Information for our
patients.

If you have any type of orthodontic appliance, such as braces, clear aligners, fixed or removable plates or are wearing retainers, keeping your teeth clean is important. When daily routines are changed, it is easy to forget to do the things that we would normally do each day, but if you forget to clean your teeth properly you are more likely to get gum disease and tooth decay.

Brushing your teeth, three times a day, timed for five minutes with a little water, toothpaste and your toothbrush will go a long way. Make sure to do all the surfaces of your front and back teeth, including the biting surfaces of your teeth and those next to your tongue – not just where your braces are.

Push firmly enough to get your toothbrush past your braces and into your teeth and gums. Pay attention to the areas where your teeth and gums meet.

Change to a new toothbrush as soon as the toothbrush you are using no longer has straight even bristles and starts to look worn out or is more than a month old.

If your gums become red, sore and puffy then you need to slow down and clean these areas more – do not avoid them. The areas most missed are:

1. Bottom front teeth, where you need to open your mouth slightly and pull your bottom lip away from your teeth, so you can clean these teeth and your braces more easily.
2. The very back of your mouth, ensure that both your top and bottom back teeth are cleaned thoroughly.

We would prefer that you use a manual toothbrush morning and night and if you do use an electric toothbrush, then that can be used for the after lunchtime toothbrushing.

Also remember to use the small interdental (Christmas tree) brushes to clean between your teeth and around your braces and look in the mirror to make sure you’ve cleaned thoroughly each and every time.  These brushes are available at Woolworths and some chemists.

You should also rinse your mouth with water after drinking any fizzy soft drinks, fruit juice, flavoured milk or energy drinks. These all contain sugar, which leads to tooth decay.

You need to have regular orthodontic appointments to ensure that treatment progresses smoothly. We do like to see you every 6-10 weeks. It is important that at the end of every appointment another appointment is made as we do book out 8-10 weeks in advance. At these appointments your teeth are not checked for tooth decay or any other problems, so it is important that you also maintain regular visits to your dentist during your orthodontic treatment. 

If you realise that you will be unable to attend your appointment or miss an appointment please let us know as soon as possible so that a new appointment can be made. 

If you require a mouth guard for sport, we recommend you buy a clear Elastoplast mouth guard in an adult size. This can be bought at the chemist and we can mold this for you at your appointment. Be sure to bring it to your appointments as it can be remolded a couple of times before a new one needs to be bought. 

Hard foods are more likely to bend your wires—causing your teeth to move in the wrong directions. They are also likely to break your brackets and wires, which will also cause more problems. At this time, it is especially important to handle your appliances with care.

Hard foods such as apples, carrots and celery should be cut into small pieces, cooked or grated before being eaten. When eating meat with a bone in it, cut it off the bone first, otherwise you run the risk of breaking your braces. Fruit with a central stone, such as peaches, plums and apricots similarly need to have the stones removed before eating.

Other hard things to be avoided include:

• Crusty bread rolls, thin crust pizza
• Toast crusts, crumpets
• Hard taco shells
• Peanuts and other nuts
• Crunchy peanut butter
• Corn on the cob, pop corn
• Corn chips
• Pretzels
• Ice blocks and ice in the bottom of drinks
• Muesli bars
• Hard cough lollies
• Pens, pencils, rubbers, rulers and finger nails
• Pop top bottles
• Kettle Chips,Grain Waves, and Red Rock Deli chips

Sweet or sticky foods and soft drinks (including energy drinks) will cause tooth decay and should be avoided. Drinking water or milk is best.

Sweet foods to be avoided include:

• Lollies eg; StarBurst chews, Skittles, Toffee, Minties and Fantails
• Lollipops and Tic Tacs
• Coke, Fanta and non-diet soft drinks
• Chocolate and chocolate bars
• Cakes and buns
• Sweet biscuits and donuts
• LCM bars and Roll-Ups
• Honey, jam and Nutella

Keep your orthodontic treatment on track by continuing to wear your elastics as we told you. If you are unsure about how your teeth are moving or biting together, do not hesitate to contact us. We’re here to give you the best advice.

Things to watch out for are:*

1. Top teeth that start biting on top of, or behind, your bottom teeth
2. Your top and bottom teeth no longer bite together
3. Your top front teeth start to tip inwards

If you are running low on elastics, call us and we can arrange some more.

*If your treatment involves jaw surgery then your treatment goals will be different and you should call us with any questions about how you should be wearing your elastics and how your teeth should bite together.

If something breaks or loosens then you need to let us know as soon as possible so that an appointment can be made for it to be fixed. Please do not wait until your next appointment to let us know—otherwise there may not be enough time to fix it. 

If something breaks on the weekend, please call on the following Monday morning. Any discomfort can be minimised by covering the breakage with wax, cotton wool, sugarless chewing gum. It is usually necessary to repair breakages during school hours. 

If your teeth become sore, 

• Panadol or Nurofen may be helpful. 
• Eat soft foods such as tuna mornay, casseroles, soft sandwiches, chicken, scrambled egg, mashed potato, spaghetti, custards, ice-cream, yoghurt, smoothies or soup until you can go back to your normal diet. 
• A teaspoon of salt in a glass of warm water will help toughen up lips and cheeks against any rubbing of the bands and help prevent ulcers occurring. 
• If you get an ulcer, use a little piece of Gishy Goo over the area that is rubbing or digging in. You can buy Kenelog in Orabase from the chemist to use as well. 

