Plaque is the enemy for you and your patients. Without good oral hygiene habits, it can become detrimental to the success and outcome of orthodontic treatment. So other than tell your patients to brush well and frequently, is there more you can do to promote better oral health with braces?
WildSmiles says yes.
Dental professionals, healthcare providers, and educators come together in February to promote the benefits of good oral hygiene to children and their families. This year for National Children’s Dental Health Month, we want to let providers nationwide know about the healthiest and most stylish bracket option on the market—WildSmiles.
Getting patients to brush and floss their teeth can be a challenge, especially while wearing braces. With WildSmiles, you can offer a healthier bracket that makes it easier to maintain proper oral hygiene while still achieving fantastic clinical results. The earlier we can encourage good oral hygiene habits in young patients, the easier it is to promote better oral health and brushing habits for life.
What Makes WildSmiles Brackets Healthier?
Our designer brackets have pads that extend beyond the tie-wings. This means that plaque will accumulate on the pad instead of the tooth’s surface, protecting enamel and leading to no decalcification. Plus, the designer shape of the WildSmiles bracket and the pad shape provide a visual reference for patients and parents to evaluate brushing habits.
“Can you see the shape?”
It’s a question kids, parents, and you can ask after brushing and during appointments. If the WildSmiles bracket shape is visible, the patient is brushing thoroughly. If not, there is room for brushing and flossing habits to improve.
Better yet, WildSmiles is an option for children and adults! Regardless of age, brushing is a necessity in your patients’ treatment. Our designer braces encourage all ages to monitor and improve oral hygiene while better protecting against plaque accumulation. This method of asking, “Can you see the shape?” applies to all of our bracket designs from every collection, giving patients more options and a healthier difference they can see for themselves.
Healthy Smiles for Patients. More Success for You.
Healthier brackets will lead to better oral health during treatment and better results overall. WildSmiles is the fuel you need to revolutionize the braces experience and drive your practice growth. Here’s just a few ways your orthodontic practice will benefit by offering the healthiest brackets available:
- More New Starts and Referrals
- Offering braces that are stylish, effective, and healthier gives you a powerful advantage over competitors and positions you as a leader in your dental community.
- Better Results After Treatment
- The larger braces pad helps avoid decalcification, so your patients can achieve brighter smiles when braces come off.
- Increase Hygiene Compliance
- Kids feel more encouraged to brush when they can see the difference themselves, giving them a visual way to measure brushing they don’t get with traditional braces.
- Easy Application
- WildSmiles brackets are just as easy to place as traditional braces and are designed to work with all treatment modalities, prescriptions, and slot sizes.
When you offer patients stylish and healthy WildSmiles brackets, you become a practice known for fun and beneficial braces experiences. That’s a great way to stand out!
Tips From WildSmiles: How to Talk to Your Patients About Oral Hygiene
Oral hygiene and orthodontics go hand-in-hand. Unfortunately, many patients who wear braces fail to brush properly, resulting in poor oral hygiene during treatment and less than ideal results after braces come off. As an orthodontist, you have a voice when it comes to the information you give patients about oral hygiene.
WildSmiles has some tips that can increase compliance and help you encourage your patients—children and adults—to keep their braces clean.
Meet Patients Where They’re At
For some patients, orthodontic treatment is their first experience incorporating a regular oral hygiene routine. Younger patients may not have top-tier brushing skills yet, and older patients may not have had the resources or information they need to properly care for their teeth.
You have a unique opportunity to connect with patients wherever they’re at in their understanding of oral health and make a positive impact on the way they approach oral hygiene. It’s important to remain judgement-free and to be accepting of everyone in any circumstance. You want patients to feel like they can approach you without fear of being judged, preached at, or like they’re going to be “in trouble” for not brushing well.
Point Out the Positives
It’s easy to focus on problem areas, but pointing out the areas that patients are doing well can be a powerful motivational tool. Take a look at your patients’ WildSmiles braces and evaluate how well you (and your patient) can see the bracket shape. If you can see the shape clearly, they’re doing a good job brushing and you should recognize their efforts! There may still be room for improvements, but being positive about good oral hygiene habits can encourage them to keep it up.
Provide Support and Encouragement
In your office, it’s normal for almost everyone who comes in to wear braces. Out in the world, some patients may be the only ones in their social groups wearing braces and may feel embarrassed or self-conscious. Remind your patients of the benefits of their orthodontic treatment and provide support at each step. You could mention that this time period of wearing braces is a small investment to make with a huge payoff that they get to enjoy for the rest of their lives.
Take the Time to Talk (and Listen)
Be open and talk with your patients about their past dental experiences and concerns. Remember that a successful conversation goes both ways. Instead of laying out all of the information at once, listen and ask questions to keep patients engaged and make them feel heard. You can also ask nervous patients if they want to talk about their dental health before diving right in, especially for adults who may have had negative dental experiences in the past. Most of the time, they’ll agree to discussing their oral health and cleaning habits, but allowing them to give permission gives patients a feeling of engagement and responsibility.
Show Them How
Educate patients on how to brush and floss around their braces by showing them. They can hold a mirror to see how you do it, or practice it themselves in the office under your direction. Visual aids will go a long way in helping patients understand exactly what to do and will help them feel more comfortable about new oral appliances. If they have WildSmiles, show them how clearly they’ll be able to see the shape of their designer brackets when they’re kept clean so they have a goal to aim for. When you’re showing them, use the same tools they will use.
Straighten Smiles the Healthy Way
This National Children’s Dental Health Month—and every month—join us in spreading awareness of the importance of good oral hygiene by bringing the healthiest bracket option to your patients. You transform smiles every day, and with WildSmiles, you can transform your patients’ oral hygiene habits, too!