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5 Holiday Activities to Do in Frisco, TX

At Corbridge Orthodontics, our mission is to help patients of all ages throughout Frisco, Prosper, and the surrounding areas achieve a beautiful, healthy smile through quality orthodontic treatment. But as your dedicated orthodontic practice, we want to go above and beyond simply giving you a new smile: we want to help you use it, too! With the holiday season in full swing, here are our recommendations on some great holiday activities in Frisco that are sure to put a smile on your face.

Best Things to Do for the Holidays in Frisco

Looking for a little holiday cheer without heading out too far? That's easy! Here are 5 wonderful holiday activities that will bring smiles to the whole family, all located right in our own backyard:

• "Elf" The Broadway Musical: Broadway is coming to Frisco! Be sure to catch the holiday-themed "Elf" musical through the Dallas Summer Musical Series. While you're at it, find other great shows to see over the holidays!
• Pet Night with Santa: Want to get the family pooch in on the holiday action? Stop by the Stonebriar Centre for pet night with Santa!
• See Magical Ice Sculptures: Step into a real wonderland at the Gaylord Texan Convention Center, where you'll find a magical landscape of scenes inspired by "Rudolf the Rednosed Reindeer" carved into more than 2 million pounds of ice.
• Holidays in the Park at Six Flags: Looking for an excuse to visit Six Flags? You've found one. Head to the famous amusement park during the holidays to find special interactive exhibits that celebrate the holiday cheer.
• Snowland: Visit the Great Wolf Lodge for Snowland, a playground of magical decorations, holiday activities, and even a life-size gingerbread house!

Contact Your Prosper, TX Orthodontist

We hope these activities bring plenty of holiday cheer to you and your family, and once you're done with all that smiling, we're here to help make yours even brighter. Contact us today to learn how orthodontic treatment can help you achieve the smile of your dreams and to schedule your initial consultation. We can't wait to hear from you, and we wish you a very happy holiday season!

How To Survive Thanksgiving With Braces

Thanksgiving is the day when everyone throws aside eating in moderation to feast with family and friends, At Corbridge Orthodontics, our team and orthodontists understand that you may have some difficulties enjoying all of the delicious foods that are prepared for your Thanksgiving day feast. So we’ve prepared these tips for our Frisco, Little Elm, and Prosper area patients to help you care for your braces and enjoy the day without having to sacrifice the dishes you love!

Appetizer Tips When You Have Braces

The turkey is almost never ready upon arriving at Thanksgiving dinner, leaving plenty of opportunity to snack on appetizers.

• Fill your plate with soft foods like cheese chunks or slices, meatballs or cocktail weenies and bread.
• Avoid appetizers like crispy salads and vegetables, popcorn, nuts, and chips.

What To Choose For Your Frisco Main Course

The Thanksgiving meal will be the easiest to partake in with your braces because there are minimal sticky or hard foods.

• Fill your plate with ham, turkey or chicken; just don't eat these foods off of the bone.
• Soft sides like mashed potatoes, stuffing and bread are a good choice as these foods are easy on your teeth.
• Avoid salad toppings like nuts, raw fruits and vegetables, and croutons.
  You’ll also want to skip on food items you have to bite into like corn on cob and turkey legs, and dishes that are on the chewy side until you are brace-free.

Desserts: Proceed With Caution

That piece of pie, or whole pie, will be calling your name after you’ve made room for more food following your turkey dinner. While the team at Corbridge Orthodontics always wants you to be mindful of the sweets you consume while you are wearing braces or Invisalign clear aligners, you don’t have to skip out on dessert during the holidays! Here are a few suggestions:

• Fill your plate with pies that have soft or creamy fillings. If there are pecans or nuts in the pie, just pass those along for someone else to eat. If pie isn’t your thing, cookies without nuts work, too along with puddings and jello salad.
• Avoid sticky desserts like toffee and caramel as these can be hazardous foods, causing damage to your braces and prolonging your orthodontic treatment time.

Pack Your Braces Hygiene Kit

If you haven’t created one already, the holidays are a perfect time to put together a braces or Invisalign hygiene kit! With this kit, you can travel to your aunt’s in Frisco, your grandma’s in Little Elm, or your stepdad’s in Frisco and have everything you need to keep your braces free from food particles and your whole mouth clean. Pack your braces hygiene kit with the following:

• Travel size soft-bristled toothbrush and fluoride toothpaste
• Orthodontic wax
• Compact mirror (great for checking for any stuck food in your braces)
• Pocket tissues
• Floss threader (super helpful for flossing fast) & coated floss
• OR Ortho Flossers (great disposable flossers that get between your teeth and wires)
• Tongue scraper (not as gross as it sounds and great for getting rid of bad breath)
• Travel size mouthwash
• Invisalign case (if you’re wearing aligners, this is a must for storing during eating and brushing)
• Lip balm (use one with shea butter to keep your lips hydrated)

Contact Us Now For Questions!

Just like you would with all other meals, it’s crucial to remember good oral hygiene by brushing and flossing your teeth after eating to remove any leftovers from your braces. Savor your day with friends and family and Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Corbridge Orthodontics. If you have any questions for us, we’d love to hear from you! Contact us or give us a call at (214) 705-6188 to schedule an appointment with us for braces or Invisalign in Frisco, Prosper or Little Elm.

