Regular checkups are essential in maintaining good oral health

Are you brushing and flossing daily properly during your orthodontic treatment? If yes, that’s great! But, don’t forget that it’s also important for you to visit your general dentist every 3-to-6 months in addition to brushing your teeth and flossing (and visiting Dr. Benson, of course). Regular dental checkups are important for maintaining good oral health, especially during orthodontic treatment.

Your general dentist can check for problems that might not be seen or felt, detect cavities and early signs of decay, treat oral health problems early and show you how to properly brush and floss your teeth.

During an oral exam your dentist can check the health of your mouth, teeth, gums, cheeks and tongue. Checkups will also include a thorough teeth cleaning and polishing. If you have not been to the dentist in the last six months, let us know during your next visit and we will provide a few great references in the Lebanon, Mount Juliet, Hermitage, TN areas.

More happy patients at Benson Orthodontics!

Last week, we asked you, our wonderful patients, what you most liked about your experience at Benson Orthodontics. We thought we'd share some with you today! Have a great weekend!

"April, the assistant who works on my braces, has been very helpful in answering my questions. Her kindness has also made this process a lot easier for me." ~Carol

"The entire team does an amazing job! I enjoy each visit in your office. The authentic personal touch is appreciated." ~Pamela

"I think Dr. Benson and all of the ladies that help us at the front desk, and those who work with her braces, go out of their way to help us feel like valued patients and always seem happy to give treatment." ~Sarah

"All of the ladies that have ever worked on me have been fabulous!!!" ~Rebecca

Why do you choose Dr. Benson and team?

Dr. Benson, your Mt. Juliet, Lebanon, Hermitage, Lafayette, and Carthage orthodontist, strives to provide superior treatment in a comfortable, friendly, fun environment. Have you had a great experience with Dr. Benson and our orthodontic team?

Share your story with the world!



Just select the “Review Us on Google Places” button above to write a review on our Google Place Page. We look forward to receiving your feedback!

Thank you,

The team at Benson Orthodontics

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dr. Benson and team would like to wish you a safe and happy Thanksgiving. It's a big food holiday, so be careful what you eat with those braces! If you have any stories or pictures to share with us, we'd encourage you to send them along or call our office and ask how.

Gobble Gobble!

Ask Dr. Benson: Who benefits from braces?

Braces aren’t just for pre-adolescents and teenagers anymore! Dr. Benson will tell you that anyone, at any age, can benefit from orthodontic treatment, whether it’s correcting a problem not treated in your younger years, or catching a problem early.

To ensure the best overall treatment, the American Association of Orthodontists, or AAO, recommends that children receive an orthodontic consultation as early as age seven. If a problem is evident, taking action early can spare a lot of treatment and expense down the road.

If you never received orthodontic treatment when you were young, don’t worry! You’re never too old for a beautiful smile. Set up an appointment for a consultation and find out how orthodontics will transform your smile, as well as your life!

Benson Orthodontics supports National Orthodontic Health Month

Can you believe October is already upon us? October happens to be National Orthodontic Health Month, and this month-long event is organized by our friends at the American Association of Orthodontists, or AAO.

Many treats can cause havoc for trick-or-treaters who are going through orthodontic treatment, and these treats may cause damage that could prolong your treatment time. The AAO recommends patients avoid the following Halloween treats, or recipes with these ingredients:

• Caramel
• Nuts
• Popcorn (including un-popped kernels)
• Taffy
• Jelly beans
• Hard pretzels
• Licorice
• Bubblegum
• Taco chips
• Ice

If you happen to damage your braces, please give Dr. Benson and our staff a call immediately. Typically, small problems can be solved over the phone. Loose brackets or wires can usually be made more comfortable by applying some wax until the you can come into our office.

Celebrities get braces, too!

Did you know that back in 2002, Tom Cruise had braces? During this time, he was 40 years old and filmed Minority Report, Austin Powers in Goldmember and the Last Samurai. Check out his smile in Jerry Maguire, Rain Man or The Firm and compare to the post-braces Tom Cruise in Valkyrie or Tropic Thunder. The fact is, movie stars need to look their best for the silver screen, and it wouldn't be possible without orthodontists like Dr. Benson.

