• The first baby teeth are usually lost at about six years of age. Some kids may lose theirs as early as five or as late as seven, which is still considered normal.
• The average child will have lost eight baby teeth by age eight; four front teeth on top and four front teeth on the bottom.
• Between 8-10 you will normally not see much loss or eruption of teeth. During this two-year “break” interceptive orthodontic treatment may be indicated. This is why the American Association of Orthodontics recommends that all children be evaluated by age 7. This allows Dr. Douglas Elliott to determine if your child’s teeth and jaws are developing correctly and intervene with recommendations or treatment, if indicated.
• Around ten years of age the remaining teeth begin to fall out. The average adolescent loses all their baby teeth before 13. Girls often lose their teeth faster than the boys and sometimes as early as 11. The 12-year or 2^nd molars start to make their appearance during this time.
• Third molars will begin to develop around age 16 and more often than not, need to be removed due to lack of space in the dental arch to accommodate the teeth. X-rays at this age are recommended to determine if there is enough room for third molars before the roots fully develop to make extraction easier if required.

Most parents have questions about delayed tooth loss during the two years between eight and ten when nothing is happening. However, parents need not worry about delayed tooth loss unless:

• There is not enough room for permanent teeth causing crowding. They may not be able to push out the overlying baby teeth.
• Congenitally missing permanent teeth. Baby teeth with no underlying permanent replacements may be retained indefinitely.
• Extra teeth can block the normal eruption of permanent ones. With a simple x-ray, your orthodontist can tell you if there really is a problem or if your child is just developing slowly.

An important service Elliott Orthodontics provides is monitoring the dental development of your child’s dentition and make recommendations regarding baby teeth to encourage proper tooth eruption and jaw development during growth.

Baby teeth preserve space for permanent teeth until they are developed enough to come in. If the baby teeth come out too early, space can be lost causing crowding of the underlying permanent ones. At the other end, baby teeth that are not lost on time can force the permanent ones to come in crooked creating a more difficult orthodontic condition. If the teeth are crowded, your child may lose two baby teeth naturally to accommodate the eruption of a single larger permanent tooth. If baby teeth are lost prematurely due to an accident or decay, an orthodontist should be consulted to see if a space maintainer is needed.

Contact our office for a complimentary new patient exam to determine if your child’s teeth are developing normally. Feel free to ask questions or make comments in the area below.

Dr. Douglas Elliott and the team at Elliott Orthodontics want to make sure you understand sports drinks can damage healthy teeth. Actually, “erode” is more like the term, especially around the brackets while wearing braces. These sort of drinks erode your teeth by “demineralization,” or reducing the minerals in the outer tooth enamel and also the dentin (“dentin” is a yellowish, calcified tissue underneath the tooth enamel). It doesn’t affect the enamel underneath the braces covered by the brackets.

Dental erosion is common. It happens when you lose tooth structure since acids dissolve enamel and dentin. When your teeth are exposed to an acidic substance like a sports drink, soda, or candy, dental erosion is not far behind.

Everyone knows about candy and soda. Sports drinks, on the other hand, are not thrown into this group of tooth killers. And energy drinks and some flavored waters can be just as harmful if they contain citrus flavoring.

Are sports drinks the only source of dental erosion? Actually, there are many factors that contribute to dental erosion. As we age, our teeth naturally lose some enamel over time. Dental hygiene is also a big factor; if you keep your teeth clean and healthy, the acids and plaque are kept to a minimum and your teeth will last longer!

Remineralization, as the word suggests, is the process of building minerals needed for strong teeth. A tooth has biofilm coating for protection. But when your teeth are exposed to acids, your biofilm decreases and your teeth lose their surface minerals.

You are messing with your long term dental health when you drink a sports drink like Gatorade. Here is an online link to the ingredients in Gatorade. Water is the number one ingredient with sugar #2 and citric acid #3. This acid invites growth of acidogenic bacteria and leads to erosion of teeth. In addition to that, citric acid forms complexes with calcium and lowers the effectiveness of the biofilm. That is why sports drinks have been reported to cause three times as much damage to enamel compared to soft drinks. Phosphoric acid, which is a component of soft drinks, is not as harmful as citric acid.

Prevention

The simplest way to prevent sports drinks from damaging your teeth is to avoid them and drink water. For most physical activity, water is sufficient to keep you hydrated and fresh. Also, most sports drinks now offer a low-calorie alternative that has little or no sugar. While they might taste different and lack the “sugar boost” of their counterparts, sports drinks without citric acid and sugar are better for your teeth.