Your Go-To Orthodontist in Frisco, Prosper, & Little Elm, TX

At Corbridge Orthodontics, our amazing doctors and staff strive to provide you with effective, personalized orthodontic treatment in a stress-free environment. We pride ourselves on offering a variety of treatments to patients of all ages, from traditional type braces to Invisalign. Because we strive to be the premier provider of braces and Invisalign in Frisco, TX and the surrounding areas, we also know that extends into helping educate our patients on proper care of their teeth while undergoing orthodontic treatments. Part of that is knowing which foods to enjoy and which to avoid while wearing braces.

Foods to Avoid

It’s important to avoid certain foods during your orthodontic treatment that can cause damage to your braces and teeth. Your Frisco, Prosper and Little Elm area orthodontist can provide you with further information and tips on foods to avoid, but you can continue reading to find a little bit more now.

Hard or Crunchy Foods

Foods that are hard and/or crunchy can cause damage to wires and brackets if chewed. Some examples of hard and/or crunchy foods to avoid are:

• Hard bread, such as pizza crust
• Taco shells
• Nuts
• Whole apples
• Corn on the cob
• Raw vegetables
• Hard candy
• Ice
• Hard pretzels

Tough, Chewy, and Sticky Foods

As they are often difficult to bite through, tough or chewy foods can also cause damage to brackets and wires, while sticky foods can wrap around these parts and pull on them, damaging or even breaking them off — as well as making your braces difficult to clean. Sticky or chewy foods to avoid include:

• Bagels and soft pretzels
• Tough meats like steak and jerky
• Caramels
• Gummies
• Taffy
• Gum
• Toffee and other sticky candy

Sugary Food and Drink

While consuming sugary foods in moderation is solid advice regardless, it’s an especially important guideline to follow while wearing braces, as your teeth tend to be more susceptible to tooth decay during braces treatments. A few examples of sugary food and drink to avoid are:

• Sweet tea and lemonade
• Soft Drinks
• Candy
• Cookies
• Ice cream
• Cakes and pies

Foods to Enjoy

Although it sounds like a lot of food is off-limits during your braces treatment, there is still a wide variety of foods that can and should be enjoyed while wearing braces!

• Vegetables cooked until soft
• Fruits in small, bite-size pieces
• Bread warmed until soft or soaked in soup
• Yogurt and cottage cheese
• Fish, tender pieces of chicken or turkey, and soft lunch meats
• Eggs
• Pasta and rice
• Pudding and applesauce
• Mashed potatoes or mashed cauliflower

Schedule an Appointment with your Frisco Orthodontics Provider Today!

If you’ve been searching for an orthodontist in Frisco, Prosper, and Little Elm, TX that you can trust, look no further than Corbridge Orthodontics. We provide a wide variety of orthodontic treatments, including emergency treatment, to patients of many ages. It’s our mission to provide, effective, personalized treatment in a stress-free environment. If you’re interested in learning more about braces or Invisalign in the Frisco area, contact us today — or simply fill out our convenient online form to get started. We look forward to seeing you!

Flossing With Braces

While braces are your ticket to a perfect, radiant smile, the brackets and wires have the tendency to trap food particles more easily, making oral hygiene more challenging and more important than ever. Flossing remains as one of the crucial components of any good oral hygiene, is one of your best weapons at fending off tooth decay when you’re wearing braces, so you can enjoy a new smile that’s free of painful and annoying cavities. However, the moment that you try to floss with your braces the first time, you’ll notice that it can be a bit tricky, which is why Corbridge Orthodontics is here with this guide that will make flossing with your braces a breeze. Check out the helpful flossing tips and techniques below that will keep your braces and teeth pristine!

Get The Right Floss For The Job

There are many types of floss out there, but we highly recommend that you get your hands on some waxed floss. Unwaxed floss is more likely to tear if it gets caught on your brackets, but waxed floss can slip in and out of the tight spaces between your teeth and around your braces with ease. For an even easier time flossing, you can even try dental tape, which is a special type of waxed floss that has a flat design, which makes it even easier to get the floss in those hard to reach places. If you have trouble finding the right floss, don’t hesitate to ask your orthodontist!

Easy Flossing With A Floss-Threader

If you’re having trouble threading the floss underneath your archwire to get at the space between your teeth, there’s a special tool made specifically made for threading floss, and what other name would be better for it than “floss threader”! Floss threaders consist of a single loop that you can feed the floss through, then push the floss threader underneath your archwire and you’ll have your floss in the exact place that you need it to clean your teeth, with no hassle at all. If you have any issues using the floss threader, you can always ask your orthodontist or a member of our staff to demonstrate for you.

Blasting Away Bacteria With A Water Flosser

Water flossers, or waterpiks, are a fantastic new piece of technology when it comes to oral care, utilizing a small beam of water that is gentle enough on your teeth and gums, but powerful enough to clear away food particles and bacteria buildup on your smile. What’s special about a water flosser when it comes to oral hygiene with braces is that most devices come with a flosser tip that is specifically designed for use with orthodontic appliances. The tip has soft, micro-bristles that you can glide over your braces that will brush away bacteria that’s blasted loose with the beam of water. However, water flossing should not replace your normal flossing routine, but it is still a great way to make sure that your smile is perfectly clean.

Need More Help With Flossing? Contact Us Today!

Whether you have any questions about how to floss with your braces, or you need to schedule a visit to our Frisco, TX office so our team can demonstrate proper flossing technique for you, just contact us and we’ll set you up with the soonest available appointment. Corbridge Orthodontics has been providing superior orthodontic care to patients of all ages in the Frisco, TX community for years, so if you’re looking for a place that can provide you with the quality treatment you deserve and the perfect smile that you want, choose us! We look forward to seeing you in our office soon!