Sugary Treats on Valentine's Day
Valentine’s Day can be filled with sugary candies and treats that stick to your braces or break them off. Sticky or crunchy foods can break your appliances, damage your teeth, and slow down your treatment. Maybe skip the sugar and look for options instead. But if you do indulge, remember to brush thoroughly after eating.
Can I play sports during orthodontics?
Kids and teens can absolutely play sports while wearing braces or Invisalign. While injuries can happen at any time when playing sports, protecting your mouth and teeth during physical activity can reduce the risk of dental injuries. Hockey, lacrosse, wrestling are some common sports with the regular use of mouth guards. Other sports like basketball, baseball or soccer may or may not involve mouth guards. Talk with your sports leader about recommendations.
Orthodontics 20 years ago often involved extractions, surgeries, lengthy treatment times, extraoral devices (like headgear) and clear aligners (Invisalign) were just starting to be developed. Now, preventative evaluation, materials advancements and new techniques provide new treatment may also be possible!
Orthodontics use clear aligner systems like Invisalign to straighten teeth. The digital set up often involves "attachments" placed on the teeth surfaces. These "bumps" act like clips and provide pressure surfaces for the aligners to be effective. They are quite small in most cases and require minimal maintenance. There is a library of different attachments with 3D controls that allows your orthodontist to design an orthodontic plan for your teeth and smile.
Ekim Orthodontics is a skilled Invisalign Provider recognized by Invisalign as a Diamond Provider! This means Dr. Ekim has repeatedly used the Invisalign system to create beautiful functional smile results and has shown expertise in delivering treatment with aligners. With advanced training and this level of experience, Dr. Ekim and her team are able to customize treatment and provide orthodontic options. Aligner treatment is a great way to correct orthodontic problems, create a new smile or even refresh a smile!
Navigating through the COVID19 pandemic has challenged our practice and families into learning, rising up and innovating to enhance areas to promote health and wellness in our orthodontic office. Our office is equipped with HEPA air filtration, shields, personal protective equipment, sanitizer, hand washing station, and patient protocols to help manage through this situation. Behind the mask and shield we are the same smiling and joyous team that is excited to see you! We are grateful to laugh together each day. We hope this pandemic will end soon.
With back to school season also comes more youth sports. We proudly sponsor our youth sports and look forward to hearing about their camaraderie, achievements, tournaments and milestones. Braces or aligners by Dr. Ekim doesn't stop you from joining sports! Continue on with your favorite sports and try something new this year too! Stay safe with the proper use of mouthguards (that can also be fitted over braces or aligners) and following the rules for another great sports season.
New to the world of board games! Ekim Orthodontics contributes as the "Community Chest" in PL-Monopoly and other local businesses. Created by our Prior Lake Chamber, this cool board game is detailed with Laker pride elements and community favorites. What a great gift!
I hope this update finds you all safe, healthy and back to work and life. The last several weeks have challenged us all in ways like never before. Armed with additional personal protective equipment, air filtration systems, barriers, a COVID19 preparedness plan, careful scheduling, additional disinfection protocols, wellness screening protocols and a trained healthy team, Ekim Orthodontics was able to safely reopen on May 14th, 2020. I am so happy to return to my patients, my team and to what I love to do. In addition to COVID19, we also find ourselves in grief and turmoil as we tackle deep issues of equality and a senseless loss of life. As we fight against COVID19 and continue the quest for social justice, we also see our kids graduate another school year. This reminds us that teaching our youth and modeling daily kindness and respect for all people is of the utmost importance for the brighter future of humanity. From my heart to yours, great job returning to work, homeschooling and navigating such uncertain difficult times. Please let me know if we can help. I look forward to seeing you all in person again (with a mask and hopefully soon without a mask).
Thank you for taking the time to visit our blog. Please check back often for weekly updates on fun and exciting events happening at our office, important and interesting information about orthodontics and the latest news about our practice.
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