When you wear braces, they become part of your life. You work around them and blend them into your activities, including at holiday time. During this season of the year, consider yourself special, because people who wear braces have an opportunity to show their festive spirit in unique ways while keeping their orthodontic treatment on track.
Color-Coordinate Your Rubber Bands
As you know by now, one of the best ways to showcase your personality is by customized the colored bands on your brackets. Typically, you can change up your colors at every orthodontic visit, which happens about every four weeks. Seasonal color combos are especially popular, like:
- Red and green: For people who celebrate Christmas, these are the obvious colors to choose. They dominate the season. Or, simply opt for just red or just green. Whatever matches your favorite “ugly” holiday sweater.
- Silver and gold: A new year calls for some shine, like silver or gold rubber bands. Your orthodontist may even have elastic bands with glitter accents.
- Blue and silver: Want to celebrate winter in all its glory? Think snowflakes and starry skies and go for blue in two different shades or intersperse some silver too.
If you’re thinking about heading in the candy cane direction or going full-on snowflake, be aware that white rubber bands can highlight discoloration on your teeth or make tooth enamel that is naturally yellowish look even more discolored. That final look won’t feel festive, it might even make you feel self-conscious. Your creativity doesn’t have to be stunted because of this recommendation. Ask your orthodontist for her opinion so you can get the bands that look best with your braces and skin tone.
Avoid Landing on the Naughty List
Chances are, you’ve been pretty good this year. Holiday time, however, can tempt even the most well-behaved little elf, especially when it comes to foodstuffs. Stay off the naughty list – and out of your orthodontist’s office for an emergency bracket or wire repair appointment – by being careful of what you eat:
- Avoid chewy foods like taffy and gum that could pull at your braces.
- Don’t bite down on hard foods like ice cubes, hard cookies, brittle, or nuts.
- Be wary of foods that can get stuck in your hardware like popcorn and pretzels
- Stay away from long-lasting sweets like candy canes, so you avoid a build-up of sugar on the teeth.
It’s true, you may feel a little unfairly deprived of some of your favorite holiday treats when you wear braces, but the separately is only temporary. By this time next year, there is a good chance your orthodontic treatment will be wrapping up or done completely. You’ll only be wearing a retainer and that’s easy to remove so you can dig into all your favorite foods.
Let Your Smile Sparkle
We like to think of braces as a bit of bling, a little sparkle that makes the holidays more festive. Whether you’re sporting metal brackets and wires or clear or ceramic braces, smile big and take photos to remember this season as one that was special for your orthodontic journey.
And if you’re ready to get started on braces in the new year, or your child is ready for an orthodontic evaluation, schedule a consultation with Soleil Orthodontics in Woodinville, WA.