned teeth: Teeth that are crooked, crowded, or have gaps.
• Malocclusions: Problems with bite alignment, such as overbites, underbites, crossbites, and open bites.
• Jaw issues: Some people experience pain or difficulty chewing due to jaw misalignment, which braces can help correct.

Correcting these issues isn’t just about aesthetics. Properly aligned teeth are easier to clean, which helps prevent decay and gum disease and can contribute to overall oral health.

2. How Long Does the Treatment Take?

The length of treatment varies based on individual needs. Most people wear braces for 1 to 3 years, depending on the complexity of their case. Aligners usually require at least 6 to 18 months for full results. Consistency is key, especially with aligners, as they only work if worn as directed by your orthodontist.

3. Do Braces Hurt?

When you first get braces or have them tightened, it’s common to feel soreness or mild discomfort. The pain usually fades after a few days, and over-the-counter pain relievers can help. With aligners, there might be slight pressure each time you switch to a new tray. This is a sign that your teeth are moving, which means the treatment is working!

4. What Can I Eat with Braces?

With traditional braces, you’ll need to avoid hard, sticky, or chewy foods to prevent brackets or wires breaking. Here are some common food items to avoid:

• Sticky foods: Caramel, gum, and taffy.
• Hard foods: Nuts, hard candy, and ice.
• Crunchy foods: Popcorn, chips, and raw carrots.

Aligners, however, are removable, so you can eat as you normally would—just be sure to brush your teeth before putting them back in.

5. How Do I Clean My Teeth with Braces?

Proper oral hygiene is essential with braces to avoid staining, cavities, and gum disease. Here’s a quick cleaning routine:

• Brush after every meal to remove food particles from brackets and wires.
• Floss daily using a floss threader or special orthodontic floss to get between the brackets.
• Use an interdental brush or a water flosser to clean hard-to-reach areas.

For aligners, it’s crucial to brush your teeth before reinserting them to avoid trapping food particles.

6. Will I Need to Wear a Retainer?

Yes, wearing a retainer is essential after braces come off. Retainers help hold teeth in their new positions while the surrounding bone and gum tissue adjust. Not wearing a retainer can cause your teeth to shift back over time, undoing all the progress. Depending on your orthodontist’s advice, you may only need to wear your retainer at night.

7. How Often Will I Need to Visit the Orthodontist?

For traditional braces, you’ll likely need an adjustment every 4 to 8 weeks to tighten the wires and ensure progress. For aligners, visits are usually every 6 to 8 weeks to check progress and pick up your next set of trays. Regular visits are essential to ensure treatment stays on track.

8. Can Adults Get Braces?

Absolutely! More adults than ever are opting for braces, as it’s never too late to improve your smile. Options like ceramic braces and clear aligners are especially popular among adults for their subtle appearance.

Getting braces is a commitment, but it can lead to a healthier, straighter smile and improved confidence. By choosing the right type of braces, following your orthodontist’s advice, and sticking to a good oral hygiene routine, you’ll be on your way to achieving the smile you’ve always wanted.

For more information and a free consultation visit us at https://holmdelortho.com/

Holmdel Orthodontics 723 North Beers Street Suite 2A Holmdel NJ 07733 – (732) 847-3065

Orthodontic braces care might seem overwhelming at first. Don’t worry. While it’s a lot to take in initially, you’ll quickly become a pro at caring for your new braces.

All you have to do is make some simple adjustments to your normal routine. You’ll also need a few new supplies, which your orthodontist may either provide in a care package or recommend what to buy.

To make sure your braces last and you get them off faster, follow all of these tips and start looking forward to your new straighter smile.

1. Be Careful What You Eat

As much as you might crave sticky or hard foods, avoid them. Ideally, you should avoid anything sticky that could get stuck in your braces, such as caramel, toffee and fudge. Sticky sweets can damage the wires of your braces.

Hard candies, nuts, popcorn and other hard foods have the potential to break or loosen your braces. You can still eat some harder foods, such as raw vegetables and fruits as long as you cut them into small pieces. You definitely don’t want to just bite into an apple as this could severely damage your braces. However, snack on an apple by cutting it into small bites first.

If this diet sounds terrible, just plan on treating yourself to everything you had to avoid after you get your braces off.

