For many people, enjoying the warm weather involves touch football, bike riding, or other summer activities. While it’s great to have a good time, you need to preserve your smile as you participate in the fun. Approximately 40 percent of all sports injuries involve the face. Wearing a mouth guard can ensure that you don’t hurt your teeth and gums if an accident occurs. In fact, a mouth guard can reduce the risk of concussion by 50 percent.
Who needs a mouth guard?
Anyone who is involved in sports that could result in contact should purchase a mouth guard, including soccer, hockey, football, and basketball. Even non-contact activities such as skateboarding, horseback riding, and mountain biking could result in injury to your face or mouth, so you may want to consider a mouth guard as well.
Can adults wear mouth guards?
Absolutely. Whether you play on the community softball team or just like to throw the football with the neighbors, you are never too old to protect your smile.
What are the options for a mouth guard?
If you decide to look into getting a mouth guard, you have several choices. Inexpensive and available at any sporting goods store, pre-made mouth guards can be bulky and may not fit correctly. Boil-and-bite mouth guards are designed to conform to your teeth after you place them in scalding, hot water. Most dentists and orthodontists recommend custom mouth guards, which are created from molds of your mouth. Custom mouth guards offer the best protection.
Can I wear a mouth guard with braces?
Yes. During orthodontic treatment, you still need to worry about your mouth if you play sports. Because of the braces, you will need to wear a non-fitted mouth guard so that the appliance doesn’t damage your orthodontia.
Mouth guard for braces – Orthodontist in Sherman Oaks CA
Approximately 10 percent of adults clench or grind their teeth. Symptoms of clenching and grinding, also called bruxism, include headaches, jaw pain, and cracks in teeth. If you or a family member grinds your teeth, you can cause serious damage and discomfort.
These facts about bruxism will help you learn more about this condition:
You can hurt more than just your teeth
Most of the time, clenching and grinding is mild. In more severe cases, you can aggravate the jaw joints and cause TMJ-like symptoms. Mention any concerns you have to your orthodontist or dentist so that you can get proper treatment.
Bruxism and stress are connected
Feeling anxious or frustrated may contribute to bruxism. Currently, no one has identified all the factors that make people grind or clench their teeth. Certain competitive behaviors or personality types may increase the chance of teeth grinding.
It can happen at any age
Though you may not have issues with bruxism, you could develop them at any point in your life. In fact, children typically grind their teeth more than adults. Usually, they out grow bruxism by adolescence.
You may not realize you have an issue
Because bruxism often occurs while you sleep, many people don’t realize a problem exists. Earaches, headaches, unexplained facial pain, or tenderness around the jaw joints could indicate issues with clenching and grinding.
Treatment is available
Often, bruxism is mild enough that you don’t need treatment. If you do need therapy, your orthodontist or dentist can fit you for a mouth guard, a plastic appliance that covers teeth and eliminates damage from bruxism.
Dr. Fotovat is an Orthodontist in Sherman Oaks CA
In many cases, choosing an orthodontist is not a clear-cut task. Often there are a number of doctors to choose from in your area, and there are various skill levels, office attributes, and cost variations that may impact your decision. There are also different considerations based on whether the treatment is for yourself as an adult, or for your child. Either way, you should go prepared to your first office visit with a list of questions to ask. Each situation calls for its own specific questions, but here is a list of typical ones to get the ball rolling:
• What is your orthodontic experience?
• What types of braces are available for adults? For kids?
• Do you recommend braces or a different treatment in my case?
• What kind of braces will work best for my situation? Why?
• Is my child at the ideal age for treatment? What if we wait to pursue treatment?
• Is your treatment approach in one or two phases? What are the advantages of early treatment?
• How much discomfort should be expected? How do we treat it?
• How long will treatment last?
• What are the care requirements while wearing braces? Are there restrictions?
• Is sports participation impacted by wearing braces?
• How often are office visits necessary during treatment?
• Is follow-up care needed? What about retainers, and for how long?
• What are your fees? Are they fixed? What is covered? Are there any extra costs that might arise during treatment?
• Do you accept insurance?
Once you have gotten answers to these types of questions, you can decide whether or not that orthodontist and the suggested treatment plan is right for you. It’s important to be confident and comfortable about all aspects of orthodontic treatment, so interview multiple orthodontists in your search for the one who best fits your needs.
