Blog - Home Care and Advice

Our YouTube channel has a lot of Swords Ortho videos on it - some are plain silly, but most are there to help you get the best results from your treatment and the best experience on the way there.

Today's addition is a very useful chat from Courtney on how to look after your braces once you have them on - and your teeth. Please come back to this video often for ideas, because until this coronavirus is sorted out, we can't be spending too much time in a small demonstration room talking about tooth brushing - but there's plenty of space on the internet to safely have this chat. There ...

Just a brief update on Swords Orthodontics and our part in the national Covid-19 response

We remain closed for routine orthodontic treatment, but we are still answering emails, and checking the voicemails through out the day. Deliveries to the practice will be accepted by the small crew remaining in the practice while the rest of the team works from home and we will be looking after patients in pain or who have serious problems with their orthodontic treatment as appropriate.

But it's not just about teeth. Given the severity of the problem that Ireland and countries right around the world, it's important to us to contribute to keeping our patients and their ...

You can't out train a bad diet

It's a phrase I picked up on an exercise video on YouTube, but I imagine the idea has been there for a long time before the internet was with us.

A few weeks ago I bought some airport-sized Toblerone bars for the team at Swords Ortho (don't tell the dentistry police). The ladies of Swords Orthodontics are particularly fond of white Toblerone, but for a bit of variety I got a mild chocolate/coconut one as well. It's a practice rule that I am forbidden to tell anyone what the calorie count is for a single triangle of this Swiss marvel.

I can tell the blog readers ...

Stephen: "hi there, how are you getting on?"

Patient: "great."

S: "Any problems with your brace since last time?"

P: "No"

S: "Great. So I'll just have a look and do today's adjustment"

P: "Oh, one of my brackets came off though"

S: "Were you eating hard food at the time?"

P: "No"

S: "It just came off out of the blue?"

P: "Well, I was chewing on a piece of rubber that I found"

When we put braces on people's teeth, Swords Ortho gives them all sorts of advice on how to take care of them for best results and we give our patients a goodie bag of tooth cleaning stuff, but we can't think of every eventuality that people might ...

Taking care of your teeth and gums is essential to your health.  Plaque, which is a sticky, colourless film of bacteria, can build up on the teeth and cause significant problems, particularly when it hardens into calculus. This can lead to issues like holes in the teeth, gingivitis, decay, gum disease and bad breath. This is why it’s so important to have an excellent oral health care routine!

Here are some tips for maintaining excellent care of your teeth and gums:

BRUSH YOUR TEETH!

It is recommended that teeth are brushed twice a day for two minutes. Changing your brush regularly too is essential, usually, a toothbrush should be changed every three or four ...

I haven't heard it yet as at time of blogging, it's still due for broadcast but here's a link to a BBC 4 programme about the toothbrush...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0005m

How often do you change yours?

If you are wearing braces and are planning a holiday this summer (lucky you!), our team Swords Orthodontics would suggest that you be prepared. We put together a list of items that will be handy to have with you at all times while you are away. They include:

• Interdental brushes (very important you a still using these once a day!)