2. Check for Any Damage

In most cases, you’ll notice damage based on how your teeth and gums feel. As part of your daily orthodontic braces care, run your tongue along your braces to check for anything that may be out of place. Also, look in the mirror to ensure nothing looks loose or cracked.

While some pain and irritation are normal, especially after you first get braces and after adjustments, unusual pain could be a sign of damage to your braces. Schedule an appointment with your orthodontist immediately to check.

3. Always Brush After Eating

Food gets stuck worse than ever when you have braces. All the wires and brackets serve as a home to food particles and bacteria. The longer all of that stays in place, the more likely you are to have plaque buildup, and even worse, cavities.

Try to always brush after eating. Even if you don’t have time to floss, brush after every meal. If you need to, buy a folding travel brush to stick in your pocket or purse and a travel-sized toothpaste. A quick trip to the bathroom to brush helps keep your teeth healthier and food out of your braces.

4. Use A Floss Threader or Interdental Brush

If you try to floss normally, you’ll just end up with your floss wrapped around your wires or brackets. This leads to damage. By using a floss threader, which your orthodontist can show you how to use, you can weave the floss above and below the wires. This helps you further clean out bacteria and plaque.

Alternately, you can use an interdental brush. These resemble toothpicks with small bristles on the end. They come in both standard bristles and silicone bristles and easily fit into pockets and purses for quick fixes on the go.

Even if you weren’t a flosser before, now is the time to start. If plaque damages your teeth, it could throw off your entire orthodontic plan. It’s better to take the extra time to floss for healthier teeth.

5. Use an Air or Water Flosser

If you still hate dealing with floss, you can buy an air or water flosser. These use either air or water to blast away debris between your teeth. Make sure you use the flosser around every bracket and wire for an optimal clean. You may still want to carry some interdental brushes with you to pick out food while you’re away from home.

6. Brush Gently for Two Minutes or More

A quick brush isn’t enough to keep your teeth clean, especially while you’re wearing braces. For the best orthodontic braces care, always brush your teeth gently for at least two minutes every time. You may even want to add an extra minute to give yourself extra time to brush thoroughly around the hardware in your mouth.

Brushing too roughly or using harder bristles can damage your braces and cause more irritation. Always use soft bristles and brush gently. If you’re making your gums bleed or hurt, you’re brushing too hard.

Also, brush at least twice a day and always before you go to bed. This is in addition to brushing after meals.

7. Rinse with A Fluoride Mouthwash

Bacteria loves to hide around your braces. Keep your braces clean and your teeth healthier by always rinsing your mouth with fluoride mouthwash. Plus, you get fresher breath. After all, you don’t want people to focus more on your breath than your braces.

Rinse after brushing twice a day. It only takes 30 seconds to a minute for a healthier mouth and smile.

8. Use Dental Wax

Dental wax helps protect your mouth from irritation while wearing your braces. While you’ll usually get a small amount to start you off, make sure you keep using it. You can buy more dental wax to prevent rubbing.

9. Wear A Mouthguard While Playing Sports

If you play sports or are very active, always wear a mouthguard to protect your braces. While braces are durable, they can’t withstand hard hits, such as getting hit with a ball. Plus, your mouth is at risk too. If you get hit in the mouth, your braces could severely cut your lips and tongue. Having an oral cut and/or infection isn’t fun, especially if your braces rub and irritate it.

10. Follow All Your Orthodontist’s Instructions

The most important piece of orthodontic braces care advice you can get is to always follow your orthodontist’s instructions. They give you strict steps to follow, not as a suggestion, but as a way of helping you take better care of your braces and teeth while being treated.

Always make sure you go to every appointment. Your orthodontist needs to check that your treatment is going well, there’s no damage to your braces and to advise you on any changes you need to make.

The holiday season is here, and while we know everyone is looking forward to some well-deserved time spent relaxing and reconnecting with loved ones, things are a little more complicated for those wearing braces. While delicious, many of the foods and snacks we love to enjoy during the holidays can pose a serious threat to braces. To help you make it through the holidays without harming your braces, here are a few guidelines for how to keep your braces safe during the holidays.

