Orthodontic Emergencies

It is almost the bewitching hour!  Time to dress up, pretend we are someone or something else, eat all those special goodies and hopefully not break any orthodontic wires or brackets.  However, if in the instance you sneak one of those "no-no goodies", we have created some helpful hints to get you through the rest of the Halloween night. 


Broken Arch Wires:

• If an archwire is broken and it is NOT poking or causing discomfort, you can place a small piece of wax on the end and call our office in the morning to schedule an appointment.
• If an archwire is broken and it IS poking or causing discomfort, you can either put a piece of wax on it or you can clip it with a pair of nail clippers which have been disinfected with alcohol.  Again, please call our office in the morning to schedule an appointment.

Broken Brackets:

• If a bracket/brace has popped off your tooth and is still attached to the archwire, and it is NOT bothering you, please call our office in the morning and we will schedule an appointment to repair the broken bracket.
• If a bracket has popped off your tooth and is NOT attached to the archwire, please keep the bracket in a ziploc baggie and call our office in the morning to schedule a repair appointment.  If the archwire is poking, you may clip it with a pair of disinfected nail clippers or place a piece of wax over the pokey end.

Pokey Archwires:

• If an archwire is poking, you may either put a piece of wax over the end or clip it with a pair of disinfected nail clippers.  Please call our office the next morning to schedule a repair appointment.

Of course, these are just a couple of incidents that could occur. The best prevention of broken brackets or archwires is to follow our guidelines and stay away from the gooey, sticky, chewy or hard foods this Halloween.  However, with any emergency situation, if you can not temporarily fix the problem at home, or if you have any questions about a situation, please do not hesitate to call our office!

We hope you have a "SPOOKTACULAR" Halloween!

October is National Orthodontic Health Month

Halloween is fast approaching and soon we will be answering our doors to little ghosts and goblins asking us for "Tricks or Treats."  We know everyone loves the treats, but for an orthodontic office, those treats can cause havoc on your braces.  Sticky, crunchy, hard or gooey candy are big culprits in breaking brackets and arch wires.  To prevent this, we have compiled a list of some orthodontic friendly treats.

• Soft, melt in your mouth chocolate, such as Hershey Bars
• Peanut Butter Cups
• Jello
• Plain M&M's (no peanut M&M's)
• Mounds or Almond Joy candy bars
• 3 Musketeers candy bars

Think before you decide to put something in your mouth if you are wearing braces.  Definitely stay away from bubblegum, tootsie rolls, licorice, Snickers candy bars, etc.  If it is sticky, gooey or crunchy it is not your friend! This theory also applies with regular treats if you are attending any "spooktacular" Halloween parties!
Below you will find some "brace" friendly Halloween recipes.  We hope you have a "ghoulishly" great Halloween!

Pumpkin Chocolate-Chip Softies

Recipe idea adapted from “The Braces Cookbook” by Pamela Waterman    

Makes 36 – 40 cookies

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 15-ounce can plain pumpkin puree
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons molasses
1 tablespoon milk
1 12-ounce bag chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In medium-sized mixing bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. In large mixing bowl, with a mixer or whisk, combine pumpkin, brown sugar, eggs, oil, molasses and milk. Add flour mixture slowly into pumpkin mixture until well combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

The dough is very soft. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto greased cookie sheets, 12 cookies to a pan. Bake for 25 minutes. Store in a covered container between sheets of waxed paper.

Yummy Mummy Spinach Dip

What You Need:

1 pkg. (16 oz.) frozen pizza dough, thawed

1 egg, beaten

2 sticks KRAFT POLLY-O STRING-UMS String Cheese

2 black olive slices

1 cup BREAKSTONE'S Reduced Fat or KNUDSEN Light Sour Cream

1/4 cup KRAFT Light Ranch Dressing

1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained

1 green onion, sliced

1/2 cup finely chopped red peppers

1/4 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

WHEAT THINS Original Crackers

Make It:
PAT dough into 12x6-inch oval on baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Indent dough, about 3 inches from one end of oval, for the mummy's head. Let rise in warm place 20 min. or until doubled in volume.

HEAT oven to 375ºF. Brush dough with egg. Bake 18 to 20 min. or until bread is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped lightly. Pull apart string cheese to make about 16 strips; arrange on bread for the mummy's wrappings. Bake 1 to 2 min. or just until cheese is melted; cool slightly. Press olive slices into bread for the mummy's eyes; cool completely.

MEANWHILE, mix sour cream and dressing in medium bowl until well blended. Stir in next 5 ingredients. Refrigerate 30 min. or until ready to serve.

USE sharp knife to remove bread from top of mummy's body; scoop out bread from center, leaving thin shell on bottom and side. (Reserve bread top. Discard removed bread or reserve for another use.) Fill bread with spinach dip just before serving; cover with top of bread. Serve with crackers. (Nutrition information is for dip and crackers only.)

Scary Skillet Shepherd's Pie

What You Need:
1 pkg. (16 oz.) frozen mixed vegetables

1 lb. ground beef
1 cup beef gravy
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, cubed
1 cup milk, divided
1 cup water
2 cups instant potato flakes
1/4 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese

Make It:

COOK vegetables as directed on package. Meanwhile, brown meat in large skillet; drain. Stir in gravy; simmer until heated through, stirring occasionally.

MICROWAVE cream cheese and 1/4 cup milk in medium microwaveable bowl on HIGH 30 sec.; beat with whisk until smooth. Gradually whisk in remaining milk and water. Microwave 2-1/2 min. or until hot, stirring after each minute. Stir in potato flakes and Parmesan until well blended. Spoon into resealable plastic bag; cut 1 corner from bottom of bag.

REMOVE 12 peas from mixed vegetables; stir remaining vegetables into meat mixture. Squeeze potato mixture into 6 mounds on meat mixture to resemble ghosts. Add 2 of the reserved peas to each for the eyes.


For more great orthodontic friendly recipes visit http://www.braces.org/NOHM/Orthodontic-Friendly-Recipes.cfm or http://www.braces.org/JustForKids/Recipes.cfm.