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Obesity, defined as an excess proportion of body fat, has reached epidemic levels in the United States. This condition presents health risks to many areas of your body, and takes a toll on just about every aspect of your life. What does obesity have to do with oral health? Recent studies have linked the development of obesity with oral bacteria.
By testing the saliva of overweight people compared to individuals within a healthy weight range, researchers have discovered an oral bacteria present in 98 percent of the obese subjects. Experts believe this bacteria is an indicator of developing an overweight condition. Also, they suspect that the bacteria may participate in the body functions that lead to obesity.
Preventing and controlling obesity usually begins with analyzing and changing your diet. A high glycemic diet, which generally means a diet high in sugars, contributes to weight gain. It is also connected with your dental health, because sugars in your mouth are converted into plaque. If plaque accumulates on your teeth and gums, the risk increases for tooth decay and gum disease.
While it will likely benefit your waistline to reduce the amount of sugar consumed, doing so will reduce your risks for oral disease. Likewise, regular dental checkups, proper oral hygiene including brushing and flossing twice daily, and smart diet modifications will also lower your oral health risks. As experts continue to investigate the connection between your mouth and your overall health, following recommendations for caring for your mouth will likely decrease oral bacteria and possibly limit your risks of other health concerns such as obesity.
Dr. Fotovat is an Orthodontist in Sherman Oaks CA
If your orthodontist has told you that you need to wear rubber bands as part of your treatment, no need to panic! Many braces patients before you have worn them and lived through it. Maybe if you understand the reasons that rubber bands can help you achieve a beautiful smile, it will be easier for you to wear them faithfully. Let’s learn more about the reasons and benefits of wearing your elastics.
Alignment
The brackets and wires of your braces align your teeth, but rubber bands are used to move your bite into correct alignment. The tension of the elastic creates pressure on the bracket that it’s attached to, and can correct an overbite or underbite. The phase of treatment to correct your bite is often the longest part of the process, but using rubber bands will hasten the movement of your jaw.
Following directions
Be sure to follow your orthodontist’s instructions completely. Failing to wear them as directed can lengthen your treatment time and may negatively affect your results. Your full cooperation in wearing the rubber bands will create the best outcome in the least amount of time.
Getting used to rubber bands
It takes a few days to get used to putting in your rubber bands, but after some practice it becomes simple. It’s normal for your teeth and jaws to be sore for the first week or less of wearing elastics, but the best way to decrease that time is to wear them faithfully. If you wear them intermittently, your mouth will be constantly sore because they don’t have a chance to get used to the extra pressure.
Tips
Some orthodontists require you to wear rubber bands while eating, and others don’t. Most patients are required to wear the elastics while sleeping. Just make sure you follow your doctor’s treatment plan specific to you. Wear your rubber bands if you play sports, unless you are wearing a mouth guard. Finally, continue to practice good oral hygiene as your orthodontist has instructed.
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There’s no denying it, teenagers put a lot of importance on looks. Teens want to look attractive, and often they don’t feel braces fit into that category. However, the straight teeth and beautiful smile achieved with braces does appeal to teens. That’s why many in this age group are excited about Invisalign, which improves their smile while looking good in the process. Why does Invisalign meet the needs of teens?
Invisible
Customized clear trays are snugly placed over the teeth, applying a small amount of pressure that concentrates on moving the teeth as desired. The trays are invisible, so they are not noticeable to others. Speech is not affected, so basically the teeth are being corrected in a stealth way.
Removable
Invisalign trays may be removed at any time, so they may be slipped out for special events such as prom or pictures. The devices should be worn as much as possible to achieve the full effect, but teens love the fact that they can be removed for important events.
Flexible
This product offers great flexibility, both in the ability to remove them as well as eating and maintenance. Patients can eat whenever and whatever they choose, without worrying about breaking brackets or parts that are attached to the teeth. Brushing and flossing is also easy because teens can simply take the trays out, perform hygiene tasks, and then put them back in.
Painless
Unlike traditional braces, there is no pain involved with Invisalign treatment. Nothing is tightened or adjusted; patients just wear their trays and then switch to another custom set of trays as directed by their dentist or orthodontist. Improvements occur while wearing the Invisalign trays, and teens don’t even realize it is happening.
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