Most people think of their orthodontic journey in a passive way. They may take an active role in choosing the right doctor, but after that they let go of the reins and trust their medical provider and the appliance to do the rest of the work. And while professional expertise is crucial, there are active ways for you to engage with the process to not only enhance your results, but to also improve your chances of long-term success. Think of it as a partnership where you can actively engage throughout the process while partnering with your orthodontist. Here are some of the lesser known approaches that can give you better outcomes and healthy, straight teeth for a lifetime.
Consistent Cleaning Routine for Appliances
If your appliances aren’t clean, then neither are your teeth. Whether you have fixed braces, expanders, or removable clear aligners, keeping food and crud off of them is essential. When you brush your teeth with braces for example, it’s important to also clean the brackets and in between spaces thoroughly. If you have removable options like clear aligners or retainers, you’ll need to also keep those trays clean.
Toothpaste and denture cleaners are of course decent options, but some of them can be too harsh for plastic on clear aligners and can damage them. You need solutions like cleaning tablets for Invisalign that are designed specifically for clear aligners. These tablets are fizzy and made to clean the clear trays without causing any damage. By keeping your appliances clean, you can have a healthier mouth, which means you’ll have a greater chance of success in your oral health.
Optimize Your Nutrition
Nutrition matters when you are moving teeth and bones around. You need enough nutrients to help keep your teeth and jaw strong and to have healthy gums. When you add the right foods to your diet, you can improve your enamel strength as well as reduce inflammation. Some of the best nutrients include dairy products for calcium, vitamin C for antioxidant support, and even vitamin D3 through supplements or getting out in the sunshine.
Another thing to consider is the pH of your mouth. Foods that lower the pH can lead to increased tooth decay. Additionally, foods high in sugar can cause bacteria to thrive, also leading to a higher potential for cavities and other forms of decay.
Consider Craniosacral Therapy to Improve Teeth Movement
Craniosacral therapy, or CST for short, is a little known treatment option to help relieve the tension in the fascia in the skull to allow for more movement of the teeth. In this hands-on gentle modality, practitioners focus on releasing specific restrictions in the nervous system. The skull, spine, sacrum, and jaw are the areas that they focus on. Using gentle touch, they are able to help the body release tension from the fascia which supports the nervous system and helps the bones move around during orthodontic treatments.
One of the things that it does is to help the nervous system adapt and change. It also helps to support the airway which is often impacted by crowded teeth and smaller jaws. Patients who undergo this type of bodywork often notice that changes happen more quickly and with less discomfort.
Explore and Mitigate Oral Ties
One of the reasons why people experience a relapse of crowded and crooked teeth later on in life is because they never address the root causes of the issue in the first place. By getting to the root cause of the crowding, people experience long term success and straighter teeth.
One of the issues often seen in orthodontic patients is midline issues including tongue and lip ties. These ties restrict movement of the tongue, which can restrict the growth of the jaw. The cascading effect is that the teeth end up crowded, and it can even cause airway function issues and sleep apnea. By correcting the ties, orthodontic treatment can be more effective over the long haul.
Invest in Myofunctional Therapy to Improve Tongue Posture
Not only do ties affect jaw growth and increase restriction, but tongue posture does as well. Myofunctional therapy helps to correct these issues so that the tongue can sit properly in the upper jaw. These exercises focus on improving tongue strength, flexibility, mobility, and more. By also working the muscles in the face, it can improve nasal breathing, leading to better orthodontic outcomes.
Patients who pair their orthodontic treatments with these additional approaches find that not only is their experience more comfortable, but their teeth look better longer as well. And that is something to smile about.
