Wearing braces so that you can straighten out your teeth, correct your smile, and maybe even improve your oral hygiene? That is definitely worthwhile – but did you know many people make mistakes when wearing braces that reduce their effectiveness?
If you want to ensure that your braces are effective and the treatment is successful, you should try your best to avoid any mistakes. The best way to do that is by knowing some of the more common mistakes that you need to avoid:
- Eating food that is hard and crunchy
As far as possible you should stick away from any food that is hard and crunchy, and requires a lot of force to chew. For example you should stay away from apples, nuts, rock candy, and so on.
If you aren’t careful, hard food could crack your braces or damage them in other ways. Once damaged your braces will no longer be as effective, and you’ll need to visit your orthodontist to have them fixed – which could add to your costs too.
- Not thoroughly cleaning your teeth
One of the most difficult parts of wearing braces is the fact that it makes cleaning your teeth much more challenging. Both brushing and flossing are bound to be more difficult, and there are going to be more places for food particles to get stuck and plaque to gather.
Despite how challenging it is, while you’re wearing braces it is important that you thoroughly clean your teeth – and you could ask your orthodontist for advice to brush and floss your teeth with braces. If you aren’t thorough you could easily end up with cavities or gum disease, which will be a major setback.
- Skipping or delaying orthodontist appointments
No matter what you should never skip or delay your orthodontist appointments. At every orthodontist Birmingham appointment both your teeth and braces will be checked so that any issues can be identified early on.
If you delay or skip appointments, any damage may not be identified or your orthondist many not be able to make necessary adjustments to the braces. In other words the effectiveness of the braces will be affected, and it could take much longer before the treatment is successful.
- Looking for the cheapest option
Although there’s no harm in looking for a good deal when getting braces, you shouldn’t only look at the costs. Purely searching for the cheapest option is a recipe for disaster, and there are many horror stories out there about cheap or ‘DIY’ braces that have gone wrong.
At the end of the day your focus should be to look for a reputable and reliable orthodontist that will help you to straighten your teeth effectively and at an affordable rate.
- Fiddling with braces
Do you find that you often end up fiddling with your braces using your tongue, or even your fingers? That is a habit that you definitely want to avoid, as it can easily cause damage to them.
Every time you feel like you want to fiddle with your braces, you should find something else to occupy yourself instead. If you’re fiddling because there is food stuck in your braces, it would be better to brush or floss your teeth.
It should be easy to see why it is important that you avoid all of these mistakes. If you do avoid them your braces will definitely be more effective, and should be able to straighten your teeth a whole lot sooner.
Just remember that it is better to not rush your treatment. The braces will come off when they’re ready to come off, and your smile will be all the better for it.
