Posted .

Your braces installed at Scott M. Healey Dentistry in Lindon, Utah, are an essential part of the process of correcting the alignment of your teeth. Routine adjustment sessions apply progressive tension to your teeth, gradually changing their position for a straighter smile and a healthier mouth.

Maintaining the proper function of these braces throughout the process is vital as well. If any piece of braces hardware is damaged or if it comes loose, it will affect the tension applied to your teeth. This, in turn, may increase the total amount of time needed to correct your teeth’s alignment.

Eating sticky foods or chewing gum can pose a serious threat to your braces. That’s because the suction created from these activities has the potential to loosen a bracket, bend a wire, or pull a spacer from its proper place.

Eating hard foods, chewing on ice, biting your fingernails, or improvising your teeth as tools can also damage your braces. Any of these activities may bend a wire, break a band, or even knock a bracket free from one of your tooth.

Remember, the best way to handle damage is to prevent it in the first place. If, however, you had braces installed at Scott M. Healey Dentistry and a component was damaged, you should call 801.653.0099 to schedule an appointment with Dr. Scott Healey. We’re here to help!