Learn How to Take Care of Your Dental Veneers and Make Them Last for Years

If you have dental veneers, it is important to take care of them so that they can stay in good condition.  They are supposed to last for five to ten years. Whether or not they do, depends on whether or not they were installed correctly in the first place and how well you take care of them on a regular basis. 

There are some simple steps you can take in order to keep your veneers in good condition.  This starts by making sure that you are practicing good oral hygiene.  Make sure to brush your teeth using a soft toothbrush and do so throughout the day.  You also need to floss daily and use an antiseptic mouthwash in order to kill any lingering bacteria.  Get your teeth cleaned at the dentist office twice a year in order to kill any lingering bacteria and get cavities treated.  This is an important step because veneers are placed onto the surface of your natural teeth so if the tooth becomes infected it will impact your veneers. 

You should also watch what you put into your mouth.  Don’t bite your nails, chew on pencils, chew ice or hard candy since these can cause your veneers to either fall off or chip.  You can eat all of your favorite foods but avoid things that are known to be too hard for your teeth.  Use caution when deciding what you want to eat so that you don’t bite down on anything that could harm your dental veneers. 

When visiting our dental office ask us to look to see if there are any signs of you grinding your teeth.  If there are, then you need to wear a night guard when you sleep.  This will prevent your upper and lower teeth from touching which will stop the grinding and any clenching that you may be doing.  This is important because grinding can cause your dental veneers to become chipped or even fall off.  It can also give you a headache as well, so a mouth guard can help you to feel better in general. 

It is very easy to care for your veneers.  Just practice good oral hygiene and treat them like you would the rest of your teeth.  This will keep them in good condition.  As an added benefit, you don’t have to worry as much about your teeth becoming stained.  Veneers are stain resistant so if you are used to your teeth becoming yellow fairly easily; this will help.  They key to remember is that you need to whiten the rest of your teeth before your veneers are placed.  Since they don’t stain easily, they also don’t whiten like normal teeth.  By whitening the rest of your teeth first, the veneers will be created in the perfect shade of white and your entire smile will look amazing. 

To learn more about the process or how to keep them in good condition, give us a call. 

Learn About the Stages in Orthodontics You Will Go Through While Your Teeth are Being Straightened

While performing orthodontics treatments, we can straighten our patient's teeth and turn their smile into something healthy and beautiful.  Before getting started, we will examine your teeth to make sure that they are healthy.  It is important to remove any infection and treat any cavities so that your teeth and gums are in good shape prior to wearing braces.  It is far easier to treat the infection before starting the process than after.

Once your teeth are in good health, we will discuss your options for straightening them and the various things that you don’t like about your smile. By listening to your needs and concerns, we can make recommendations that are tailored to your specific needs and health.  Whether you straighten your teeth with braces, aligners or cosmetic dentistry, we can help you to improve your appearance and oral health at the same time. 

When using orthodontics to straighten teeth, there are several stages that you must go through before the braces can come off.  The first stage is to make sure that there is enough room for all of your adult teeth.  Many people have a pallet that is simply too small for all of their teeth and some need to be pulled or removed as a result. We offer an alternative solution where a metal expander is placed on the roof of your mouth and secured to your teeth. Every day for several weeks, you turn the device, and it slowly expands and pushes your teeth outwards.  As a result, more room is made for your teeth. Many children will wear an expander prior to getting braces as it can solve their overcrowding issues. 

Once there is room for your teeth, they can be moved into place using metal braces or clear aligners.  If metal braces are used, a bracket will be placed on each of your teeth, and a wire threaded between them.  The wires are held in place using rubber bands and over the course of the treatment; the wires will be adjusted in order to move teeth into position.  Typically, teeth are targeted so that they are not all moving at the same time.  This makes the process more comfortable, and a similar technique is used with aligners except that the aligners can be switched out at home. 

As your teeth are moving into place, your bite will also be adjusted.  It is important to have a bite that is perfectly aligned so that the upper teeth can fit securely over the lower teeth.  When we adjust your bite, we will make sure that your teeth are fitting front to back, side to side, and top to bottom.  By aligning your bite, your jaw won’t hurt as much; headaches can be reduced, and it becomes easier to eat.  This can be done by using rubber bands, headgear, and other orthodontics treatments. 

To learn more and to get a recommendation for how to straighten your teeth, give us call.