At Hamilton and Whitecotton Orthodontics, we have been creating beautiful smiles for years. Whether you or your family have visited Dr. Todd Hamilton and Dr. Bryan Whitecotton and our team for a single visit or have been loyal patients throughout the years, we would love to hear your thoughts about your experience! In fact, we encourage you to leave a few words for us below or on our Facebook page!
We look forward to reading your feedback!
So, you just got your braces on, and you're wondering why you should continue visiting your general dentist since you’re seeing Dr. Todd Hamilton and Dr. Bryan Whitecotton every other month. Patients always ask us if they should continue to see their dentist while in orthodontic treatment. In short, the answer is yes.
Today, we thought we would share a few reasons why it’s crucial to keep up with your regular visits with your dentist in addition to coming in for your regular adjustments at Hamilton and Whitecotton Orthodontics.
One of the best reasons to visit your dentist while you undergo orthodontic treatment is to remove plaque and tartar. Having braces provides additional nooks and crannies in which food particles and bacteria can hide. Eventually, plaque and tartar can form around your brackets, bands or other appliances which can lead to cavities. Having your teeth professionally cleaned can help ensure most, if not all, plaque and tartar is removed. Even if you are undergoing clear aligner treatment, dental checkups and cleanings are equally as important.
The next reason to visit a dentist is to help protect your teeth from decalcification, or the loss of calcium in your teeth. A potentially serious condition in which white spots on your tooth surfaces, decalcification is irreversible and if left untreated, can lead to cavities. Decalcification is preventable; patients who cut down on sugary sweets and acidic foods, practice good oral hygiene, and visit their dentist regularly can help prevent decalcification.
The final reason we recommend visiting your dentist while you have braces is this: cavities can prolong your treatment. If you are interested in completing your orthodontic treatment on time and without any delays, visiting your dentist every six months or as recommended can go a long way toward making that a realistic goal. Your dentist can provide fluoride treatments or other treatments that strengthen your teeth and protect them from cavities.
Making sure to visit your dentist will help ensure your teeth look their best once your braces come off. If you do not have a general dentist and would like a recommendation on finding one in the Denver, NC area, please give us a call or let us know at your next adjustment appointment!
Healthy teeth make you happy to share your smile with the world. But there’s more to your smile than its beauty! There’s a lot of hard work going on, too.
Teeth Are Designed for Efficient Eating
Because humans are omnivores, we can eat both meat and plants. That’s why our teeth have different shapes—they’re meant to help us process different types of food.
So: Incisors and canines bite and tear food into smaller pieces, which molars and premolars then crush and grind into a paste. Bite, tear, crush, grind—why all this food aggression? Because that’s the key to healthy digestion.
Successful digestion begins with chewing. Chewing:
When biting causes you pain, it can be hard to chew food. Swallowing becomes difficult when food particles are too large, and digestion becomes uncomfortable.
Bite pain can occur when there’s a deep cavity or an injured tooth, but it can also be caused when the teeth and jaws don’t fit together the way that they should. This misalignment is called a malocclusion, or bad bite. And while a malocclusion often makes eating more difficult, it can have further damaging effects as well.
Teeth Are Designed to Be Good Partners
While eating is probably the first thing that comes to mind when we think about dental duties, our teeth also work in coordination with other parts of our bodies. A malocclusion can interfere with these normally smooth interactions, affecting:
Biting, chewing, and clenching put hundreds of pounds of pressure on our teeth and jaws. A misaligned bite misapplies this pressure, which can lead to damaged and unevenly worn teeth, tooth grinding, headaches, jaw pain, and other problems.
Our teeth work with our tongues and lips to form many of the phonetic sounds which make up speech. Try saying the word “teeth,” and see how your tongue and teeth work together! Misaligned teeth and jaws can affect speech development in children and pronunciation in children and adults.
Our teeth and jaws help give shape to our faces. Alignment problems can affect facial symmetry and self-confidence.
You Can Help Your Teeth Work Their Best
Daily brushing and flossing, eating a healthy diet, and regular visits to your dentist for exams and cleanings help your teeth perform their many daily duties. But if bite problems are causing troubles with eating, tooth or jaw pain, difficulty speaking, or self-consciousness, it’s time to team up with your orthodontist.
And just like your everyday dental care, orthodontic treatment works best with your active participation.
Talk to your orthodontist to learn more about how to help your teeth work their best for you—and be ready to share that beautiful, hard-working smile!
Whenever we bite down, we’re applying force with our jaw muscles. Functional appliances direct these forces to create healthier tooth and jaw alignment. They’re used to help correct bite problems and to encourage symmetrical jaw growth.
Functional appliances aren’t always necessary. Because every child’s teeth and bite are different, orthodontic treatment at our Denver, NC office is carefully tailored to your child’s individual needs.
A severe Class II malocclusion can be caused when the upper jaw or teeth are positioned too far forward, and/or the lower jaw is too small or positioned too far back. Common Class II malocclusions include:
Today’s functional appliances come in a variety of designs to treat Class II malocclusions. They can be fixed or removable. They can be used with or without braces. Some are designed to expand the upper palate to make sure there’s room for all the permanent teeth. What they all do is advance the position of the lower teeth and jaw to create a healthier, more comfortable bite.
Fixed devices are attached to the teeth and meant to be used full-time. These include the Forsus™ device, the Herbst® appliance, and the MARA appliance.
This appliance works with braces. A spring coil rod is most often attached to bands on the first molars on the upper jaw. It’s then connected to the arch wire on the lower jaw. Just like elastics—but more effective!—these spring coil rods provide gentle forward pressure that encourages the lower jaw and teeth forward.
The Herbst appliance also applies forward pressure to the lower jaw using telescoping rods connecting the upper and lower teeth. The rods expand as the mouth opens, and telescope together as it closes, positioning the lower jaw further forward while the upper jaw is held back. The Herbst can be worn alone or with braces, and can also be used to expand the upper palate.
The MARA (Mandibular Anterior Repositioning Appliance) uses an adjustable “elbow” piece connecting bands on upper and lower molars to guide the lower jaw and teeth forward when the jaw closes.
Removable appliances such as Bionator and Twin Block appliances can also improve Class II malocclusions. They are meant to be worn for a specific number of hours each day, and can be taken out for sports or other activities as needed. Because it’s essential to get all the necessary hours in, removable appliances require commitment!
A bionator is made of wire and acrylic, and it looks a lot like a retainer. The wire fits around the upper front teeth. It’s attached to a smooth piece of acrylic that sits behind the upper teeth and is shaped to guide the lower jaw forward when biting down. The bionator can also be adjusted to expand the upper palate.
The twin block appliance uses two separate pieces made of wire and smooth acrylic. Both pieces are modeled to fit precisely over the upper and lower arches. The acrylic “blocks” fit over the biting surfaces of the teeth, working together like a 3D puzzle. When your child bites down, the upper blocks slide into place behind the lower blocks, pushing the lower jaw and teeth forward. The top plate can also be adjusted to expand the upper palate if needed.
Because these appliances are best used while a child’s bones are still growing and developing, dentists and orthodontists recommend an orthodontic evaluation by age seven. Early treatment with a functional appliance can help correct serious bite problems before or together with braces. In some cases, functional appliances may reduce the need for headgear or surgery.
Todays’ orthodontic technology has made functional appliances more comfortable and efficient than ever before. Talk to Dr. Todd Hamilton and Dr. Bryan Whitecotton to discover how an individualized treatment plan and a custom appliance can give your child a healthy bite and a lasting smile.
