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Patient guides
Milk Orthodontics guides
Short guides written by our team, on braces, aligners, retainers and looking after your teeth while your treatment is under way.
Younger children
Early treatment, expanders and the small removable appliances.
- Early treatment for children: what to expectWhy some children start young, what a first phase involves, and why most simply come back later.
- Your expander: what to expectHow an expander widens the top jaw, what the turning routine is like, and the two weeks it takes to feel normal.
- Removable plates and other appliancesThe small appliances that do a specific job: what each is for, how to wear it, and how to keep it.
For parents
The home-backup versions: braces, aligners and elastics, plus early treatment.
- New braces: the parent guideHow to back them up at home in the first week, what is normal, and when to get in touch.
- Aligners: the parent guideWhat good wear looks like, how to help without nagging, and the rule that never bends: never let them skip ahead.
- Elastics: the parent guideBraces straighten. Elastics set the bite. How to make the daily change a habit rather than a battle.
- Early treatment for children: what to expectWhy some children start young, what a first phase involves, and why most simply come back later.
Problems and emergencies
What to do tonight, and what needs us today.
- What counts as an emergency, and what can waitReal orthodontic emergencies are rare. Here is how to tell one from a problem that waits for a repair visit.
- Loose brackets, poking wires and other small problemsWhat to do tonight with each of the common braces problems, and which ones need a visit.
- Lost, cracked or badly fitting alignersWhat to do the day a tray goes missing, cracks, or will not seat, so the plan does not lose weeks.
- Lost or broken retainersWhat to do the day a retainer is lost or breaks, and why a week matters more than a month later.
- A knock to the mouth during treatmentWhat to do in the first minutes after a blow to the mouth, with braces or without, and when it is urgent.
Staying on track
Appointments, adjustments, and keeping teeth and gums healthy through the middle months.
- Keeping your appointmentsWhat each visit does, why a missed one adds more than a week, and how to reschedule without fuss.
- What happens at an adjustmentWhat we do at a routine braces visit, why it sometimes aches afterwards, and how to get the most from each one.
- Gums, plaque and white marks: what to watch forThe two things that can leave a mark after braces, how to spot them early, and how to stop them.
- Sugar, snacking and drinks during treatmentWhy how often you have sugar matters more than how much, and the simple swaps that protect enamel under braces and aligners.
Before treatment starts
What a first visit and records involve, how teeth move, and what is different for adults.
- Your first visit: what happensWhat we look at, what we ask, and what you leave with after a first appointment.
- Records: photos, scans and x-raysWhy we take a full set of records before planning, and what each one tells us.
- How teeth move, and why treatment takes timeThe biology behind braces and aligners, and why steady, gentle force beats hurry.
- Treatment as an adultWhat is different about straightening teeth later in life, and what is not.
Braces off and retainers
The debond visit, and the retainers that keep the result.
- Braces coming off: what to expectThe debond visit step by step, what your teeth feel like afterwards, and what comes next.
- Retainers: wearing and looking after themWhy the retainer is the part that keeps the result, how the schedule changes over the first year, and how to keep it clean and un-lost.
- Bonded retainers: the thin wire behind your teethWhat a fixed retainer does, how to clean around it, and the one food habit that breaks it.
- Lost or broken retainersWhat to do the day a retainer is lost or breaks, and why a week matters more than a month later.
- After treatment: keeping the resultWhy teeth drift after any treatment, and what keeps a finished smile finished.
Your expander
What an expander does, the turning routine, and what is normal along the way.
- Your expander: what to expectHow an expander widens the top jaw, what the turning routine is like, and the two weeks it takes to feel normal.
- Discomfort: what is normal and what helpsThe ache after braces go on or an aligner changes is teeth moving. Here is how long it lasts and what settles it.
- What counts as an emergency, and what can waitReal orthodontic emergencies are rare. Here is how to tell one from a problem that waits for a repair visit.
Elastics
How and why elastics work, for the patient and for the parent backing them up at home.
Starting aligners
The habits that keep aligner treatment on schedule, and what to do when a tray is lost or will not fit.
- Starting aligners: your first weekWhat the first set feels like, the four habits that make aligners work, and what is normal.
- Wearing and changing your alignersWhy 22 hours is the number, how to change sets without losing ground, and what happens when wear slips.
- Cleaning and looking after your alignersKeeping trays clear and fresh, and the one habit that stops them being lost.
- Eating and drinking with alignersTrays out to eat, water only while they are in, and how to keep that from taking over your day.
