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Getting braces can be a huge deal for many teenagers. It can affect you both physically and emotionally. There is an adjustment period that you must ride through. There will be food restrictions and you may have some speech issues as your mouth adjusts to braces.

From your child’s first check up at the dentist to possible wisdom teeth removal at the dentist, proper oral care is a process through our entire lives.  One of those things that many children face is the need for braces.  Here are 7 tips for braces that will help you navigate this journey as a teenager.

Embrace the Braces

Braces are common among teenagers, but it’s recommended that children see an orthodontist as early as age 7 for proactive care.  It’s always better to find and address issues sooner than later.  No matter their age, kids need to be gently guided to cope with braces and accept them whole-heartedly.

If you look around, quite a few people have braces. This should help them feel less self-conscious.

Focus on the End Goal

Getting braces as a teenager can seem like the end of the world and cause anxiety. What can help is focusing on the end goal – which is to have straighter teeth and a better smile.

Ask your dentist for an approximate end date. If you know when the braces will come off, you will focus more on the end date than anything else. It will help you realize that braces won’t be on your teeth for as long as you would imagine.

Schedule Regular Dental Appointments

Regular appointments with the dentist will help in tackling various issues that you might have.

Your braces can make you prone to plaque and tartar accumulation between your teeth. You may need dental cleaning to clear them off. Regular dental appointments will help in keeping your teeth clean and tackle issues like tooth sensitivity, bad breath, or cavities.

Consider Painkillers

Over-the-counter medication helps in relieving some pain. Ask your dentist to prescribe you some if necessary. However, keep the use of painkillers to a minimum. Take them only when the pain becomes unbearable.

Follow the directions for the painkiller you are taking. If you rely heavily on painkillers, there will be side-effects. Take the dosage as per your age and weight.  

If your dentist appointments are painful, you can take one painkiller before your appointment. Inform your doctor about the same.

Apply Dental Wax

The brackets of the braces can rub against your lips or cheeks. This can be quite irritating and painful.

To avoid this from happening, use dental wax to create a barrier between your braces, and lips and cheeks.

Roll a small piece of wax to make a small ball. Cover the area that is irritating your mouth by flattening the wax over the metal. Even if it comes off and you swallow it by mistake, don’t worry as it is non-toxic.

Request for Invisalign

If braces are an option that you just do not want to consider, ask your parents if you can opt for Invisalign.

They are much less noticeable than metal braces but equally effective. Due to their transparency, Invisalign is becoming a popular choice amongst teens.

Check with an orthodontist if you are the right candidate for Invisalign. You may need some adjustment before they are fitted.

Understand What to Avoid Eating

There are certain foods that you should absolutely avoid when you have metal braces. Sticky foods and hard, crunchy foods top that list.

Sticky foods like gummy bears, caramel, licorice, and chewing gums are an absolute no-no as they can get stuck between the brackets. Taking them off would almost be impossible.

Hard foods such as nuts, apples, corn on the cob, and candy must also be avoided. The hard foods can bend the braces wire, break a bracket or even pop it off. Moreover, hard foods will make your mouth sore.

Maintain Oral Hygiene

The final and most important things to do is maintain good oral hygiene. This will help in preventing dental issues like cavities and tooth decay. Brush and floss after every meal. This will wash away the debris and prevent bad breath too.

Well, now you know how to prepare for braces. Just follow these tips and the braces will come off before you know it.

Author Bio:

Emily Taylor found the perfect fit for herself as the Online Marketing Manager at Thurman Orthodontics in Fresno CA as she believes that a great smile does more than just make a person look great – it makes them feel great as well. The power of a smile has always been a mystery to Emily, and she loves researching and writing about it. She writes about everything to do with a healthy bite and a beautiful smile – whether is it ways to achieve it or the importance of it in the various aspects of life. What brings a big smile on Emily’s face is her family and surfing. She also likes to bake, and her children and co-workers call her the cookie fairy!

Do you find your children moan and groan when you tell them it’s time to do their science homework? There are simple solutions to make science fun. Kids are curious by nature and like asking questions. If they see, hear, or feel that which comes in their way, they’ll probably ask, ‘Why?”