If you do drink soda or sports drinks, no sipping. The number of contacts with the teeth makes the problem worse. DO NOT BRUSH your teeth afterwards; it makes the problem much worse. The enamel is weak from the acid. It takes at least a half hour of saliva contact on the teeth to allow some recovery and repair before the enamel can withstand the harshness of the toothbrush. It is counterintuitive, but brushing after drinking acidic drinks causes the problems to worsen.

There is also a definite relationship between dental erosion and the consumption of acidic (sweet) drinks, as well as obesity and diabetes in both children and adults. Remember: it always pays to be mindful of what you take in to your body! Whether a solid food, candy, soda, or sports drink, take the necessary steps to prevent unwanted conditions in any form that can damage your teeth.

There are many sports drinks and flavored waters sold today. We recommend you take the time to read the labels. Check for sugar content and citric acid in the ingredients. If they are one of the top ingredients on the label we suggest you avoid them. It can save your teeth and improve your dental health over a lifetime. If you have any questons, please contact our office.

Your first discussion sets the stage for how your child accepts or rejects the news they require treatment at Elliott Orthodontics. Allowing your apprehension and fears to surface can impact how your child responds.

Many different types of braces are available that will suit your child's personalized needs and reduce apprehension. Clear braces and Invisalign may be an option. Plus treatment time and discomfort is much less than in years past. But a child’s personal perception of orthodontic treatment can make them believe otherwise. For this reason it is important to be upbeat, positive, and supportive when they receive the news they may need treatment.

Focusing on the pros of undergoing treatment, such as a beautiful smile and improved dental health rather than the discomfort, inconvenience, and negative social stigma provides best results. Proper orientation by parents and our team creates a positive response when informing a child that orthodontic treatment is in their best interest.

At your child’s first visit to Elliott Orthodontics, we will explain everything they need to know about their problem, why they need braces to improve the situation, and what type of braces are recommended. We do our best to put your child at ease, answer all their questions, and make them feel at home in our office. If you child has questions before the appointment you can’t answer, be honest: “I don’t know that, let’s ask Dr. Douglas Elliott during the appointment”.

Wearing braces today is very common and you want your child to be excited about the treatment as well as understanding the importance of the cooperation required to create a beautiful smile. By the end of the appointment, our goal is to make your child jazzed about treatment rather than upset with the prospect of wearing braces. When offering positive feedback throughout the process, your child will be motivated every step of the way, making treatment as painless as possible while creating a good result.

If you have any concerns prior to the first visit that you feel may impact a negative response from your child, contact our office so we can discuss beforehand. Communication is the key to success on all levels. Let’s all work together to make your child’s initiation to orthodontics a good one.

Getting your kids to sit still for an entire meal is difficult, but is important when developing good eating habits that will benefit them throughout life. Dr. Douglas Elliott would like to offer you a few tips that will encourage good eating habits for your kids that will benefit them as they move on in life.

Our kids are constantly bombarded with advertising for all kinds of media promoting junk foods which warp their perception of good eating habits. Educating our kids at an early age, along with teaching by example, is crucial to their develop at an early age.

Tip #1 – Schedule a time and space for an uninterrupted family meal

We understand this can be tough when everyone is going every which way, but eating together as a family has been proven to benefit the eating habits of kids and parents alike. Serving a healthy meal with correct portions at the dinner table, not only encourages communication which develops family ties and interpersonal skills it prevents overeating.

Taking time to eat a meal also allows our bodies to pay attention to our stomachs’ signals. Our bodies will tell us when we have eaten our fill, but watching TV while eating or engaging in another activity will distract children from recognizing they are no longer hungry, leading to overeating. Paying attention to what we eat and the size of portions is a cornerstone of diet programs. Taking the time to educate our kids while young, as well as watching our own portions, encourages a healthy lifestyle.

Television, video games, or other sources of distraction prohibit a structured eating time. A family meal together allows parents more control over the eating habits of children, reminding eaters to slow down, eat some vegetables with their meat, with their mouths closed… and so on.

Tip #2 Create meals that will appeal to both the taste buds and the body

For children, this usually means a portion of one of their favorites and one portion of veggies. This reinforces the need for a balanced diet that will remain strong into adulthood and it gives parents a bargaining chip. Try asking your child to eat one bite of veggies for every two bites of their favorite item. This method teaches children to focus on the flavor they prefer while still eating their vegetables.

