Summer is here! Time for the cookouts, maybe a little camping, and… braces!

If you are planning braces for your child, summer is the perfect time to get her started. Though she may not appreciate the fact that she won’t miss class time, it will mean less stress for you.  There’s no back and forth checking her in and out of school, no wondering if she remembered to pick up the work that she missed. I know, you’re imagining the cascade effect of a missed assignment, a lower grade, not getting into an elite college, and suddenly that Nobel Prize is out of reach.

But the fact is, summer is a great time to get the kids in to one of our dental offices conveniently located near you and your summer plans. It will usually take three appointments to get orthodontia up and running. Your child will have a consult with the orthodontist, we’ll take impressions of his teeth, and then we’ll schedule the big day when he gets his braces on! That appointment, of course, is the longest. Since he may experience some soreness the first days of braces, it will be easier to manage discomfort when he’s not in school; recommended approaches include lots of soft foods (watermelon or ice cream may be at the top of his list!) and over-the-counter analgesics such as ibuprofen and acemetacin as needed. And let me tell you, nothing gets his mind off a little soreness like a day at the waterpark.

Not sure if this is the summer to start? Kids often get braces earlier today than previous generations; they are not necessarily waiting until their teenage years anymore. Some conditions, such as underbite, can be best addressed during growth years before age ten. If you’re not sure when to get your child’s orthodontia started, schedule a consult and bring any questions you may have. On the parental side, managing care of your child’s teeth with braces and helping him avoid certain foods may be easier before the teenage years when adjusting attitudes makes adjusting braces look easy. Though it’s nice when your teenager can driver herself to orthodontia appointments, that independence can also make the responsibility of caring for a mouth full of braces more challenging. Talk to your dentist or one of our orthodontists to determine what plan will be best for your child.

School’s out, there’s time to kick back and relax, and it’s the perfect time to get your child’s braces started.