Parents and teachers can make science learning fun and exciting by emboldening their curiosity about their surroundings. Teaching them how to find answers about the questions they’ve asked for themselves also helps. After all, science is all about finding the solutions to ‘why.’ 

Speaking of science, most kids tend to struggle with physics. And speaking of science, most kids also tend to struggle with physics and mathematics. Unless they have a solid understanding of the fundamentals, they will fall behind. Physics and math are inter-related, and if you live near a physics tuition center, you may want to consider enrolling your child. But there are things you can do right now at home to make science learning fun.

5 Tips to Make Science Fun for Your Kids

1.   Exploring Your Backyard or Park

When was the last time you took your child in your backyard or park for the science’s sake? It’s not something most parents think of doing. But science is best learned through observations and experiments. Your child will ask you “how do chicks hatch”, or “how does a caterpillar morphs into a butterfly?”, or how plants sprout from the seeds. The best way to make kids fascinated by science is through nature. In the real world, students can learn the fun secrets of science by observing the captivating development process of plants, insects, and animals.

In nature, teachers can also find quite a few science experiments that they can ask the students to do at home. For example, you can ask kids to keep a journal on how many days it takes for larvae to morph into a butterfly or the different types of butterflies in their yard.

2.  Studying Nature

Why does it rain? Why do the seasons change? How many stars are there in the universe? Why do we see stars at night? I’m guessing you’ve heard these questions from your child many times? Answering these questions about nature will generate interest in your kids about science. Take your children for long hikes and ask them to look out for the natural surroundings, including birds, trees, and rocks as you travel.

If you’re looking at clouds, tell them about the many varieties of clouds. If you’re studying birds, point out the different birds, and if chemistry is your thing, let them know what makes their soda fizzle.

3.  Find Out How Things Work

Whether your kids want to become doctors or engineers in the future or not, kids always get fascinated by how things work. They want to understand the scientific explanations and principles behind everyday technologies and phenomena.  So they want to read the books about Thomas Edison and other such famous inventors. They want to attempt to come up with experiments on their own to show how their inventions work.

If your child asks you for help with his or her science project, like making a rocket from a recycled water bottle, lend them a hand. You can help them find household items or demonstrate how physics principles work. If your child struggles with math, don’t rule out getting a math tutor to help them with their scientific calculations.

4.  Be Practical

You can’t learn science without experiments or hands-on activities. Sure, reading books about science, as well as biographies of famous scientists and inventors day-in and day-out, will give them knowledge. But never actually doing a science experiment or witnessing any scientific demonstrations is dull.

Learning science is a full-on hands-on activity, period. But before that, find out what everyday issues affects and interest your students? Do they like hunting for exotic bugs? Are they interested in making a fake volcano using vinegar and baking soda? Do they want to create glow-in-the-dark germs? Be creative!   There are tons of projects like these they can do to throughout the year.

5.  Read Biographies

Children need to be encouraged and inspired. And what better way to instill scientific curiosity in kids by persuading them to read biographies about famous scientists such as Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, and Marie Curie? Making biographies about scientists and inventors as part of your science studies will help kids stay engaged. It will make them curious to know about how these people worked, lived, and how they discovered facts about science.

The achievements of these types of people have greatly impacted the world and can often be looked at as super heroes. But simple reading about them can show how scientists and inventors are just real people with ideas who wanted to make a difference in our world.

Who knows, it could inspire your child to become the next famous scientist!

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Discover how to engage and educate kids on saving energy.

As parents, we want to do everything we can to make sure our kids have good reading skills. We entrust our children to the school system a few hours each weekday but are fully aware that what we do at home is just as important, if not even more vital to developing good reading habits. Sounds good right?

But there is one problem. I used the work ‘habit’ when referring to our desire to inspire kids to love reading. The problem is, a focus on developing good reading habits is the wrong goal. On it’s own, it won’t be enough.