In fact, many Hollywood stars have had orthodontic treatment. Check out this slideshow of famous faces with braces. If you’ve considered getting that perfect smile, please give Benson Orthodontics a call.

The importance of mouth guards, from Benson Orthodontics

The team at Benson Orthodontics understands the importance of participating in outdoor activities. This week we talk about mouth guards, what they are, when to use them, the works. If you have any additional questions, give us a call at Benson Orthodontics. We'd love to hear from you!

Q: What are athletic mouth protectors?

A: Athletic mouth protectors, or mouth guards, are made of soft plastic. They are adapted to fit comfortably to the shape of the upper teeth.

Q: Why are mouth guards important?

A: Mouth guards hold top priority as sports equipment. They protect not just the teeth, but the lips, cheeks, and tongue. They help protect children from such head and neck injuries as concussions and jaw fractures. Increasingly, organized sports are requiring mouth guards to prevent injury to their athletes. Research shows that most oral injuries occur when athletes are not wearing mouth protection.

Q: When should my child wear a mouth guard?

A: Whenever he or she is in an activity with a risk of falls or of head contact with other players or equipment. This includes football, baseball, basketball, soccer, hockey, skateboarding, even gymnastics. We usually think of football and hockey as the most dangerous to the teeth, but nearly half of sports-related mouth injuries occur in basketball and baseball.

Q: How do I choose a mouth guard for my child?

A: Any mouth guard works better than no mouth guard. So, choose a mouth guard that your child can wear comfortably. If a mouth guard feels bulky or interferes with speech, it will be left in the locker room. Dr. Benson can advise you on what type of mouth guard is best for your child.

Ask Dr. Benson: what's the deal with retainers?

Have you recently completed treatment at Benson Orthodontics? Our entire team would like to congratulate you again! Now that your braces have been removed, Dr. Benson will provide—or has provided you by now—with retainers. After braces are removed, our staff will tell you that teeth may shift out of position if they're not stabilized.

Retainers, however, provide that stabilization, and are designed to hold teeth in their corrected, ideal positions until your bones and gums adapt to treatment changes. Wearing retainers exactly as instructed by Dr. Benson is the best insurance that the treatment improvements last for a lifetime.

If you have additional questions about retainers or your treatment here at Benson Orthodontics, please give us a call and we'll try to answer any question you may have.

Tell Dr. Benson and team: What should we blog about this summer?

As the summer approaches, our staff at Benson Orthodontics strive to continue writing about important topics related to braces and your orthodontic treatment with Dr. Bartley Benson.

To help us continue blogging through the course of the long, hot summer, however, we'd love your opinion: What would you like us to focus on our blog over the summer months? Perhaps there’s something you’ve wanted to ask Dr. Benson for a while and just haven't found the time or opportunity? Let us know by posting here or on our Facebook page!

We hope you have a great rest of the weekend!

Write a review of Benson Orthodontics!

Whether you've visited Benson Orthodontics for a week, month or for years, we’d love to hear your feedback about your experience with Dr. Bartley Benson and staff! We'd would like to encourage you to write a review of us - it only takes a moment!

You may write a review on our Google Local page.

Thank you and have a wonderful Mother's Day weekend!

Mother's Day is just around the corner!

Dr. Benson and team know that Mother's Day - which falls on this coming Sunday, May 9 - is special to each and every one of us. Everybody looks forward to Mother's Day to let our mom know how special she is to us. The day is observed by giving gifts, visiting our moms or taking them out to celebrate.

Tell us, what are you planning on mom's special day this upcoming Sunday?

If you happen to be out of ideas, check out this helpful video about clever, inexpensive Mother's Day gift ideas, courtesy of Good Morning America . Whatever you come up with, Dr. Andersen and team are sure mom will love it!

