For those of us who haven’t gone to school for dentistry or orthodontics, some of the terms your provider may use can be a bit confusing. As a patient it’s important to understand how different parts of the mouth work together to create healthy teeth. From the jaw up to the tooth, each part inside the mouth is important to a healthy smile! It’s always beneficial for a patient or a parent of a patient to know a bit more about what’s going on behind the scenes during treatment. Dr. Joseph Porter at Porter Orthodontics share important topics to know before heading into a consult.
The Tooth
Many people don’t know this, but teeth are joints too! The space where the tooth connects to the jaw and gums is a joint called a gomphosis. The tooth is the only example of this variety of joints in the human body. A gomphosis joint is similar to a peg in a hole and is a stationary joint, which means it is not capable of movement on its own. The part of the jawbone that the teeth connect to is the alveolar bone, and is part of the tooth joint system. Essentially, it moves your teeth when you chew, swallow, or talk.
The tooth itself is composed of four layers of tissue. Three of these layers are hard tissue, which means they are calcified. The enamel, dentin, and cementum make up the hard parts of the tooth, while the pulp, a soft tissue, houses the nerves present on the inside of the tooth. The pulp is the only layer of soft tissue within the tooth. The cementum covers the root of the tooth below the gum line.
When it comes to braces treatment, one concern that often arises is the appearance of white spots on the teeth. Many patients wonder if this is a normal occurrence. Similarly, tooth whitening is a topic that dental professionals frequently address. If you’re seeking effective ways to whiten your teeth and maintain their shine, Dr. Joseph Porter at Porter Orthodontics have got you covered.
In this post, we will explore:
Understanding White Spot Lesions (WSLs) with Braces
Invisalign is awesome; it gives you an amazing smile without anyone ever noticing it doing its hard work. Mild soreness after switching your Invisalign trays is completely normal but uncomfortable. To help you manage any Invisalign pain, here are a few tips from Dr. Joseph Porter at Porter Orthodontics.
Switch Your Aligners Before Bed: Switching to your next set of Invisalign aligners is what typically triggers any pain or soreness. Putting your new set of trays in right before you go to sleep means the tightness and pain associated with the tooth movement can be avoided for at least the night. And, by the time you wake up the worst of it will be over!
Stick to Soft Foods: As always with a new orthodontic appliance or a change in your mouth, soreness can be helped with a soft-food-only diet, at least for a couple of days! We recommend stocking up on some soft braces-friendly food before you know any pain will set in. Here are some ideas:
You might be considering getting braces to help straighten your teeth. Congrats! Before you make a decision about which treatment path is best for you, it’s important that you ask your orthodontist some key questions. In this post, we’ll cover what you should ask about the treatment process, the cost of braces, and what to expect after your braces or Invisalign treatment starts, with insights fromDr. Joseph Porter at Porter Orthodontics.
What Does My Treatment Timeline Look Like?
You should always ask your orthodontist for a description of the treatment plan, as a patient it is crucial to at least have a basic understanding of what will be going on in your mouth over the next few months. This will help you to understand what is going to happen during treatment and what you can expect in terms of results. And, understanding your treatment helps you to make more informed lifestyle choices, motivates you to maintain oral health, and helps you plan for costs down the road. our orthodontist will be happy to share where your treatment is headed with you!
Vitamins and minerals are an essential part of your health. But vitamins are good for more than keeping your energy up or gut health, they are integral to good oral health as well. Your teeth are bones just like those that make up your arms and legs and therefore need the same support as the bones in the rest of your body.
Vitamins are essentially an all-around preventative measure for common oral health issues. Improving your mouth’s health every day with vitamins is a proactive way to ensure a pain-free healthy dental experience. Dr. Joseph Porterat Porter Orthodontics recommends these vitamins for tooth health to strengthen your enamel and promote jaw health.
Diet is an important aspect of good oral health. Beyond brushing and flossing every night, it’s also good to understand which foods are doing the most damage to your teeth, and how to lessen or avoid that damage altogether. As you shop, it always pays off to check labels for high sugar content, high levels of acid, or ingredients you’ve never heard of, but here are some tips from Dr. Joseph Porter at Porter Orthodontics about foods to watch out for. It is always best to be mindful of what goes into your body!
Which Foods are the Worst for Enamel
Sugary drinks and sodas are harmful to enamel. However, some products aren’t as obvious as others. Healthy teeth can be damaged by sports drinks. As a matter of fact, the term “erode” is more appropriate, especially when wearing braces. By demineralizing your teeth, these drinks reduce the minerals in the outer enamel and dentin (dentin is yellowish, calcified tissue under the enamel). The enamel underneath the braces covered by the brackets is not affected.
Erosion of the teeth is common. Due to acidic destruction of enamel and dentin, tooth structure is lost. Acidic substances like sports drinks, sodas, and candy can cause dental erosion. Everyone knows about candy and soda. Sports drinks, on the other hand, are not thrown into this group of tooth killers. When citrus flavoring is added to energy drinks and some flavored waters, they can be just as harmful as those that contain caffeine.
Another thing that can dissolve enamel quickly is alcohol. Most alcoholic drinks are very high in acid content, and mixed drinks made with soda or fruit juices typically have the most. As we discussed, if left on the teeth too long, acid can erode the enamel,and increase your risk of disease-causing bacteria.
Additionally, your alcoholic drink of choice most likely has sugar in it. Sugar is bacteria’s best friend because bacteria feed on the sugar left on your teeth and leave acid behind. Additionally, many wines and spirits contain dyes that can stain your teeth. Avoid colorful drinks and red wines to keep your teeth bright and healthy.
Surprisingly Sugary Foods to Avoid
Foods that are hidden culprits of high sugar often seem healthy. For example, smoothies out and about are deceptively sugary. In many situations, what seems like just blended fruit and ice may not be a healthy drink. Menus at popular national smoothie bar chains often contain over double the recommended daily sugar intake. As you watch them make the drinks, notice few only use fresh or frozen fruit. Most use sugar flavored fruit syrups from a bottle that contain high amounts of sugar.
Like smoothies, juices also tend to have more than the recommended daily sugar content. All too often juices at the grocery contain names and photos of healthy fruits, and in reality have very little of those fruits in them. Processed sugar is often a top ingredient in these fruity drinks. Just because a drink on your grocer’s shelf has the name of a fruit in its title does not necessarily make it a healthy choice.
Another item you wouldn’t consider necessarily full of sugar are prepackaged lunches. These products are certainly convenient, but aren’t really a healthy option, especially to eat consistently. Often, foods with preservatives and highly processed snack foods actually have a wealth of sugar. The varieties that include both a dessert and a drink are double trouble.
Granola is another prime example of a food that is usually advertised and lauded as a healthy choice. But, granola contains sugary coatings used to keep clusters together and mask the “blander” tastes of the fibrous foods that actually offer a benefit. Limit your granola to a small amount mixed with yogurt and choose wheat-based cereals over their granola-sugar-laden brother. Read the labels to determine sugar content before you buy.