Don’t misunderstand. Healthy habits can make it easier for any of us to do things we may not particularly feel like doing on any given day. But to inspire a love for reading is to instill the passion needed to fuel a lifestyle that ‘always includes reading’.

The infographic below gives some great tips on how to set the stage for kids of any age to begin a journey into a lifelong passion for reading. They go hand in hand with good resources that enable parents to do more than just laying a solid foundation. Setting our kids up for success is only the beginning.

Instilling a Passion for Reading in Kids

It’s quite natural for kids desire bedtime stories, but there is a definite point in early child development when their own passion needs needs to take over. This is necessary in order for them to begin a lifelong habit of reading on their own. It’s an important step in a child’s speech and language development. It’s easy to say “less screens and more books” but how does a parent begin to instill a passion for reading early on? This is a

Exploring basic steps to build a foundation of education through reading…

1. Of course, we all know we should read to our children from a very early age, but try to work times for reading into other parts of the day other than just a bedtime. This shows children how fun reading and fun it can be anytime they wish, not just in order to delay having go to sleep.
2. When kids want to watch TV, offer to read them a book instead following by playing a game. This teaches a fun balance or activities.
3. Bring kids to the library regularly so they can explore and pick books that appear interesting to them. If they don’t like a book, affirm that it’s ok to try and find something they like to read.
4. Model reading by having kids read their own books along side you when you are reading yours. You may not be an avid reader, but setting times to read together with your child may help them develop a love for reading that you were not taught.
5. Don’t stop reading to your child after they’ve learned to do it on their own. You can also take turns reading alternate pages of a book with them.

Room for Kids to Explore Safely

There are so many other tips and strategies to raising kids that love to read. It builds a solid foundation for learning. The Internet is one of the greatest resources for kids to access interesting articles or even books, no matter where they are. This is why providing a safe online environment that protects kids while searching the internet is vital, so that kids can freely explore all the positives the web has to offer.

The Benefits of Reading

Reading has many benefits for children of all ages! From toddlers to seniors, the hidden benefits of reading can have a substantial effect on us all. For example, reading can boost your communication skills, as it helps you to understand other perspectives and makes structured conversations easier to maintain. Additionally, reading helps keep the brain active, leading to a slower cognitive decline as you age and an improved memory that comes from the need to remember certain plot points. There has even been research that proves reading can lead to a happier, more satisfied life!

Reading also has surprising benefits on our health. While you read, your body is able to relax completely, reducing muscle tension and lowering your heart rate. These effects in the body help to lower stress levels and equip you to better deal with the stresses of everyday life. To further benefit your mental and physical health, you should start including reading in your bedtime routine. Abandoning your devices in favor of reading for around 30 minutes before bed, you will signal to your brain that it is time for bed, so you can start to wind down, relax and get a satisfactory nights rest.

In short, the benefits of reading are undeniable on both children and adults. There are even studies that show people can live longer if they read as little as 30 minutes per day! So, how can you get your child to enjoy reading?

Early Literacy

Early literacy is vital to child development and lifelong learning. Yet, there is a literacy gap in our world that makes it that much more difficult for kids to get the jump start they need. In any situation, kids need all the help they can get.

We’ve listed some fun and creative ways to teach kids to read.  These methods are also about inspiring our kids to want to read. It’s about instilling passion so they have a life long desire to seek out books they enjoy.  Another way parents and teachers can help is by introducing children to books they can identify with. This can include authors that have a common upbringing or common ethnicity.

What is your child interested in? Is is fantasy, science fiction? Do they want to be a veterinarian when they grow up or a fireman? Search online with your child about topics they may be interested in. Then take them to the library regularly to exploration a world of themes, ideas and authors from all walks of life.

While early literacy is important, it’s never too late to get started.

Reading Resources for Parents!

Another valuable learning strategy to encourage new readers is to teach your child alphabet recognition.  This can begin from very early ages to better prepare them for when it’s time to begin reading. Getting to know letters will give kids a jump start even when you are reading to them from storybooks.  Children will not only follow the pictures but also begin recognizing the letters on the page as you read.

Being well read helps kids be creative writers too.  Here are some easy ways to improve your child’s creative writing skills.