- Attachments, and the small things that help aligners workWhat the tooth-coloured bumps are for, why we sometimes polish between teeth, and the other helpers you may be given.
- Lost, cracked or badly fitting alignersWhat to do the day a tray goes missing, cracks, or will not seat, so the plan does not lose weeks.
Starting braces
Everything for the first weeks in braces: settling in, eating, cleaning, comfort and the small problems.
- Your first week with bracesWhat the first few days feel like, what helps, and why it gets easier fast.
- Eating with braces: the one ruleHard, sticky or chewy breaks brackets. Everything else is on the menu.
- Brushing with bracesThe three-minute routine that keeps teeth and gums healthy under braces, and what a clean bracket looks like.
- Cleaning between your teeth with bracesInterdental brushes, floss threaders and water flossers: which to use where, and how to make it a one-minute habit.
- Discomfort: what is normal and what helpsThe ache after braces go on or an aligner changes is teeth moving. Here is how long it lasts and what settles it.
- Ulcers, rubbing and waxWhy lips and cheeks get rubbed in the first weeks, how to use wax properly, and how to settle an ulcer.
- Loose brackets, poking wires and other small problemsWhat to do tonight with each of the common braces problems, and which ones need a visit.
- Sport, music and bracesMouthguards over braces, what to do after a knock, and playing wind instruments with brackets on.
Your treatment
- Your first visit: what happensWhat we look at, what we ask, and what you leave with after a first appointment.
- Records: photos, scans and x-raysWhy we take a full set of records before planning, and what each one tells us.
- How teeth move, and why treatment takes timeThe biology behind braces and aligners, and why steady, gentle force beats hurry.
- Keeping your appointmentsWhat each visit does, why a missed one adds more than a week, and how to reschedule without fuss.
- Treatment as an adultWhat is different about straightening teeth later in life, and what is not.
- Early treatment for children: what to expectWhy some children start young, what a first phase involves, and why most simply come back later.
- After treatment: keeping the resultWhy teeth drift after any treatment, and what keeps a finished smile finished.
Braces
- Your first week with bracesWhat the first few days feel like, what helps, and why it gets easier fast.
- Eating with braces: the one ruleHard, sticky or chewy breaks brackets. Everything else is on the menu.
- Sport, music and bracesMouthguards over braces, what to do after a knock, and playing wind instruments with brackets on.
- What happens at an adjustmentWhat we do at a routine braces visit, why it sometimes aches afterwards, and how to get the most from each one.
- Braces coming off: what to expectThe debond visit step by step, what your teeth feel like afterwards, and what comes next.
- Loose brackets, poking wires and other small problemsWhat to do tonight with each of the common braces problems, and which ones need a visit.
- New braces: the parent guideHow to back them up at home in the first week, what is normal, and when to get in touch.
Aligners
- Starting aligners: your first weekWhat the first set feels like, the four habits that make aligners work, and what is normal.
- Wearing and changing your alignersWhy 22 hours is the number, how to change sets without losing ground, and what happens when wear slips.
- Cleaning and looking after your alignersKeeping trays clear and fresh, and the one habit that stops them being lost.
- Attachments, and the small things that help aligners workWhat the tooth-coloured bumps are for, why we sometimes polish between teeth, and the other helpers you may be given.
- Eating and drinking with alignersTrays out to eat, water only while they are in, and how to keep that from taking over your day.
- Lost, cracked or badly fitting alignersWhat to do the day a tray goes missing, cracks, or will not seat, so the plan does not lose weeks.
- Aligners: the parent guideWhat good wear looks like, how to help without nagging, and the rule that never bends: never let them skip ahead.
Elastics
Expanders and other appliances
Retainers
- Retainers: wearing and looking after themWhy the retainer is the part that keeps the result, how the schedule changes over the first year, and how to keep it clean and un-lost.
- Bonded retainers: the thin wire behind your teethWhat a fixed retainer does, how to clean around it, and the one food habit that breaks it.
- Lost or broken retainersWhat to do the day a retainer is lost or breaks, and why a week matters more than a month later.
Cleaning and gum health
- Brushing with bracesThe three-minute routine that keeps teeth and gums healthy under braces, and what a clean bracket looks like.
- Cleaning between your teeth with bracesInterdental brushes, floss threaders and water flossers: which to use where, and how to make it a one-minute habit.
- Gums, plaque and white marks: what to watch forThe two things that can leave a mark after braces, how to spot them early, and how to stop them.
- Sugar, snacking and drinks during treatmentWhy how often you have sugar matters more than how much, and the simple swaps that protect enamel under braces and aligners.