Remember that after the first few days things do get better. 

When you have Aligners, a few simple guidelines need to be followed. Taking care of your appliances, together with a few simple precautions, will ensure the best possible treatment result, minimise your treatment time and make your treatment as trouble-free as possible.

• Relax. Aligners will initially feel tight and be difficult to remove the first couple of times. Most people get used to the use and feel of aligners within 2 to 5 days. Speech is rarely affected or will self-correct quickly and you will learn to insert and remove them quickly and more comfortably just be patient with yourself. 
• Aligners must be worn for at least 20-22 hours a day to be effective throughout your treatment. 
• Remove aligners for eating and drinking anything other than cold water and when you brush your teeth. 
• When cleaning your teeth, brush with a toothbrush, toothpaste (not whitening) and cold water. Start by leaving your aligners in and brushing them in your mouth, then take them out and brush the inside of your aligners and then your teeth as per normal. 
• Keep aligners, teeth, and gums healthy by tooth brushing with a soft bristle tooth brush every time you eat or drink before putting your aligners back in. 
• When your current aligners are not in your mouth, they are to be put in the grey aligner box, so they don’t get lost or damaged. 
• The grey aligner box is for your current aligners and the blue aligner box is for your old aligners. For example, when you are finished wearing aligner number 1 you put it in the blue box and aligner number 2 in your mouth in the grey box. When you are up to aligner 3, aligner 3 goes in the grey box, 2 goes in the blue box and number 1 goes in the bin. 
• If you lose or damage your aligners always move ahead to the next aligner before going back to an older one to keep treatment moving. 
• Aligners are to be changed every 2 weeks (unless Dr Freezer instructs otherwise) aligners will feel tight and you may need a Panadol or Neurofen the first day you change to your new aligners. 
• Aligners are trimmed with laser precision, however if your cheeks or tongue rub on the aligners use a salt water mouth rinse to toughen them. Do not cut your aligners. 
• If you do get any ulcers you can use some Kenalog in Orabase. It is available behind the counter at most chemist’s (This is the best for ulcers as it puts a protective shield around the ulcer and doesn’t wash away with saliva easily. 
• If you break off any of your attachments please make an appointment to see us so that we can fix this for you, attachments are needed to help move the teeth into their correct positions. 

 A Twin Block is used to correct the bite of people who have a small lower jaw and who have top and bottom front teeth that don’t meet together properly. It works by changing your facial muscles, modifying jaw growth and moving teeth within the jawbones. 

The Twin Block comprises two parts. An upper plate which clips onto the top teeth and another interlocking plate that attaches to the lower teeth. When you close, these two plates meet in such a way that they guide your lower jaw into a better position. 

 To be effective both plates need to be worn together and all the time for between six and nine months. Initially this may seem very uncomfortable. If this is the case only wear the plates for two to three hours in the first few days, then increase daily wear to full-time within a week. The earlier the appliance is worn full time, the quicker the result. Be comfortable wearing the appliance during the day before attempting to sleep with it in at night. 

• To begin with you may not be able to eat with your appliance but over one to two weeks of wearing you should be able to achieve this. With the plates in, first begin to eat soft foods, and when you are comfortable with this, you can eat normally with the plates in. 
• You may notice more saliva in your mouth for the first few hours – this soon returns to normal, it is your body’s response to something foreign in your mouth. Your speech may also alter a little initially, but with practice this also returns to normal. 
• In the first week you may experience some aches and pains. This is quite normal and if it occurs a Panadol or similar pain reliever may help. 
• Both plates should be cleaned in cold water using a soft toothbrush and toothpaste when you clean your teeth. Extra care should also be taken when you clean your teeth. 
• You will be seen one week after you receive your plates and then every 6-8 weeks to monitor your progress. You will need to bring your plates to all appointments. 
• Twin Blocks need to be taken out for sport, swimming, playing musical instruments, language lessons and cleaning your teeth. When they are out of your mouth keep them safely in a container. 
• If you have any queries or have broken the plates please contact the surgery as soon as possible for an appointment. 

A bite-plate is designed to prevent you from damaging your teeth if you grind your teeth at night. 

This appliance consists of a removable plastic plate, which fits into the top of your mouth and is clasped to some of your upper teeth. It is designed so that any grinding that occurs is against the plastic of the plate rather than upper tooth against the lowers. 

It can also help reduce a deep bite by allowing the back teeth to erupt. 

• You only need to wear this appliance at night whilst you are asleep and so it is an easy appliance to wear. You may notice an unusual taste initially, however, this will usually disappear within a few days. You may also notice more saliva in your mouth and so putting a towel on your pillow to start with may be a good idea. 
• When removing your plate make sure you place your fingernails under the clasps at the back of the plate and click it down to free it from your teeth. 
• Brushing the plate with a toothbrush and toothpaste and soaking it periodically in sterident will keep it fresh. Ensure the plug is in the sink and a small amount of water is in the basin to prevent accidentally dropping and breaking your bite-plate. 
• Please report immediately if you notice any breakages, looseness or other problems with your plate or if your teeth appear to be moving. Maintain regular dental check-ups with your dentist and please bring your plates to all your orthodontic appointments.