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What do you imagine when you picture an orthodontic office? Do you see a steady stream of teenagers walking through the doors? Teen magazines in the reception room? Backpacks stowed under every chair? If so, we have an update for you.

In today’s office, you’ll find grade school kids, teens, and adults (and children’s books and games, and even the occasional golf magazine). Today’s orthodontic patients are more diverse than ever before!

Why? Because today, more than ever, more of us can benefit from orthodontic treatment.

Young Children

Even before a child’s adult teeth come in, a visit to Pack Orthodontics is a good idea. In fact, dentists and orthodontists recommend an orthodontic exam around the age of seven for every child.

Early intervention can make sure that there’s enough space for those incoming permanent teeth and can help correct jaw alignment problems for a healthy bite.

• Palatal expanders can gently enlarge a small upper dental arch to make room for adult teeth.
• Space maintainers will save room for an adult tooth to erupt in just the right spot if a baby tooth is lost too early.
• Treatment for malocclusions like overbites, open bites, and underbites while young bones are still growing helps create a more comfortable, healthy bite and may prevent more complicated treatment in the future.

Older Adults

If you’ve always wanted straighter teeth or a pain-free bite, don’t let an imaginary age limit prevent you from getting orthodontic treatment! As long as your teeth and gums are healthy, orthodontic treatment is a terrific way to keep them healthy.

• If you have painful bite issues which have never been treated,
• If you’ve always wanted straighter teeth,
• If your teeth have become more crowded over time,

there’s no time like the present to start working toward the smile you’ve always wanted.

Bonus: new technology in braces and aligners makes orthodontic treatment more subtle and discreet than ever before.

• Traditional braces—brackets are smaller than ever, and come in a choice of several materials and colors, including ceramic brackets and tooth-colored and clear brackets.
• Lingual braces—the least visible treatment, because brackets and wires are attached behind the teeth.
• Clear aligners—a removable and almost invisible way to straighten teeth.

Tweens & Teens

Teenagers still make up the majority of patients in orthodontic treatment. Orthodontists often recommend starting treatment between the ages of ten to 14, because:

• Most of the adult teeth have come in, so problems with crowding, spacing, or crooked tooth alignment can be diagnosed and corrected.
• The jawbone is still growing, and the bone is not as dense, so it can be easier to realign teeth and jaws for straighter teeth and a symmetrical bite.

Today’s treatment choices offer more options and are more effective than ever before. Depending on a teen’s orthodontic needs, Dr. Pack might suggest:

• Traditional braces or aligners
• Elastics (rubber bands) used with braces to bring the upper and lower teeth into alignment.
• Functional appliances—together with braces or aligners, appliances like the Herbst® appliance, the Forsus™ device, the twin-block appliance, and headgear can work inside and/or outside the mouth to help correct problems with tooth and jaw alignment.

It’s no longer just the middle school and high school crowd you might meet in your orthodontist’s waiting room. Children, teenagers, and adults can all benefit from orthodontic treatment at our Murfreesboro, TN office. If someone in your family is one of those people, give your orthodontist a call to see just what orthodontic treatment can offer. Welcome in!

Bad breath, or halitosis, is probably not a matter of life or death. But it can make you feel self-conscious and have a negative impact on your life. The majority of people suffering from bad breath are dealing with oral bacterial. However, there are other causes of this embarrassing problem. Learning more can help you fight this solvable problem.

Five Causes of Embarrassingly Bad Breath

1. Dry Mouth. A decrease in saliva flow can be caused by several things. Most often, medication or mouth breathing are the culprits. As saliva helps wash away food particles from your mouth, it prevents bad breath. Dry mouth can be dealt with by stimulating salivation.
2. Gum Disease and Poor Oral Hygiene. Not brushing and flossing well enough or with enough frequency can lead to gum disease, which leads to bad breath. Halitosis can be a sign that plaque is present on your teeth.
3. Food-Related Bad Breath. Food particles that aren't brushed or flossed away attract bacteria that leads to bad breath. It's especially important to brush after eating strong-smelling foods, such as garlic or onions.
4. Smoking and Tobacco. Tobacco is bad for your health, and that includes your oral health. Smoking or chewing tobacco can contribute toward the development of gum disease, as well as oral cancer.
5. Mouth Infections and Other Medical Problems. A mouth infection, sinus infection or even the common cold can cause you to temporarily have bad breath. Even conditions such as diabetes and reflux can cause halitosis. It's always wise to see Dr. Pack to help determine the cause.

