flossing

WE’VE ALL SEEN IT: that little piece of spinach that gets stuck between the upper front tooth and lateral incisor. Real friends tell friends when they have spinach teeth. Here’s why it happens and what we can do to prevent it.

Spinach contains oxalic acid. This substance, when combined with saliva, produces calcium oxalate crystals that stick to your teeth.

Make Sure You Have The Right Tools

To prevent spinach teeth, drink water vigorously to flush away spinach after eating. If necessary, floss your teeth after eating spinach. If you are a spinach lover, you may want to carry floss in your purse or pocket to avoid that spinach tooth moment, especially if you are on a date or at an important dinner event.

Avoid picking at spinach teeth with a toothpick in public. This can damage your gums and can be impolite. Excuse yourself from the dinner table and visit the rest room to use floss to remove spinach. This is safer, more effective, healthier, and better etiquette.

Overcrowding Helps Spinach Stick

Straightening your front teeth will also help you avoid spinach teeth.

Eliminating crooked front teeth will give spinach fewer nooks and crannies in the dental arch in which it can get stuck. Straight teeth can be accomplished quickly by an orthodontist using either braces, Invisalign, aligners, or spring clip aligners (Inman retainer).

Gorczyca Orthodontics Can Help!

If you have questions about how to avoid spinach teeth with orthodontic treatment, visit us at Gorczyca Orthodontics in Antioch, California for a free orthodontic exam. Call us at (925) 757-9000 or find us at www.clubbraces.com.

There’s no reason for your teeth to go green. Let us help you avoid spinach teeth.

Your smile is our inspiration.

Top image used under CC0 Public Domain license. Image cropped and modified from original.

THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY SEASON brings about a most important need for excellent dental hygiene, brushing and flossing, and dental health: kissing under the mistletoe! You may be wondering how this holiday oral hygiene tradition got started.

Ancient Mistletoe Beliefs

Dating back to ancient times, mistletoe has been revered for its perceived health properties. The ancient Greeks believed mistletoe cured ailments while the Romans used mistletoe as a balm against ulcers.

The Celtic Druids admired mistletoe’s ability to blossom even during the frozen winter. In the 1st century, Druids considered mistletoe a symbol of vivacity and administered mistletoe berries to restore fertility.

However, it was Frigg from Norse mythology who first declared mistletoe a symbol of love. Frigg vowed to plant a kiss on all who deigned to pass beneath the mistletoe. This tradition of mistletoe kissing made mistletoe a symbol of vitality and fertility. This tradition continued to live on through the middle ages.

The Tradition As We Know It

In the 18th Century, mistletoe became incorporated into Christmas celebrations. The tradition of mistletoe as a Christmas kissing station became popular among servants in England. From there, the popularity of this Christmas decoration spread among people throughout the world. The tradition of mistletoe kissing allows a man to steal a kiss from a woman standing under the mistletoe. Refusing this kiss is a sign of bad luck.

Today in Northern California, Contra Costa County, and Mt. Diablo State Park, mistletoe grows as a hemiparasitic plant on the boughs of the barren winter oaks. It appears as giant green balls, like a giant Christmas tree ornament growing on the giant California Oaks, and waits there as a beckon of eternal fertility for special visitors on an afternoon stroll. The mistletoe can be picked and brought home for a special holiday celebration.

Have A Merry Christmas!

This Christmas holiday season, brush and floss your teeth twice a day, maintain excellent oral hygiene and dental health, smile big, and if your heart gives you the opportunity, take a moment to kiss someone special under the mistletoe.

We wish you good luck under the mistletoe this holiday season. Thank you for your support of Gorczyca Orthodontics, 5201 Deer Valley Road, in Antioch, California now and through the year. From all of us at Gorczyca Orthodontics, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

TRICK-OR-TREATING is said to have originated from the medieval practice of “mumming,” a Northern European practice of masked persons parading the streets and visiting neighboring houses on feast days. In North America, “guising” was first reported in 1911 in Kingston, Ontario where disguised children visited house-to-house around the neighborhood. The term “trick-or-treat” first appears in 1927 in the Blackie Herald newspaper of Alberta, Canada. The treat soon became known to be an oral health nightmare, candy.

Trick-Or-Treating Provides A Variety Of Treats

Trick-or-treating is a fun activity. Children, with and without braces, will recieve a myriad of Halloween treats. An apple may be given. Some homes may give a fruit or granola bar. Generous relatives may even distribute a coin. Dentists may give a toothbrush. But most homes will be giving out candy.

The question arises “What should I eat on Halloween if I have braces?”

Be Mindful Of Halloween Snacks If You Have Braces

Although apples are a healthy treat, care must be given to cut the apples into small bite size pieces in order to not break off the orthodontic brackets.

Chewy, sticky, hard candy is to be avoided. This includes Starbursts, jawbreakers, Twizzlers, skittles, and gum. Chewy sticky hard candy will not only break your orthodontic brackets but also loosen your orthodontic bands.

Nuts in general are to be avoided. These can be found in not only granola bars that are hard with big nuts but also in some candies such as Almond Joys.

What Treats Can Someone In Braces Eat On Halloween?

Orthodontist, Dr. Ann Marie Gorczyca of Gorczyca Orthodontics in Antioch, California weighs in on her favorite Halloween treats: "I recommend Mounds candy as a choice for kids in braces. These are soft bars of mostly coconut with a soft chocolate covering. Mounds are very unlikely to break orthodontic brackets or loosen bands. My second favorite candy choice for kids in braces is Junior Mints. This candy is soft, small, and easy to eat with braces.

We at Gorczyca Orthodontics give out Halloween toothbrushes to trick-or-treaters. They are orange with black bristles. Now, that's scary!

Soft candies are fine to eat with braces as long as you remember to floss and brush your teeth afterwards. To maintain excellent oral hygiene and remain cavity free, be sure to brush and floss your teeth twice a day, not only on Halloween but every day of the year."

Happy Halloween from all of us at Gorczyca Orthodontics!

www.clubbraces.com

IF YOU HAVE BRACES, you still need to floss. Flossing is important in the prevention of cavities, gingivitis, and periodontal disease—especially while wearing braces.

Tips For Flossing With Braces

To help you floss with braces, here are some helpful tips:

1. Use enough floss! The amount of floss should be equal to the length from your fingers to you elbow.
2. Thread floss between your wire and the contact of two teeth with your fingers or use a floss threader.
3. Wind floss around one finger of one hand and one finger of your other hand.
4. Waxed floss is less likely to tear. Oral B Glide floss is our favorite.

Help Youngsters Out!

If you or the little ones in your life who don’t wear braces are having trouble flossing, consider Crest Glide Floss Picks.

We Want To Help Keep Your Smile Bright

We at Gorczyca Orthodontics hope that these flossing tips were helpful and keep you excited about flossing and maintaining excellent oral hygiene. If you have questions about your teeth or oral hygiene, visit us at www.clubbraces.com or call us at (925) 757-9000.

Thanks for flossing and letting us be part of your beautiful smile.

Top image by Flickr user Alan Light used under Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 4.0 license. Image cropped and modified from original.