Interaction with other human beings through sight, sound and touch creates those first important bonds. This grows into communication beyond the sense into language. This is why access to online educational tools is so important. Research has actually shown that early literacy first begins through play. Before language. For kids to excel in school from an early age, that “play” needs to soon develop into a love for reading.

I will be the first person to tell you to never click a link in an email from a bank or what you think is a legitimate link to any online account you may have.  Whether it be Netflix, Amazon, Fed Ex, PayPal, Capital One or Spotify, the list of companies used by scam artists is endless.

Those sending out phishing emails use trust in these companies to fool us when we least expect it. This is how I came to click on one of those lines, even though I know better.  It happened to me when I had my guard down. More about that in a moment and how you can protect your online accounts and identity.

My story in a moment, but first let’s define exactly what I am talking about.

What is Phishing?

Phishing is a malicious attempt to steal your personal information and gain access to an online account you have with a reputable company. The scammer will send you a fake email that links to a fake login of that company.

The word phishing is is pronounced like ‘fishing’ and just like when commercial fisherman casts a wide net to catch fish, scammers and hackers send out millions of emails in hopes to catch easy prey who unwittingly click on the links in those emails.

First of all, most online services will never send you a link asking you to sign into your account for any reason. If they do, I’ll explain why you should still not click it and how to access your account safety to see if the email actually came from a legitimate company. In most cases, these malicious emails contain alarming news about your account being compromised, hacked or suspended.

We’ve all seem these emails. They come from hackers and scammers that state “Your Account Has Been Locked” or the message I recently received from Netflix:

“Thanks for choosing Netflix membership! due latest security issues we need you to upgrade your account details in order to continue your membership.”

Notice how there was even a grammatical error in the message, but yes – I still clicked it. I knew full well that if our account had needed changing or was compromised, Netflix is one of those companies that would have emailed a notice and then instructed me to go to their website via usual methods (such as Googling Netflix or using a trusted bookmark you made in your browser). They won’t put the link in the email.

I Knew Better, but I Still Clicked a Phishing Link

In my case, I had just made changes to the WiFi password in our home and this of course would effect Netflix’s ability to connect via the devices that were previously set up using the old password.  Even though I know about phishing and to be careful when receiving these emails, my wife had just mentioned to me that she was unable to connect to Netflix.

At the same time the fake Netflix email arrived in my inbox. I was annoyed that Netflix may not be working so I clicked the link. Fortunately, I realized immediately what I’d done so I closed my browser before any harm was done.

Upon further investigation, I noticed that the link actually was going to a different website than Netflix, but in that moment of frustration it made sense in my mind to be receiving an email from Netflix.

Cyberthieves count on catching people off guard.

Those taking extra precautions to be safe online, such as using only secure public networks or secure websites, can easily be stolen from if not paying attention.   For example, if you don’t have a Chase bank account, then chances are you won’t pay much attention to the email. You know it’s probably fraudulent. But if I do have an account related to the email, it makes sense to be receiving an email about a problem with your account. Especially when you’ve recently logged in your this account and made changes.

For example, imagine that you just shipped a package via FedEx, and later that day a FedEx email comes in stating that your package can’t be shipped. You immediately get stressed… “What?” If you’re not thinking, you will click the link to see what the problem is.

It’s a ‘game of chance’ as hackers send out millions of these emails. They know they will trick some people because by coincidence alone these same people will not only have an account related to the email, some of them will have recently made changes to their account, or shipped a package with UPS, or applied for a loan at a bank.

If there is a legitimate problem with your online account, there will be a notice posted about it after you log in. If all is normal, then you know the email you received is a scam.

Phishing, also known as Spoofing, is very common. If you click the link in a phishing email and you attempt to log into your account, thieves gain access to your user name and password. Once inside the account, they have access to all of your personal information.

Beware of Viruses Coming as Email Attachments

Protecting yourself against phishing is as easy as never clicking a link to an online account from within the email. Always go to your account by typing in the website url in a browser directly.  Or use the bookmark you’ve set up.  Computer infections caused by viruses in email attachments however, are a different story. This is why Anti-Virus software is important to stop spyware, Trojan horses, adware and computer worms. But there are new email virus schemes that employ the same methods as phishing.

