Picking a Welcoming Clinic and Preparing for Every Stage

Crooked teeth can be quite the drain on your self-confidence over the years. You may find yourself covering your mouth when you laugh or not smiling with teeth in photos. To finally deal with the problem head-on, the best way is to locate a friendly Scottsdale, AZ Orthodontic Practice. The truth is that getting started is much less intimidating than most people think.

It’s really important to choose the right clinic, as you will be seeing them a lot over the next year. You want a place where the front desk staff know your name and where the chairs are actually comfortable to sit in. When you have a relaxed vibe and staff that are genuinely happy to help. It makes the whole thing fly by. A good team can make a big difference.

Your first visit is really just a meet and greet to see what is going on inside your mouth. They have this neat little digital scanner wand that maps your teeth, no messy impression putty involved. In minutes, you can see a 3D model of your jaw appear on a computer screen. It makes it super simple to see what exactly needs to be fixed.

They will talk you through all the different ways you can get your teeth straight, depending on your bite. Some people do well with clear trays that they can take out whenever they want to eat or brush their teeth. Others may need clear ceramic braces to correct a more complicated bite problem that trays can’t fix. You can choose the one that works best for your life each day.

Money worries stop plenty of people from going through this process, because they feel the monthly payments would completely drain their bank account. The fact is that most clinics are very understanding and will allow you to spread the cost over a couple of years. They’ll immediately look up your dental benefits to find out exactly what is covered. Knowing the numbers ahead of time means you can make a choice without stressing out.

Starting the process officially is really a very low-key, totally painless thing from beginning to end. When you sit down at Scottsdale AZ Orthodontic Practice, they just clean your teeth and carefully glue the hardware on. If you are doing trays, they may glue a few clear bumps on to help push the teeth with the plastic. You get all your instructions and go straight home.

The first weekend is typically an adjustment period, and your mouth might feel a bit tender or sore. Your teeth have never been pushed like this before, so a dull ache is just a sign that things are working. Eating stuff like scrambled eggs, smoothies, and soup for a few days gets you through the worst of it. By the second week, you barely even feel the pressure anymore.

If you have real brackets glued to your teeth, you have to be smart about what you snack on. Eating a bag of hard pretzels or biting into a whole carrot is just asking for a bracket to break. When the hardware breaks, your teeth stop shifting, which only delays the day you get everything off. Sticking with softer foods helps keep your progress moving right along.

Cleaning your teeth is a daily project, and it’s really important to keep on top of it. Food loves to get stuck in wires, and if it’s sitting there, it starts to eat away at your enamel. Bringing a travel toothbrush and brushing your teeth after lunch is a total lifesaver. Leaves your breath fresh and your teeth looking bright.

Expect to come back to the office every six to eight weeks to see how you’re doing. These short visits let the team change out a wire or give you the next batch of trays for the month. They check to see that your roots are moving just like the computer planned. It’s a quick pit stop to keep the momentum going.

Speaking up during these visits really helps the team that is caring for your smile. If a wire is poking your cheek or a tray feels too sharp, let the Scottsdale AZ Orthodontic Practice staff know right away. They can clip a wire or polish a rough edge in about two seconds flat to keep you comfortable. You don’t have to be home in pain ever.

At last comes that amazing day when the doctor says your bite is perfect and you can finally take everything off. They polish your enamel until it shines and you can look in the mirror and see a completely straight smile, a perfect smile. It’s often an emotional moment for people who have spent years hating their teeth. The minute you walk out the door, you feel like a new person.

Conclusion

Looking ahead, to maintain that new smile, all you have to do is wear a custom retainer at bedtime. It takes a good deal of time for your jawbone to firm up around the new root spots so they don’t drift. A super easy way to protect your investment is to wear a retainer before you sleep. That means you’ll have that perfect smile… forever.