How To Teach Your Kid About Their Braces
When your child needs braces you want to learn all about caring for their braces. This way, you will be able to properly educate your child on their braces and remind them of specific things in the case that they forget. Here are things you and your child should know about braces:
The discomfort is temporary
When your child first has braces put on they will more than likely experience discomfort. This can scare them and cause them to fear that this discomfort is going to last for as long as they are wearing the braces. However, this is not true. Reassure your child that this discomfort should pass in a few days and then they will feel back to normal. However, you also want to let them know it will be normal for them to feel discomfort again when they go in to have the braces tightened. You can give your child an over the counter pain reliever to help alleviate their discomfort.
They must brush each time they eat
You may have had a hard-enough time getting your child to remember to brush their teeth when they wake up and before they go to bed. Now, you'll have to significantly increase their number of tooth brushings to include them doing it after every meal. Since there will be times when they eat away from home when they are at school and maybe when hanging out at a friend's house, you should get them a small travel kit that has a travel sized toothbrush and tube of toothpaste they can discreetly carry with them.
Teach them how to floss with their braces in place
It's difficult enough to get kids to floss, but then when you throw braces into the mix it can be a catastrophe. Luckily, there are tools to make it easier. You can get them a floss threader that makes it easy for them to thread the floss around the wires so they can get food out of their teeth without having floss get tangled up in their braces.
Show them how to use a water pick at night
Sometimes all the brushing and flossing in the world isn't enough to work some food particles out of the brackets and wires of braces. This is why it's a good idea to arm your child with a water pick. Show them how to use it to blast anything still in their teeth and braces right out before they go to bed each night.
Contact a cosmetic dentist for more help.
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