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Whether you’re using the latest note-taking app or old-school pen and paper, it’s a good time to start jotting down your resolutions for a healthier, happier New Year. To help the process along, we have some suggestions for traditional tooth-friendly resolutions—and also some ideas which might surprise you!

The Classics

• Brush and Floss Regularly

If you’re brushing for two minutes each time you brush, great work! Often, though, that two-minute window starts to shrink as our brushing routine becomes *too* routine. Try timing yourself while you brush normally. If you’re falling quite a bit short of two minutes, taking just a bit more time will be lots more effective in removing plaque from your teeth. And flossing is essential to remove irritating plaque and bacteria from between teeth and around the gumline.

Typically, dentists recommend brushing twice a day and flossing once daily. If the team at Davis Orthodontics recommends brushing and flossing more often to keep your brackets and wires free from food particles and built-up plaque, be sure to stick to this new schedule for a beautiful, cavity-free smile when your orthodontic treatment is complete.

• Use Fluoride Toothpaste

Fluoride toothpaste doesn’t just help prevent cavities by cleaning away plaque and food particles. It also helps make our enamel stronger. 

Acids created by plaque bacteria and acids in our diet dissolve minerals from tooth enamel, making it softer and more vulnerable to cavities. Fluoride bonds with the minerals in enamel to create an even stronger protective enamel coating. Check with your dentist or the American Dental Association’s website for the best toothpaste choices for healthy, strong enamel.

• See Your Dentist Regularly

Dentists typically recommend a full dental exam and cleaning twice each year. Your dental team will take X-rays as needed, examine your teeth, gums, and general oral health, and screen for oral cancer. A professional cleaning will remove plaque and tartar, which is especially important for gum health and for protecting the enamel near your brackets and wires, where plaque tends to build up.

Being proactive with your dental care means you’ll be sharing your healthy smile all year long—as well as discovering any potential problems before they can develop into major problems!

The Surprises

• Chew (Sugarless) Gum

When you’re not producing enough saliva, you feel the effects of dry mouth, including sore throat, difficulty swallowing, and bad breath. Another side effect? Poorer dental health. 

Saliva helps neutralize the acidic foods we eat, washes away bacteria and food particles, and contains minerals like calcium and phosphorus which remineralize tooth enamel. Chewing sugarless gum encourages saliva production. Check with Dr. Allen to see if it’s okay to chew sugar-free gum if you wear braces, and, if you use aligners, be sure to remove them before chewing and brush before putting them on again.

• Don’t Brush Right After Eating

Brushing after a meal is great to remove food particles like sugars and carbs which stick to our teeth—and braces—and which the bacteria in plaque thrive on. But if you’ve been eating or drinking acidic foods, it’s best to wait about an hour before brushing. 

Acids in foods, like acids created by bacteria, weaken tooth enamel. Brushing right away can be abrasive and damage enamel, but if you wait for an hour, the minerals in saliva have a chance to remineralize and restore your enamel strength.

• Toss Your Toothbrush

Not that we mean give up brushing altogether! But your toothbrush bristles start to fray and fan out after several months, meaning that you won’t be getting the full cleaning effects of your great brushing technique. Put a note on your calendar to replace your brush every three to four months for the best in plaque removal.

If you’re already following all these suggestions for protecting your dental health, resolve to keep up the good work! If not, give these easy-to-follow recommendations a try. Protecting your dental health is essential to gift yourself a new year filled with happy, healthy smiles in San Diego.

Why are New Year’s resolutions so often negative? A depressing reminder of things-you-should-be-doing-but aren’t. A new set of rules-that-must-be-obeyed. A nagging list of changes you should make right this very . . .  

No! That’s no way to start the year! Let’s make your resolutions for the New Year a positive, proactive guide to help you achieve your goals for the next 12 months. And high on that list? Creating a beautiful, healthy smile.

If you are working with Dr. Allen to improve the alignment of your teeth and bite, here are some easy, affirmative resolutions to make sure your treatment stays on track.

• Be Healthy

Brushing is always important. That’s why we recommend brushing at least twice a day, at least two minutes each time. But when you wear braces or aligners, brushing regularly is even more important.

After every meal and every snack, food particles collect around brackets and wires. If you wear aligners, food particles on and between the teeth can end up trapped there.

No one wants more opportunities for cavities to develop, so follow our advice on brushing and flossing around your braces whenever you eat a meal or snack, and be sure to clean your teeth before replacing your aligners.

• Be Thorough

Brushing carefully is important not just for preventing cavities, but for a brighter smile. And while you want a whiter smile, what you don’t want is white spots on your teeth. These discolored spots are caused by decalcification. What’s decalcification, you ask?

Bacteria and plaque stick to our teeth, and, when not brushed or flossed away, produce acids which eat away at minerals in our enamel. In places where minerals such as calcium and phosphorus leach out of the enamel, a white spot on the tooth appears. Left untreated, these weakened areas can develop into cavities.

Avoid having to deal with this discoloration when your braces or aligners are removed by careful brushing and regular professional cleaning.

• Be Safe

If you play sports or live an active life, you might already be using a mouthguard. Good for you! Mouthguards have prevented countless injuries. Now that you have braces, talk to Dr. Allen about whether a custom mouthguard is a good idea.

• Be Responsible

If you have braces, brackets and wires can come loose. You can reduce the chances of that happening by following our instructions on what and what not to eat, and by brushing thoroughly-but-gently with a soft-bristled toothbrush.

If you have aligners, follow the manufacturer’s instructions for caring for them. Exposing them to heat, or eating with your aligners in, or not keeping them in their case when you’re not wearing them, can cause warping or breakage.

