Can You Be an Athlete While Wearing Braces?

The benefits of getting braces to straighten your teeth are myriad: More confidence, a healthier bite, and less of a chance of needing orthodontics later in life. But of course, there are always some sacrifices we need to make -- changing our snacking habits and maintaining your braces or Invisalign trays are just a few things that we “give” to have straighter teeth.

But if you’re an athlete or enjoy summer sports in Pittsburgh, you can still enjoy your favorite activities! Although getting hit in the mouth by a ball while wearing braces (or without) is never a pleasant experience, with some attention to prevention, you can be just as active as ever. At Reed Orthodontics, we strive to give you the best treatment for your lifestyle, so we thought we’d offer up some ways that you can enjoy sports while undergoing orthodontic treatment.

Ways to Play if You Have Braces

Although running or swimming might not have much of an effect on your mouth, any sport where there’s contact can potentially affect your treatment. However, there are a few things you can do to compete safely:

• Get a mouthguard fitted: By using a mouthguard that has been custom-molded to your mouth and not bought off the shelf, you can protect your teeth, your wires and brackets, and the effectiveness of your treatment. Your dentist can help with the process, which takes about half an hour.
• Get Invisalign: Since Invisalign uses removable aligners to straighten your teeth, you can actually take them out while you play! That means that even if you play a medium- or high-contact sport, you won’t risk damaging your teeth or your appliance. It’s also recommended that if you do remove your aligners while you compete, wear a mouthguard!
• Lingual braces: We also offer lingual braces, which attach to the backs of your teeth. Not only are they essentially “invisible,” but they’re a little more protected than traditional braces when you play sports. Even if you have lingual braces, talk to your dentist about getting a mouthguard fitted anyway.

At Reed Orthodontics, we want all of our patients to enjoy their favorite activities, even when they’re getting treated. We also want you to be as healthy as possible, and staying active throughout the summer helps you stay in shape for the rest of the year.

If you have any questions about how orthodontic treatment might affect your ability to play sports, call us today at 412.421.8565 or send us a message!

Do My Wisdom Teeth Affect My Braces?

Between the ages of 17 and 25, your wisdom teeth (a third set of molars) starts coming in. People who are those ages also might need orthodontic work. It can seem daunting to have to deal with orthodontics and wisdom teeth at the same time -- after all, if new teeth are coming in, wouldn’t that impact how effective your braces are?

Here at Reed Orthodontics, we cater to patients of any age in the Pittsburgh area, including Squirrel Hill and the North Hills, who need their teeth straightened. That’s why we wanted to help clear up some possible misconceptions about how your wisdom teeth might affect your orthodontic treatment.

First, it’s important to understand how wisdom teeth work. Wisdom teeth have a habit of overcrowding the mouth, especially after molars have already grown in, fully or partially. Wisdom teeth also have a habit of growing in sideways (known as impacted wisdom teeth). However, your wisdom teeth cannot cause your front teeth to become misaligned. The pressure that they put on your molars is not strong enough to affect your front teeth.

This is one reason why some people think that their wisdom teeth can have adverse effects on their orthodontic treatment, either current or previous. Even if your wisdom teeth come in perfectly, it won’t affect your orthodontic treatment. Finally, if your wisdom teeth have already come in straight and you haven’t had braces yet, you can still get treatment!

However, if your wisdom teeth do not come in straight, regardless of your orthodontic history, your dentist may recommend they be removed before bigger problems occur. If you have impacted wisdom teeth, it can result in pain, damage to other teeth, and other issues. Even if you’re not in pain and nothing appears to be wrong, impacted wisdom teeth can be really hard to brush, which means they’re more likely to get tooth decay and gum disease.

If you’re concerned that your wisdom teeth might have some affect on your orthodontic treatment, don’t hesitate to get in touch! Reed Orthodontics can be reached at 412.369.0600 or through our Contact Us form!

What Does an Orthodontist Do that a Dentist Can't?

Nowadays, the line between an orthodontist and a dentist is more blurred than ever before. Sometimes, patients will reference that their last orthodontist also did their dental work -- turns out, that was their dentist.

Many dentists today practice orthodontics, but that doesn’t mean that they are a true, specially trained orthodontist. Trained orthodontists like Tina Reed, are licensed dentists who complete dental school and then go onto an university or medical center that is accredited by the American Dental Association for 2-3 years to get training in correcting malocclussion. (You can learn more about malocclusion and figure out if you have it here.)

It’s not easy to get into an orthodontic specialty education program -- most of us graduated at the tops of our class in dental school. During post-graduate residency, orthodontists in training devote at least 8 hours a day, five days a week for 24 to 36 months, learning all of the intricacies that go into diagnosing and treating teeth that aren’t perfectly straight. All together, orthodontists train for 4,000 to 6,000 hours after completing dental school!

After attending dental school at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Reed moved to San Francisco to complete her advanced orthodontic residency to earn a Masters of Science degree in Oral Biology from the University of California - San Francisco. Her research thesis at UCSF was part of a long-term clinical study of the effects of female reproductive hormones on Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) disease. Today, she is a licensed orthodontist and a member of the American Association of Orthodontists, the Western Pennsylvania Society of Orthodontists, the Great Lakes Association of Orthodontists and the American Dental Association.

When deciding whether to see a dentist or an orthodontist for straightening your teeth, consider the following: Your primary care physician is legally allowed to perform brain surgery on you and give you psychiatric advice. But does that mean you’d actually go through with that?

Having a healthy smile and bite is critical to good overall health, and seeing a specialist for these issues is essential for your health -- and your peace of mind.

Click here to contact a qualified orthodontist with offices in Pittsburgh’s North Hills and Squirrel Hill today!