Maintaining a Braces-Friendly Diet

Having braces doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy holiday treats, but it does mean you’ll have to be a little more careful than normal. In general, you’ll want to avoid 3 main kinds of food: hard foods, which can include hard candy, peanut brittle, peppermint, and raw vegetables; sticky foods, which can include taffy, caramel, bubble gum, and jelly beans; and any food or drink that’s loaded down with sugar or carbs.

Just because you have braces doesn’t mean you have to miss all the fun, though! There are plenty of delicious, braces friendly, and healthy holiday treats to dig into this season. Chocolate dipped strawberries or bananas are a great option, as are sorbets and frozen yogurt. If you’re feeling extra indulgent, nut-free cheesecake or brownies are a special treat – just be sure to brush your teeth afterwards!

Happy Holidays!!

Sezer Olcay, DMD

HOLMDEL ORTHODONTICS

723 North Beers Street Suite 2A Holmdel NJ 07733 – (732) 847-3065

https://holmdelortho.com/

It is that time.. when school will be back in session. New classes, new teachers and perhaps some new friends. There may be a few things that are different at school this year, your child got braces and has to go to school with them for the first time. Here are some tips to get them through the transition.

1. Braces Care Kit

Top priority is to keep braces and teeth clean. You want to be sure your child has a braces care kit. This includes a toothbrush, toothpaste, floss threads, and floss pickers to get out any extra food. Be sure your child brushes his/her teeth after every meal and especially after lunch or snacks in school .

2. Choose different foods
To make it easier, you can pack your child a lunch so they’re sure to have braces-approved food, based on what was told to you by your orthodontist. If you have to rely on cafeteria lunch tell your child to choose softer bite sized foods that are easier for chewing .

Also stay clear of hard foods like apples, chips and raw carrots that may be difficult to chew and can damage or break braces . Sticky snacks can also get stuck in braces and should be avoided, like caramel and gum.

3. Hydrate and Drink Water

Drinking water can help rinse food and bacteria from the mouth and keep braces cleaner during the day. Kids should choose water over soda and sugary drinks, as it is not only healthier, and does not leave stains on teeth.

4. Wear Protective Gear During Sports

Sports and gym classes are a big part of school days, and it is important to stay active. However kids with braces need to take extra care when being physically active at school. It is important to wear a mouth guard to protect your teeth and braces from impacts. It will help to avoid injury and is a safer way to protect teeth and braces. Contact us for a correct fit as it is important that the brace fits around the braces properly.

Going back to school is an exciting time for kids, parents and teachers. Having braces is very common and if kids keep their mouth clean it helps for better transition and keeps them looking and feeling healthier, achieving better results.

If you have any concerns or questions or perhaps want to schedule your child now to see if he/she is ready for braces please contact our office for a FREE consultation . You can also visit us at www.holmdelortho.com

Orthodontists are dentists that have had an additional 2-3 years of training to become a specialist in diagnosing and treating teeth and jaws which are in malposition.  All orthodontists are licensed dentists, however not all dentists are licensed orthodontist with the specialized training.

The American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) recommends all children get a check-up with an orthodontist at the first sign of an orthodontic problem, but no later than age 7.

What exactly is an orthodontic problem?

• Underbite when the lower jaw extends out, placing the lower front teeth in front of the upper front teeth.
• Overbite when the upper front teeth extend out over the lower front teeth.
• Crossbite when upper teeth sit inside the lower teeth.
• Openbite when the upper and lower front teeth do not overlap.
•  Widely Spaced Teeth spacing problems or missing teeth.
• Protrusion when the upper teeth extending too far forward or the lower teeth not extending far enough.
• Crowding when the mouth has insufficient room.
• Misaligned Dental Midlines when the back bite does not fit and match appropriately.

Any and all of these problems may be a cosmetic problem as well as causing difficulties with chewing, oral hygiene, or speaking.  Many adults are opting for orthodontic treatment, it is never too late to correct the issues.

Orthodontic treatment generally takes 12-36 months, so a convenient location for monthly appointments is important.

It is vital that the patient is comfortable with the office environment. Most orthodontic offices are open space, friendly and welcoming.

Available scheduling should be with sports and afterschool activities in mind as well as working parents and patients. Late day, evening and weekend hours make scheduling more accommodating and are a big plus.