Ten tips to keep your braces sparkling, from Dr. Benson

Our staff at Benson Orthodontics know that keeping your teeth clean is more important than ever when you have braces. Food bits have more spots than usual to hide in your mouth, so you must be diligent in order to avoid bad breath, swollen gums, discolored teeth and cavities. If you remove plaque regularly during treatment, you'll experience better results and shorter treatment time. Keep plaque at bay with these top ten tips:

1. One tooth at a time. When you brush, take time with each individual tooth – at least 10 seconds each – and pay careful attention to the spots where your teeth touch your braces.

2. It’s all about the angles. Brush the tops of your teeth and braces with your brush angled down toward where they meet. Brush the bottoms of your teeth and braces with your brush angled up.

3. The tooth, the whole tooth, nothing but the tooth. While the front surface of your teeth may seem like the most logical to clean, it’s equally important to clean the inner surface of your teeth (tongue side) as well as the chewing surface. And be sure to clean along your gum line – a key spot for plaque buildup.

4. Step 1: eat, step 2: clean. While you’re in treatment, it’s important to brush after every meal. Bits of food can easily get caught between braces and teeth, and these food bits interact with bacteria in your mouth to cause decay. The longer food is in contact with your teeth, the greater opportunity for plaque to form. If you are eating somewhere that you can’t brush, thoroughly rinse your mouth with water.

5. Like a Boy Scout, always be prepared. The easiest way to be sure you can brush after every meal is to get in the habit of taking a toothbrush, toothpaste and floss with you wherever you go. Designate a special container just for your teeth-cleaning tools and keep it in your purse, backpack, or laptop case.

6. Remove the moving parts. If you have elastic bands or headgear, remove these parts before you brush or floss.

7. Fluoride is your friend. Fluoride helps prevent cavities. Be sure to brush with fluoride toothpaste, and rinse with fluoride mouthwash.

8. Pointy brushes reach tiny places. Interproximal brushes (sometimes called proxa brushes or interdental brushes) are cone-shaped and come in very handy for reaching spots around your braces that standard brushes can’t.

9. Find the floss for you. Regular floss works for some patients, but others find it easier to work with a floss threader, which helps you get the floss into tight places. Other patients like an all-in-one product called Superfloss, which comes with a stiff end for easy threading, a spongy section for cleaning wide spaces, and regular floss for narrow spaces.

10. Make time for the pros. It’s your job to take care of the everyday cleaning. But make sure to visit your dentist regularly while in treatment, to get the deep, thorough cleaning that only a professional can provide. If you need help finding the right dentist for you, feel free to contact our office - Dr. Benson and team would love to help!

Sherry shares her experience with Dr. Benson!

At Benson Orthodontics, we just love patient testimonials. Recently, a former patient named Sherry stopped by our office and shared her experience with Dr. Benson with the rest of the world. Check out Sherry's review and head over to our YouTube channel for more fun videos!

Our greatest goal at Benson Orthodontics is to help you achieve a smile that makes you feel comfortable, confident, and happy! We offer a comfortable, friendly, fun environment where patients and their parents are encouraged to be involved in their orthodontic treatment from start to finish.

Have a great weekend!!

What's on your mind? Tell Dr. Benson!

By now, you probably know the drill: Week after week, Dr. Benson and our creative team blog about important topics pertinent to orthodontic care and your well-being, including innovative orthodontic techniques offered at our practice.

This week, we thought we’d step back and ask you, our fabulous patients: what’s on your mind? What would you like to know about the always-changing field of orthodontics? What would you like us to focus on our blog in the coming months? Perhaps there’s something you’ve wanted to ask Dr. Benson for a while now? Let us know by posting here or on our interactive Facebook fan page!

Smile now, smile later, smile often! From Dr. Benson

Great news to report this Tuesday afternoon! Those with big smiles may live than those who don’t, according to a new study at Wayne State University. Dr. Benson has known for a long time that positive emotion has been linked to both physical and mental health, but researchers there used information from the Baseball Register to look at photos of 230 ball-players who began their baseball careers before 1950.

The players' photos were enlarged, and researchers looked at their smile intensity was made (big smile, no smile or partial smile). The players' smile ratings were then compared with data from deaths that occurred from 2006 through 2009. The researchers then corrected their analysis to account for other factors associated with longevity, including body mass index, career length and yes, even college attendance.

