4 Ways to Help Your Child with Braces Treatment
Contributing Author: Dr. Satish Pai
As a parent, you understand the importance of orthodontic treatment and want your child to have a healthy and straight smile. But your child might be apprehensive about getting orthodontic treatment, and here are a few ways you can help your child adjust to a life with braces:
Help Them Make the Right Food Choices
After your child has dental braces, he or she has to take care of many dietary restrictions. And this means not eating hard, sticky food like candy, popcorn, chips that might be your child’s favorite.
This might be a big adjustment for your child, and you need to help with the transition of reminding your child to eat only food that is friendly to their braces.
You can help your child by posting a list of things that he or she can’t eat on the fridge and also preparing innovative meals for them from the list of foods he or she can eat.
Dealing with Your Child’s Emotions
The older your child is, it’s more possible that he or she feels more apprehensive about getting braces. While your child might look forward to having a straighter, more confident smile, others might be very nervous at the prospect of how braces might look on them.
Let your child know it is okay to feel apprehensive about braces and have an open dialogue with them about what part of getting braces scares them.
Follow a Strict Oral Hygiene Routine
You must help your child set a strict dental hygiene routine after getting braces. Orthodontists generally recommend brushing after every meal gently with a soft bristle brush at a 45-degree angle. So, you can help your child create a handy dental hygiene kit for the times your he or she is not near a toothbrush at home.
Alternatively, remind your child to rinse their mouth after every meal with water if a toothbrush is not available. Flossing and mouthwash will be a requirement too, since food will get stuck in places the brush can’t reach after getting dental braces. Food getting stuck in hard to reach areas can lead to dental plaque, which in turn can cause severe gum diseases.
Help Them with the Discomfort
Your orthodontist will recommend pain medication to help your child deal with the discomfort of wearing new braces. The metal wires, braces can be a bit painful and also can cause initial bleeding in the mouth. You can help your child build-up their pain tolerance with the recommended over-the-counter pain reliever.
You can also make sure you have lots of bracket wax in stock too. Your child will need to apply a small amount of wax over the metal wires and brackets to make sure it doesn’t do too much damage and prevents mouth sores.
Making sure your child is confident enough to get dental braces is the crux of the matter. Prepare them in advance for the transformation it will bring in their physical appearance and provide them with adequate pain relief before and after application.
Remind them of the main payoff from getting dental braces — a smile that is straight, healthy and bright.
Author Bio – Dr. Satish Pai is an orthodontist and an Ivy League trained dentist who has and has served as a faculty at Columbia University. He believes that a perfect smile not only makes a person look great but feel great. As the founder of Putnam Orthodontics and a Partner at Brite Orthodontics, he is dedicated to providing the best orthodontic treatments to his patients. He also writes to educate people about everything orthodontics and the importance of correctly aligned teeth along with good oral health. In his free time, you can find him golfing, doing yoga or surfing, and spending time with this family.
