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 It’s Never too Late to Straighten Your Smile

Braces as an adult? No way. At least, that was what I thought when my dentist told me that I was going to have to see an orthodontist about my crooked teeth. But my teeth were so misaligned that they were causing me pain when I chewed, so I decided to at least look into it. Turns out braces today are nothing like the ones my friends had when I was a kid. Mine were practically invisible, and I didn't need to wear them that long. I started this blog to encourage other people like me who are nervous about the prospect of wearing braces as an adult. My straight smile is so worth the trips to the orthodontist, and wearing braces was nowhere near as bad as I thought. Read on to find out more about how you can straighten your smile.

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It’s Never too Late to Straighten Your Smile

3 Keys To Taking Good Long-Term Care Of Your Dental Implants

by Jacqueline Byrd

If you are going to get dental implants, the goal is for the dental implants to last for the rest of your lifetime. Ideally, you will not have to replace your dental implants or have additional work done on them. Here are three keys to ensure that your dental implants last and that you don't need any follow-up work.

#1 Allow Your Dental Implants To Heal

The first thing that you need to do is make sure that you allow your dental implants to heal properly when they are first installed in your mouth. The site of your implants is going to bleed for the first day or so. During this time, you need to use gauze pads to stop the bleeding by applying pressure to the surgery site. You are going to want to reduce swelling to the site by putting an ice pack on the surgery site for ten to fifteen minutes at a time, multiple times throughout the day of and after your surgery. This will help your mouth heal.

You are also going to have dietary restrictions that you have to follow; take these restrictions seriously. For the first week, you need to stick to a soft-food diet. Although it can be tough to only eat soft food for an entire week, doing so is vital for your long-term dental health. After the first week, you can gradually start eating more solid foods. However, try to keep really hard and sticky foods away from your implant site for as long as possible. This will allow your dental implant to effectively heal. An effective healing process is essential to the long-term viability of your dental implants. You should also avoid alcohol during the recovery process, as it can hurt your body's ability to heal.

#2 Don't Smoke

Second, it is important that you don't smoke. Smoking can harm the healing process and can decrease the overall health of your teeth and gums, which can compromise your dental implants in the long-run.

It is also important to realize that not smoking applies to hookah, e-cigs, and marijuana as well. The very action and process of smoking and having smoke in your mouth can compromise your dental implants, so try to stay away from smoking in any form.

#3 Go To Regular Check-Ups

Finally, when you have dental implants, it becomes even more important that you stay on top of your dental health. That means brushing and flossing at least twice a day, every day. It also means going in for a check-up and teeth cleaning at least twice a year. Regular dental check-ups are the best way to ensure that your gums and teeth are health and that your dental implants will continue to work for you

For more information on implants, check out websites like http://northwestdental.com/.

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