Now that summer is over and everyone is back to school, Dr. Joe Pearson just wanted to take a minute to remind our patients to wear a mouth guard when playing fall sports, especially unorganized sports in your neighborhood.
Why everyone should wear a mouth guard while playing contact sports. This could be you if you don't.
A mouth guard protects not only teeth, but your lips and cheeks while wearing braces. A mouth guard is your best protection against serious sports injuries. The next time you’re in for a visit at Pearson Orthodontics, we encourage you to ask us for a mouth guard! A mouth guard is your insurance policy to safeguard your long term dental health. Sports injuries can require major dental expense throughout your life. It only takes a second to pop one in to prevent loss or damage to teeth. Even though they may be uncomfortable to wear and tough to talk with, it is nothing compared to the discomfort you would experience in an accident… so make sure you play it safe.
The American Association of Orthodontics created this video with Mia Hamm, Olympic Soccer Star! See what she has to say about wearing a mouth guard.
We hope this is a safe and productive school year for all our students! Let us know if you have any questions about sports safety while wearing braces. Leave a comment below. We would love to hear from you..
Some parents at Pearson Orthodontics ask if stopping a child’s nail biting habit is another positive effect of orthodontic treatment. Since nail biting can be harmful to braces by breaking brackets and bending wires that delays treatment, Dr. Joe Pearson feels that finding ways to curtail the habit is in our patient’s best interest.
Here are a few facts about nail biting… technically called “Onychophagia”.
- About 30 percent of children aged 7-10 bite their nails
- About 45 percent of teenagers bite their nails
- About 25 percent of young adults bite their nails
- Only about five percent of older adults bite their nails
Nail biting is considered to be a stress induced habit that peaks during the teenage years and usually is overcome as an adult. Besides the fact it can damage braces during treatment if the habit persists, it can be harmful in different ways:
- Your fingers are pretty much involved in almost everything you do and they are a walking germ fest. Your fingernails are twice as dirty as your fingers. When you bite your nails… do you need to read more?
- If nail biting is severe and involves the cuticles and breaks the skin, the germs transfer from the mouth to the open wound and can cause infection.
- It is also a poor reflection on a person’s image. No one likes to watch a person bite their nails, especially a teenager or adult. Bitten nails are far from attractive in comparison to manicured nails, especially in the business world.
- Teeth are not meant to chew all the time. Nail biting tends to keep your teeth in constant motion, which can wear them down faster than a non-nail biter's. It places stress on front teeth, can weaken them, and may contribute to the teeth becoming crooked or misaligned.
The good news is many orthodontic patients report that they are unable to continue their habit while wearing braces, which leads to breaking the habit. As your bite changes during treatment, their teeth no longer come together correctly. After a couple years of braces, patients usually lose the urge to bite their nails and generally overcome the problem.
Whether you have braces or starting orthodontic treatment, breaking the habit of nail biting is a good choice. It is healthier not to bite your nails and we suggest you keep them trimmed well during treatment.
The technical term for a “bad bite” is a malocclusion. There are many different types of malocclusions depending on what the exact nature of the problem. Sometimes, a poor bite only develops on one side of the mouth instead of both sides. This situation, which is commonly known as a crossbite, happens because of an asymmetry of the teeth or jaw. This lack of balance can occur when some of the teeth on one side are lost, or if they never come in at all.
In a bi-lateral crossbite, (meaning one side only), the top teeth on one side close either outside or across the bottom teeth. This happens because the lower jaw shifts from side to side when the mouth is closing in an attempt to correct for the mismatch of the upper jaw and the lower jaw. This shift creates a misalignment of the teeth.
The Perfect Smile
Have you ever given any thought to what it actually means to have a “perfect” smile? Most people when asked this question will conjure up mental images of models and Hollywood actors with dazzling teeth. However, there is an actual medical definition of the way the teeth are meant to fit together. The word “occlusion” refers to the alignment of the teeth and the way the upper and lower teeth fit together (bite). Ideally, all upper teeth fit slightly over the lower teeth, just like the top of a house sits over a basement. All teeth are lined up straight and spaced evenly. The upper teeth keep the cheeks and lips from being bitten and the lower teeth protect the tongue. Not all people are so lucky as to have this medically “perfect bite.”
There are any many problems that can lead to a malocclusion, or “bad bite”. For example, crowding of teeth, too much space between teeth, extra or missing teeth, cross-bite, over-bite, and under-bite are all types of malocclusions. Also, various irregularities of the bone structure in the jaws and face can also lead to a malocclusion. Basically, a malocclusion is any misalignment of the teeth or incorrect relationship between the teeth of the two dental arches.
Read more on Avoiding a Crowd in Phoenix, Chandler and Tempe AZ……