If you have a retainer, always make sure it’s in its case when it’s not in your mouth.

• Be Adaptable

When you visit our San Diego office, ask us about better brushing tools and techniques, so once your braces or aligners come off, you’ll have a bright, beautiful, healthy smile as the reward for all your hard work.

• Be Finished!

Dr. Allen will give you precise instructions on when and how long to wear your bands or your aligners. Failing to put in the hours now means that you will have to spend more time in treatment later. And, of course, make sure you keep all your orthodontic appointments.

Resolving to follow our advice can bring you a healthier, happier smile before you know it. Positive goals lead to positive results, so let this be the year that your proactive resolutions lead to a lifetime of beautiful smiles.

As you near the end of your orthodontic treatment, you’re probably already imagining the day when your brackets and wires finally come off. Or the moment you’ve finished with your last set of aligners. That day might come just a bit sooner if Dr. Allen and our team recommend a positioner.

While not as well-known as other orthodontic treatments, a positioner is an appliance that can shorten your time in traditional braces and aligners by weeks or even months. Curious? Read on!

• What Exactly Is a Positioner?

A positioner resembles a clear mouthguard. Its arched shape is designed to fit snugly over your teeth. It’s sometimes called a finishing appliance, because it’s designed to make those last small adjustments to your alignment and bite. If you’re a good candidate for a positioner, it can replace your braces or aligners for your last several weeks or months of treatment.

• How Are Positioners Made?

This appliance is custom fabricated to fit your very specific orthodontic needs. Commonly, a mold is made of your teeth. A model of your teeth is made from this mold. Precision instruments are used to move the model teeth into your ideal alignment.

Once this model of your future finished smile is complete, it is used to create the positioner. When the thermoplastic material is molded to the model, it creates an appliance with an indentation for each individual tooth in its desired final location.

Available in a variety of materials, a positioner is most often designed as a clear single piece, covering both your upper and lower teeth. This makes sure that your teeth are not only aligned properly, but that your upper and lower teeth are working together for a healthy bite. Openings in the positioner provide airways which allow you to breathe easily.

• How Do Positioners Work?

Because your teeth haven’t settled firmly into place yet (this will happen as you wear your retainer), they’re still able to move. That’s why your positioner is shaped to fit your teeth in their future ideal placement, not where they are at present.

Positioners require your active participation. Your teeth move to the ideal spots molded into the positioner through “exercise”—biting down on your appliance for 15-20 seconds before relaxing your bite, usually every 10-15 minutes during your daily wear. The gentle force provided by your jaw muscles helps guide your teeth into position more quickly. Dr. Allen will give you instructions on just how to—and how often to—do these exercises.

• How Long Are They Worn?

Positioners are commonly worn at least four hours a day to start with and all night long, or Dr. Allen might recommend 24 hour a day wear for the first week. As you progress, you’ll wear them for shorter periods during the day, gradually tapering off until your treatment is complete.

Depending on the amount of correction that’s still needed, positioner use ranges from several weeks to several months. One thing that will ensure that your time in a positioner is as short as it can be is your willingness to follow our instructions. The speed and effectiveness of your final tooth movements is largely up to you!

• Caring for a Positioner

Gentle treatment is best. Clean your positioner before and after wearing it using a toothbrush and mild toothpaste. Never boil it or expose it to heat. We will give you instructions for how to clean it more thoroughly, if needed.

Like retainers, clear aligners, and mouthguards, a positioner needs to be protected when it’s not in your mouth. Your positioner will come with a case, so be sure to use it!

Positioners aren’t recommended for every orthodontic patient. But if you feel this might be an option worth pursuing, talk to us when you visit our San Diego office. A positioner could be an effective, time-saving step on your path to a lifetime of healthy smiles.

One exciting part about wearing braces from Davis Orthodontics is getting to choose the colors of your rubber bands. Orthodontists place elastic bands, or ligatures, over each bracket to secure the archwire in place. These rubber bands may be individual or connected, depending on your mouth’s needs. From Dr. Allen, you have the option of choosing the color of your elastics, which are changed about once every month at every visit. Our offices keep a color wheel handy to help you choose which ones suit you best!

Children and teens often enjoy picking different colors each month to express their creativity and coordinate their braces with outfits. Decorating your mouth with your favorite colors is fun for kids and takes some of the stress out of wearing braces. Adults who wish for subtlety have color options that blend in with the metal brackets and archwire. Common choices for adults include silver, clear, and gray tones.

Common Color Combinations for Rubber Bands

With individual ligatures for each bracket, you may choose different color combinations for special events. You can have alternating colors or place an entire rainbow over your teeth. Here are a few options to consider:

• School spirit colors
• Favorite sports team colors
• Patriotic colors
• Holiday themes

Some patients choose only one color to match their mood, personality, or favorite outfits. The palette of choices allows you to make bold statements with your braces or go for subtler tones that blend in with the metal structures. Keep in mind that bright colors make your teeth look whiter, while lighter shades, such as yellow and white, may cause your teeth to appear less bright.

What Your Rubber Band Color Says About You

• Red tones indicate that you are ready for action and take charge of your life with aggressive, forward-thinking steps.
• Blue tones are calm and relaxing. You are conservative and exhibit integrity when dealing with situations.
• Green tones represent growth and balance. You are level-headed and look for opportunities to grow emotionally and spiritually.
• Purple tones attract creative energies. You like to have fun and use your imagination in every aspect of your life.
• Orange tones indicate that you are optimistic and thrive in social situations where communication is open.
• Pink is a romantic color that represents a caring personality. You also enjoy having fun with silly games and endless laughter.