Now that we’re in June, Reading Orthodontic Group thought we’d tell you June is National Smile Month, which is a great time to remind all our patients to practice good oral hygiene between your visits to Reading Orthodontic Group.

Here are a few simple steps you can take to improve your oral health so that you may celebrate National Smile Month for many, many more years to come:

* Brush at least twice a day with fluoride toothpaste. Here’s a helpful video showing you how to brush with your braces on.
* Floss everyday to thoroughly clean between your teeth.
* Reduce your intake of sugary foods and drinks during your orthodontic treatment with  Reading Orthodontic Group.
* Visit your general dentist regularly (usually every six months apart).

If you have questions about any of these tips, we encourage you to give us a call at 610.374.4097.

We want everyone to get out there and share your beautiful smiles with the world! Have a terrific summer!

Reading Orthodontic Group is now recommending MI Paste for ALL of our patients.  MI Paste releases Recaldent^TM which adheres to the tooth surface and plaque. It releases calcium and phosphate into the saliva, which reduces the plaque effect on the tooth structure and remineralizes tooth surfaces. 

Any white spot lesions (scarring due to poor oral hygiene) which are developing because of plaque, can be treated with MI paste to achieve remineralization.  This will occur in fairly short periods of time; as little as two to four weeks. 

Cavities and decalcification of enamel (white spots) are on the rise due to the increase intake of energy drinks and sugared sodas.  The low pH causes demineralization of the enamel and the use of MI Paste can reverse this damaging effect.  MI Paste can help prevent plaque accumulation around brackets, wires,  and other appliances, and can assist the saliva in buffering acids produced by dental plaque.  In this way, a regular application of MI Paste during orthodontic treatment can prevent areas of developing decalcification (white spots).

 **This is a milk-based product.  We do not use this material on patients with a proven or suspected milk protein allergy and/or with a sensitivity or allergy to benzoate preservatives. **

At the Reading Orthodontic Group, we started recommending Mavala Stop about 18 months ago to help our patients stop sucking their thumbs. Thumb sucking habits are common and can be very detrimental to a person’s mouth and occlusion. Most often we see that when a young child has a persistent finger habit, it may cause the palate (roof of mouth) to become very narrow and the upper front teeth will protrude significantly (buck teeth). It can also create an openbite, which can affect eating, speech and appearance.

If openbites and protruded teeth are present in patients who have a finger habit (thumb sucking or finger sucking), we recommend Mavala Stop to eliminate the habit. We recommend that patients’ parents paint the product on the culprit thumb or finger EVERY night for four weeks. It has been 99% successful in our practice. The alternative to Mavala Stop is a tongue guard which must be worn for one year and is very effective. The difference is that we sell Mavala Stop in our office for $15 (you can get it at Amazon.com for about $9) and a tongue guard is priced at $920.

We believe that Mavala Stop and tongue guards are equally effective and seeing the difference in price point recommend that all patients try Mavala Stop first. It’s not like the other “paint on products” to prevent thumb sucking and we are thrilled that we can offer this over a tongue guard in our practice.

     Mavala Stop  vs.  Thumb Guard   

For more information, please visit Mavala Stop or visit us at http://www.fantasticsmiles.com/

Hope it works for you! 

       

We look forward to informing and educating you in the world of orthodontics.  Check in weekly to find out about the latest and greatest technology we are using.  You can also go directly to our website  for much, much more.