You may have see them. These emails contain attachments in the form of a seemingly innocent Word doc or a zip file. The email may say, “Your loan has been approved!” Or “Attached is Your Out Standing Invoice”. If you happened to have just applied for a loan or are curious about if you owe money, you will be more likely to open the attachment.

Invoice Scams are an example of  phishing:  You may you receive a fake invoice from PayPal or another invoicing platform. Usually, the dollar amount is high enough to cause alarm when you receive it, but low enough that it doesn’t look like an obvious scam.

If you’re not expecting an invoice or it’s unknown to you. Don’t click the link. Log into your credit card account from your trusted bookmarks or access the payment platform to see if there are any charges. Chances are, there won’t be.

While phishing emails gain access a single account to access your personal information, viruses via email will activate malware that infects your entire computer. In both cases, your personal information is compromised.

While phishing emails gain access a single account to access your personal information, viruses via email will activate malware that infects your entire computer. In both cases, your personal information is compromised.

If you have accidentally given access to one of your online accounts for any reason or are not sure, log in and change your password as soon as possible.

If you think your computer has been infected by a virus, read more about how to remove malware – as well as protect yourself from attacks.

Protect Yourself Using the SLAM Method

S stands for Sender:

Check to make sure the sender matches the request in an email. If things don’t line up, tread lightly. The email may also be spoofed to look like it’s from a friend or your boss. Or, their email may have been hacked.  If unsure, contact the them by creating a new email from your contacts, see them in person, or call to verify the message.

L stands for Links:

Inspect any link that is contained in any email or text. In emails, you can hover over the link to see the real destination. Pressing and hold the link on a phone will reveal the destination in a popup.  Close the popup without proceeding.  Texts should also be verified. If you know the sender, check with them first to see if they sent you a text with a link. This includes companies.

A stands for Attachments:

Be cautious of all attachments in all emails you receive.  Attachments can be named in a way the seems trustworthy. Verify the sender and if they are familiar to you, check with them first before opening the attachment. Installing anti-virus software will help screen for viruses, but this does not mean you won’t receive attachments that are infected with malware or spyware.

M stands for Message:

Examine all messages you receive via email or text. Check for spelling errors or unusual use of words or phrases. Grammatical errors are common signs of phishing email. Even if everything looks legitimate, check for oddities that seem off. This includes requests for personal information or a topic that doesn’t line up with your personal situation.

Spear Phishing

Spear phishing attacks often use specific details about an individual to get them to trust the message. This information can be gathered from social media, responses from victims if they unknowingly reply to phishing emails or texts.  This is why privacy settings should be updated to be more secure.

But even if you do everything correctly, company data breaches can mean that your personal information is stolen and sold to scammers.  Therefore, all accounts should have multi-factor authentication set up.

To clarify:

Phishing is when generic emails or texts are sent out to the masses, like a wide net casted out into the sea to catch a lot of fish.

Spear phishing is when you receive an email sent directly to you with personal details.

When you get a phishing email per personal information, it can look legitimate. With AI, cybercriminals can generate these messages easier than ever before. Just because a message includes information personalized to you, doesn’t mean you can automatically trust it. Extra vigilance is required.

How to Stop Phishing Emails

There are things you can do to help stop hackers who send phishing emails.  Virtually every online account service you use will have security departments that investigate phishing. As such, many have email addresses that you can forward these bad emails to for further investigation. When you get a suspicious email, report it for possible phishing.  Simply Google the company name with the word phishing (i.e. ‘Report PayPal Phishing’ or ‘Report Chase Phishing’).  You will often find information about where to send phishing emails and perhaps help these companies catch the cyberthieves.

If you land on a URL that appears to impersonating a legitimate website, report the phishing website to the Google Safe Browsing team.

With new technology, there’s more to educate needed to avoid being scammed:

Read about SMishing and Vishing, as well as Quishing.