Protect Your Investment!
One of the most important things a person can do to keep their beautiful smile is to properly clean their teeth every day. Poor hygiene causes more office visits. At Innovative Orthodontics, helping our patients protect their valuable investment is something we’re serious about.
Tooth brushing is the first line of defense in removing food debris and plaque from around orthodontic appliances. It is important that orthodontic patients thoroughly clean their teeth with a toothbrush for a minimum of 2 minutes after EVERY meal (at least 3 times a day). If used properly, a manual toothbrush with a special orthodontic tip can successfully clean around braces; however, we strongly recommend the use of an electric toothbrush.
A Proxabrush is an interdental (between the teeth) toothbrush that you may use to clean underneath and around your wires and braces. Use the Proxabrush gently to avoid damaging your brackets and wires. The Proxabrush will help you to clean your braces while maintaining healthy teeth and gums.
Brush your removable appliance every day as a part of your regular brushing and flossing schedule. Because food particles and plaque can accumulate on your appliance just as they do on your teeth, soak the appliance as needed using a specialized retainer cleaner like Retainer Brite.
When you are finished brushing and flossing, rinse your mouth thoroughly with an anti-cavity fluoride rinse, such as ACT. If there is any mouth irritation from the braces, you may also rinse with Peroxyl, a hydrogen peroxide antiseptic mouth rinse. This will reduce inflammation to your gums and cheeks, and will help prevent infection and decrease irritation that may develop from your braces.
What to Do About Emergencies and Caring for Your Braces.
Orthodontic emergencies are rare. However, when they do occur, we are here for you! If you’re experiencing severe pain or have an appliance problem that you can’t take care of yourself, please call us!
Sometimes a wire can cause irritation. To resolve the discomfort, push the wire away from the area using the eraser end of a pencil or a cotton swab. If the wire cannot be tucked away, cover the end of the wire with a small piece of wax or a cotton ball. If the wire is irritating you and wax does not help, you can cut it close to the back of the last braces with nail clippers or scissors that have been washed and sterilized in alcohol. If you cannot resolve the wire irritation, please call our office for an appointment.
For a couple of days after an orthodontic adjustment, minor soreness and discomfort is a possibility. We generally recommend that you take an analgesic such as acetaminophen (e.g. Tylenol) or ibuprofen (e.g. Advil, Motrin). This, of course, is the protocol only if there are no known allergies to these medications. If you have an open sore, you can rinse with warm salt water to soothe the area
It is not at all uncommon to lose a separator during treatment. This is nothing to worry about and is not at all an emergency, but call our office on the next business day to see if it needs to be replaced.
If a brace comes loose from a tooth, it usually remains connected to the main wire and is not cause for an emergency visit. Tweezers can be used to reposition the braces if they flip around the wire and become a source of irritation. You may have a situation that requires cutting a wire or sliding a bracket off of a wire at night or over the weekend. If you need to cut a wire in case of emergency, you may use fingernail clippers that have been washed and sterilized in alcohol. Please call our office the next business day, so that we may schedule an appointment for you. Even if you have a regular adjustment coming up, it may be necessary to schedule a separate visit to repair the loose brace(s), since repairs of this nature usually take additional time.
Innovative Orthodontics Has Developed a Revolutionary Retainer Protocol
Now that you have finished active orthodontic treatment and are enjoying your beautiful new smile, you may be thinking that all of your work is over. Think again! You are now entering the most important phase of your treatment – LIFETIME RETENTION!
That may sound daunting, but it is not as bad as you think. Luckily, Innovative Orthodontics has developed a revolutionary retainer protocol to help you protect your investment FOREVER. We want you to smile with confidence for the rest of your life, and we have worked hard to eliminate all possible excuses and barriers to help you achieve that goal. But this guarantee comes with some very simple guidelines, as follows:
1) Thanks to our insistence on always staying on the cutting edge of technology, you are receiving your removable retainers as well as a set of unbreakable, 3D-printed models of your teeth in the perfect position. Proper wear of your retainers and proper care and storage of your models are essential to your lifetime retainer guarantee!
2) Wear your removable retainer(s) full time as instructed. For most patients, this is only for 3 months! This is ridiculously easy! No excuses!
3) Once you are given permission to switch to nighttime only wear of your removable retainers, you need to wear them while you sleep FOREVER, or until you feel like paying for treatment again! We know you have much better things to do with your money than that! If you stop sleeping in your retainers, your teeth will move, and they will move fast. Don’t let that happen!
4) If you lose or break your retainer(s), simply bring the 3D-printed models into our office IMMEDIATELY, and we will happily make you new, clear retainers on your existing models FREE OF CHARGE – FOREVER! GUARANTEED!
5) However, if we have to take a new scan of your teeth to have retainers made, you will be charged our cost for this procedure, which is $150 per arch ($300 for upper and lower). There are really only four reasons why retainers could not be made on your existing models: a) you don’t wear your retainers as instructed and you let your teeth move, b) you don’t bring the models in right away after you lose or break your retainers and you let your teeth move, c) you have significant dental work done, or d) you lose or damage your models. If you do have to pay for a new scan to be done, your new retainers will come with a new set of 3D printed models and a new guarantee! However, please do us all a favor — save your money and don’t let these things happen in the first place!
6) If a stabilizing wire was placed (usually behind the lower teeth in our patients with impeccable hygiene during treatment), and it breaks more than a year after it is placed, we recommend leaving it out to resume normal, unobstructed flossing. Your hygienist will thank us all! Your removable lower retainer will still fit and will be more than enough at this point to protect your result. And your guarantee will still be intact! However, if you choose to have it redone, there will be a charge of $300. Honestly, take that money and go on a shopping spree!
Please do not hesitate to ask one of our dedicated team members if you have any questions!
We love offering braces and Invisalign to New Jersey — We’re proud to serve South Jersey, Sicklerville, Woolwich Township, Mullica Hill, and Mount Laurel with great orthodontic care!