Tip #3 Offer dips with veggies

Healthy foods such as carrots with ranch dressing, french onion dip or peanut butter and raisins with celery encourage good eating habits. Finger food is more fun than food they have to cut up to eat while encouraging kids to do what parents want all at the same time.

What tips can you offer busy families trying to eat together and share a healthy meal? Please leave your comments below.

Orthodontic Studies report 70 percent of the US population could benefit from having their teeth and jaws realigned with orthodontic treatment. Ancient ancestors had perfect teeth and bites, as evidenced by fossil records. Then, about 10,000 years ago, malocclusions (bad bites) seem to have become more prevalent. Why? Human growth patterns saw teeth and jaws fail to accommodate teeth and jaw development as different ethnic and genetic backgrounds began to live together and populate.

In many cases, a patient’s need for orthodontic treatment arises from inheriting teeth and jaws from one parent that do not fit properly into the teeth and jaw size inherited from the other parent. As a result, crowding or spacing of teeth may occur as well as over or underdeveloped upper and lower jaws that don’t fit together properly in a functional bite.

Over the centuries, these inconsistencies produced the need for orthodontic treatment and are more prevalent today than ever, especially in the United States. The US is the leader of the free world and a melting pot for many different nationalities, mixing genetic backgrounds from many countries throughout the world.

The American Association of Orthodontics recommends that all children be seen by the age of 8 for an orthodontic evaluation. Many adults, whose families couldn’t afford treatment as a child or didn’t want to wear braces, are now considering straightening their teeth to improve their appearance and long term dental health. Orthodontic treatment is quite common now among adults with many new treatment options available that are less visible such as Invisalign, the “braceless” alternative to straight teeth

Feel free to contact our office for a complimentary consultation. Dr. Douglas Elliott will inform you whether you or your child could benefit from orthodontic treatment, best treatment recommendations available to correct the individual problem, how long treatment will take, and discuss payment options to work within your budget.

At Elliott Orthodontics our goal is to help you create the smile you want and deserve for yourself or your child.

Each February, the American Dental Association (ADA) sponsors National Children's Dental Health Month to raise awareness about the importance of good oral health. Dr. Douglas Elliott supports the ADA in their efforts.

Attached are some fun activities you can use to engage kids of all ages regarding dental health. Download Here

February is also National Pet Dental Health Month.

Did you know that human toothpaste can irritate your animal’s stomach? Watch this video on proper oral hygiene for your pet's teeth.

As unpleasant as it may be to think about, our mouths aren’t the cleanest places in the world. As food is eaten, the remnants left on teeth form a sticky substance known as plaque, which is full of bacteria. If you brush your teeth and flush regularly, most of this plaque is removed. (A quick word of caution about brushing: be gentle with your gums when you brush, because overly vigorous brushing can actually contribute to gum disease over time!) However, if you aren’t regular with your brushing and flossing, the plaque collects near the gum line and hardens into tartar, the next step on the road to gum disease. If your teeth are crooked or crowded, it may be too difficult to remove the plaque the way you should, and the tartar can develop in hard to reach places despite your best efforts. Regular dental cleanings are very important to remove any tartar that has built up for whatever reason, since brushing and flossing alone can’t take care of it.

If tartar is not dealt with, over a period of time the gums may actually pull away from the teeth. This movement creates a space called a periodontal pocket, which is seriously bad news. The extra room is a ready-made home for more plaque and tartar, which then becomes even more difficult to get rid of. At this point, if left untreated, your gums will become red and swollen, the telltale early signs of gum disease, also known as gingivitis. As gingivitis progresses, you can eventually suffer bone loss in your jaw. This, in turn, makes your teeth wobbly because they don’t have the support that they need to stay solidly in place. Eventually, they can even fall out, a fate no one wants.

Elliott Orthodontics plays a special role in the prevention of gingivitis. Remember how crooked or crowded teeth can make the plaque and tartar difficult to get rid of? Orthodontics, which is a special branch of dentistry, can fix this problem. By straightening the teeth out and ensuring that they are spaced properly, brushing and flossing become more effective at removing plaque. This can be achieved through braces, retainers, and other corrective appliances according to each person’s individual need. If you have hard time fitting floss in between your teeth, you are probably a good candidate for orthodontics. Fortunately, healthy teeth can be moved at any age, so there is no reason not to seek orthodontic treatment just because you’re an adult. In fact, about 1 in 4 orthodontic patients today are adults.

Dr. Douglas Elliott and the Team at Elliott Orthodontics are pleased to provide you with this helpful information and to offer you the finest state-of-the-art orthodontic care for you and your family. For more information, please visit our website or contact our office.