The researchers found that players who weren't smiling died at the average age of 72.9 years. Players with partial smiles lived to be 75. Those with big smiles, however, lived on average to be 79.9 years old.

The take-away from the new study? Smile now, smile often and you might just live longer! Have you been perfecting your smile by visiting Benson Orthodontics regularly? If not, give us a call!

Sleep disorders and treatment options in Lebanon and Mt. Juliet

Dr. Benson knows sleep disorders are fairly common, with around 50 to 70 million Americans affected by some type chronic sleep disorder, with some of these progressing to Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), which can cause loss of sleep and other health issues. Snoring is one of the most easily identified symptoms, and as it worsens can lead to full airway blockage while you sleep, which can severely disrupt your sleep patterns.

Sleep apnea is considered a serious medical problem that, if left untreated, can lead to high blood pressure, increasing the risk of heart failure and stroke. It can also take a toll on your overall energy level, as sleep apnea causes an ongoing state of fatigue.

There are several different approaches to sleep apnea treatment at Benson Orthodontics, including:

• Surgery to the jaws or airway tissue to open the airway. This is typically only used in the most severe cases.
• Continuous airway pressure therapy which involves a mask and machine (CPAP machine) to keep your throat muscles and tissue open while sleeping
• Oral appliance therapy, a less intrusive method involving a customized oral device that positions your jaw in a favorable position to keep your airway open while you sleep.

If you suspect that you may suffer from a sleep disorder or sleep apnea, please give us a call, and Dr. Benson can refer you to a sleep apnea specialist. The specialist may recommend a "sleep study" to diagnose the precise extent of the problem, and can prescribe appropriate treatment. Depending on your situation, treatment may involve an oral device that Dr. Benson can custom-create for you.

This March, what are you up to? From Benson Orthodontics

Can you believe it? Spring is almost here! The daffodils and buttercups are on their way, fresh rhubarb is ready to be picked, the birds are chirping, the sun is warming up and the smell of freshly-cut grass is wafting from baseball fields nearby. Today, Dr. Benson and our professional team thought this would be a good time to ask: What are your plans for March?

Are you ready for spring? Are you participating in school sports this year? Do you have exciting plans? We’d love to know them all!

You may share your stories or plans with our team here, on our Facebook fan page or by giving us a call!

P.S. While you’re on our Facebook page, become a fan of our practice!

Getting social with Benson Orthodontics

At Benson Orthodontics, we love connecting with our patients online, whether it’s by sharing news on our blog or communicating ideas on our interactive Facebook fan page. For social media to work, conversation is vital, and that’s why we invite you to join in and tell us what’s on your mind. Although social media is hugely popular these days, we know it is unpredictable and ever-changing.

While Dr. Benson and our professional staff take some time to research and decide how to best use social media, we thought we’d ask you, our loyal patients: How would you like us to use our social networks? What would you like us to share on our blog? Send us your thoughts or give us a call!

Ask Benson Orthodontics: When should my child come in for a check-up?

Sometimes, parents falsely assume they must wait until their child has all of his or her permanent teeth to visit Dr. Benson and Benson Orthodontics, only to discover treatment would have been much easier if started sooner. Did you know the American Association of Orthodontists recommends that every child have an orthodontic check-up no later than age seven.

Ok, so what’s so great about age seven, you ask? Enough permanent teeth have arrived for Dr. Benson to make a determination about whether any problems are present. The first molars have come in, providing an opportunity to check for malocclusion, or what Dr. Benson calls “bad bite.” Orthodontic evaluation at an early age provides one of two positive outcomes: For some, early identification or problems will lead to easier or shorter orthodontic treatment in the future. For others, a healthy prognosis will provide immediate peace of mind.

Early evaluation, of course, may signal a need for early treatment. For some children, early treatment can prevent physical and emotional trauma. Aside from spurring on years of harmful teasing, misaligned teeth are also prone to injury and are detrimental to good oral hygiene. So, if your child is nearing his or her seventh birthday, give us a call at Benson Orthodontics to schedule an appointment.