Choosing an orthodontist that you feel comfortable with is important. You may have questions or concerns, so they need to be approachable and you need to feel relaxed asking.  You may also want to research where they trained and their professional affiliations.  Are they well trained and well respected by their medical peers?

Does their staff put you at ease and are they accommodating to the needs of the patient?

Orthodontic treatment is a lifetime investment, however, over the past 25 years it has actually became more affordable and accessible. If you have dental insurance and orthodontic coverage, it is usually financially wise to stay “in-network”. If you are changing insurances during treatment, it is advisable to read the fine print. Not all insurance companies cover “treatment in progress’.

HAVE QUESTIONS?

Holmdel Orthodontics would like to remind all our patients to be careful when they bite into their treats!  All those sweet, sour, and sticky candies may taste great, but these treats are known to damage teeth, as well as break braces, and delay precious treatment time!

Hard and chewy candies, caramels, taffy, nutty goodies, jelly beans, licorice, bubble gum, and sour candies can cause trouble for trick-or-treaters who are undergoing orthodontic treatment. Sour and fruity candies, such as Starburst and Skittles, are the worst candies for your  teeth. These candies have a low pH value, which can wear down the enamel causing tooth decay and cavities!

If you’re still looking for other braces-friendly alternatives, we recommend cutting up easy-to-eat fruits and vegetables such as an apple or banana. Soft chocolates and peanut butter cups are ok too!

Always brush and floss immediately after eating candy to fight cavities.  If it isn’t possible to brush right away, drink a glass of water to remove some of the sugar from your mouth.

Sugar is known to sit in your teeth. After consumption sugar sits in between and under brackets and wires. It is also important to know that sugar is not the only cavity-causing culprit. Carbohydrates, starches, acids, and any food that is chewy or sticks break down into sugar, and can promote tooth decay.

If you happen to damage your braces, please give us a call. Typically, small problems can be solved with a quick visit to our office. If you have any questions about sugary foods or drinks, please give us a call or ask us during your next adjustment visit! –

(732) 847-3065

Sezer Olcay, DMD

HOLMDEL ORTHODONTICS

723 North Beers Street Suite 2A Holmdel NJ 07733

Active and competitive sports have grown immensely over the past few years and it’s been estimated that about 20 million teens participate in a variety of competitive sports. With this huge amount of participation, the occurrence of injuries also increases substantially. It has been reported that almost 40% of all adolescent injuries occur in a competitive sports environment and most of those injuries are to the head, face and mouth. Athletes are more than 60 times more likely to sustain injuries to the mouth if not wearing a mouth guard. When receiving a blow to the head, the teeth and jaw often impact together and send a shock through the neck and spine, thus resulting in more substantial injuries that may have been preventable with a mouth guard.

What about wearing a mouthguard while in braces? Make sure your child always wears a mouthguard with braces while playing sports. April is National Facial Protection Month, and spring sports are in full swing and summer sports just around the corner! If your kids play contact sports like softball, baseball, tennis, or lacrosse—and especially if they wear braces—protective gear is absolutely essential.

There are many different mouthguards out there, however there are three basic types: pre-made, “boil-and-bite,” and custom-made. The “boil –and- bite” type is too tight fitting with braces and cannot be worn while in orthodontic treatment. Custom-made mouthguards are specially designed by your child’s orthodontist or general dentist to provide optimal protection AFTER the braces are removed. During orthodontic treatment a pre-made, loose fitting mouthguard is indicated. You want a mouthguard that doesn’t fit tightly around the teeth so that the teeth can move into alignment with the braces. At Holmdel Orthodontics, we provide orthodontic mouthguards for our patients in braces. Dr. Olcay will show your child how to wear his or her mouthguard properly.

National Facial Protection Month is sponsored by the Academy for Sports Dentistry, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, the American Dental Association, the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, and the American Association of Orthodontists. Visit their websites for more info on treating and preventing sports-related injuries to the face and head.

As a member of the American Association of Orthodontics (AAO), Dr. Olcay encourages your kids and their teammates to wear mouthguards and other protective gear—such as helmets, face guards, and protective eyewear—when playing organized and recreational sports.