We are Your Ally

Even if you maintain good oral hygiene, it's important to see Dr. Pack at our Murfreesboro, TN office to deal with or avoid problems with bad breath. We can help you uncover the cause of halitosis, while also providing solutions that allow you to enjoy fresh breath without relying on mints and breath fresheners. As is the case with all things related to oral health, we are your number-one ally when it comes to eliminating the problem of bad breath.

Brackets and wires, clear aligners, lingual braces, regular brackets, self-ligating braces, elastics, spacers—you and your orthodontist have had to narrow down a lot of choices to discover the best treatment for your orthodontic needs. Now that the end of treatment is in sight, there’s one more important choice left—your retainer!

Do I Need a Retainer?

No retainer at all is probably the one option that’s off the table from the start. It’s not just your teeth that have changed position; it’s the bone and ligaments holding them that have changed as well.

A retainer prevents your teeth from moving away from their new, ideal location while your bones and ligaments are stabilizing. This process takes months, so keeping your teeth in place as your bone rebuilds and regains density is crucial.

What Are Your Retainer Options?

Three of the most popular retainer options available at our Murfreesboro, TN office include:

• Hawley Retainers

This is the traditional retainer, with wires to hold your retainer in place and to keep the teeth properly aligned. The wires are attached to an acrylic plate molded to fit the roof of your mouth or around your bottom teeth. You can customize the acrylic base with colors and patterns for a one-of-a-kind look.

Hawley retainers are adjustable, so minor realignments can take place if necessary. The wire in front of your teeth makes these retainers visible, but, after several months of wearing them all day long, you may end up wearing them only at night.

Hawley retainers are removable, so you need to make sure they are safely in a case when you’re not wearing them. Minor damage can often be repaired, but it’s better to be proactive.

• Clear Plastic Retainers

These retainers look like clear aligners. They are formed by heating a thin piece of plastic and vacuum-forming it around a model of your teeth to create a custom, comfortable fit.

Clear retainers are almost invisible when worn, and can be removed when you eat or drink—which they should be, because food particles and liquids can be trapped inside them.

When you’re not wearing it, a clear retainer should always be in its case, because it must be replaced if the plastic is warped, cracked, or broken.

• Fixed Retainers

A fixed retainer is a small single wire bonded to the back of specific teeth, commonly the six bottom front teeth. Because fixed retainers don’t allow the teeth to move at all, they are often recommended for patients who had serious misalignments, extremely crowded teeth, or teeth with large gaps between them.

Many patients like fixed retainers because they keep teeth in perfect alignment, they won’t be seen, they’re comfortably small, and they can’t end up in the cafeteria recycling bin because you forget to replace them after lunch!

Fixed retainers are usually quite durable, but you’ll need to pay attention to your diet, because crunchy and chewy foods can put pressure on the retainer and damage it. These retainers also require special care with brushing and flossing, to make sure the teeth bonded to the wire stay clean and plaque-free.

The Right Retainer

The process of stabilizing your teeth in the jaw takes time. Choosing your retainer will depend in part on how long and how often you need to wear it: fulltime for months or for years, at night after several months of day-and-night wear, or long-term to make sure your orthodontic work lasts.

And there are other variables, as well. Your retainer might need to be removable. It might need to be adjustable. You might need a retainer for just your upper teeth, just your lower teeth, or both. All these factors and more need to be taken into consideration before deciding on your ideal retainer.

Fixed, removable, wire, plastic, colorful, clear—which retainer is right for you? The one that helps you retain the beautiful smile you’ve worked for all these months. Talk to Dr. Pack to discover the retainer that will protect that smile for years to come.

Your teeth are precious. Once your permanent teeth come in, they need to last you a lifetime. Extensive tooth decay can lead to dental caries and the need for fillings, crowns, bridges, and dentures.

While these fixes can go a long way toward maintaining your quality of life, they cannot compare to your natural teeth. Getting braces is no excuse to let up on your thorough oral health routine: You need to take good care of your teeth before, during, and after braces to benefit completely from the gains you get from newly straightened teeth.

Why You Should Maintain Good Oral Health for Life

Begin a complete oral health regimen as early as possible in life, and maintain this routine throughout your life. Keeping your (or your child’s baby) teeth clean establishes a routine. It preserves healthy baby teeth whose function is to save space for the permanent teeth when they are ready to come in. Care of your permanent teeth helps preserve the enamel and prevent decay.

Take Special Care with Braces

It is important to pay attention to oral health when you have braces. If you do not take special care of your teeth during the months or years that you have braces, you risk irreversible damage to your teeth. Care is more difficult with braces because food can easily get stuck. In addition to brushing twice daily and flossing each day, Dr. Pack and our staff suggest avoiding sticky foods.