As we approach the holiday season, now is the time to start thinking about some fun gift ideas for your kids. If your kids have braces, you can add a few items to their stockings or wrap them to discover on Christmas morning. This is a great way to help make their treatment more exciting while brightening up their holiday season.
Stocking Stuffers to Avoid
First off, lets get some common ideas out of the way that might be a bad idea. Obviously, if your child has traditional or ceramic braces, it’s going to be a bad idea to stuff your kids’ stockings with items they can’t eat during their treatment, such as crunchy or sticky candy. Think of some other treats they can enjoy that won’t potentially damage their braces, like plain chocolate or cookies without nuts.
Another stocking stuffer idea to avoid is a teeth-whitening kit. While it may seem like a good gift that goes along with their end goal of improving their smile, it’s a bad idea to use any teeth-whitening systems during your time with braces. Since the teeth-whitening agents can’t reach underneath the brackets, the process can leave your child with two-toned teeth.
Now that we’ve gotten some bad ideas out of the way, here are some great ideas to include in your kids’ stockings this holiday season.
Floss Threader
When your kids have braces, they will need to be extra on top of caring for their teeth. Keeping up with regular oral hygiene will help prevent tooth decay and cavities later on. Unfortunately, it’s easier for food particles to get stuck on and around your kids’ teeth when they have braces. It’s also harder to floss since they will have to get around the archwire to reach in between the teeth. By using a floss threader, they can much more easily get the floss under the archwire to thoroughly clean their teeth.
Waterpik
The Waterpik is a way to clean in between teeth with a pressurized stream of water. This can make it far easier for your kids to clean in between their teeth during their time with braces. It’s a quick and easy method that they will also probably have some fun with. This shouldn’t be seen as a replacement to regular flossing, but rather a way to supplement some cleaning.
Mouthguard
If your child has braces, it can be a bit of a challenge for them to enjoy their favorite physical activities, especially if they love playing contact sports like football or basketball. These sports can be risky if your child has braces, since impacts can cause damage to braces and to the jaw and gums. An orthodontic mouthguard is designed to fit over braces with ease and to provide impact protection for physical sports.
When you visit us at Charleston Orthodontic Specialists, we can give you more great gift ideas for kids with braces and provide some fun items like new toothbrushes and floss. From our team to your family, Happy Holidays!
