How to Maintain Your Teeth Whitening Results
Both of the teeth whitening options provided by our cosmetic dentists are designed to be long-lasting. How you care for your teeth after treatment will, however, have a more direct role in the amount of time your results are visible than anything our dentists can do.

Fortunately, maintaining teeth whitening results is relatively easy. In many cases, it doesn’t even require much adjustment to routines you already have in place. You can work towards keeping your teeth bright and beautiful by:

• Not smoking, chewing, or otherwise using products with nicotine
• Reducing your intake of coffee, tea, and red wine
• Drinking sodas and sports drinks through a straw
• Reducing your intake of dark foods like berries and sauces
• Washing away stain causers with foods that stimulate saliva production such as apples, strawberries, celery, carrots and pears
• Swishing water in your mouth after eating or drinking so that stain causers don’t sit on your teeth

In addition to these steps, you can help keep your teeth white by brushing after every meal and snack with a soft-bristled toothbrush and a slightly abrasive toothpaste. Remember, some types of toothpaste can scratch and damage dental restorations. We can discuss these steps with you during your teeth whitening consultation.

Proper dental hygiene can go a long way in keeping your teeth stain-free. Good teeth cleaning habits will fight the presence of cavity causing bacteria and the food debris that leads to yellowing. Part of a solid oral hygiene routine is twice-yearly visits to our dental clinic for professional cleanings and examinations. During these visits, we will help you maintain your tooth whitening results by removing surface stains and gently polishing your teeth. If it has been more than six months since your last cleaning, call us today to schedule your next appointment.

How It Works
Waiting until all permanent teeth have come through to begin treatment with braces can unfortunately lead to irreversible damage affecting not only the teeth, but also the child’s overall health and development.

Poor myofunctional habits (poor oral habits) are evident before all permanent teeth are present, which means treatment of the causes can begin much earlier than originally thought. This can be as early as three years of age.

Myobrace® is designed to deal with these incorrect myofunctional habits by teaching children to breathe through their nose, rest the tongue correctly in the roof of the mouth, swallow correctly and continue widening the jaws so they grow to their full and proper size. This results in sufficient room for the teeth, allowing them to come in naturally straight and often without the need for braces.

The Myobrace®System consists of a series of intra-oral appliances that are worn for one hour each day plus overnight while sleeping. The appliances assist in correcting poor oral habits and expand the arch-form while exerting light forces to align the teeth and jaws. Separate appliances are used depending on the child’s age and type of orthodontic problem. In addition, the patient education program, known as Myobrace®Activities, is used to further correct the myofunctional habits causing the incorrect dental and jaw development. The Activities are to be performed twice daily in conjunction with wearing the Myobrace® appliance and consist of a series of breathing, tongue, swallowing, lip and cheek exercises.