When it comes to correcting orthodontic issues, traditional braces remain one of the most tried-and-true treatment options available! These metal brackets and wires have been reliably straightening smiles for generations; however, they’ve also been causing some serious oral discomfort during that span. The good news is that this irritation isn’t something that you have to live with, and there are many things you can do yourself to better prevent and manage the discomfort caused by your braces. Keep reading to learn more from your dentist.

Your braces can affect a lot of things inside your mouth. Not only are they working to slowly shift your teeth into a preferable position, but they can also cause swelling in your gums! This is fairly common in patients with braces, and although it’s usually temporary it can also sometimes be permanent. In any case, it can be treated! Here are some reasons for why having braces might cause your gums to swell, along with some things you can do about it.

Do you feel like it’s too late for you to consider getting braces? This couldn’t be further from the truth. Just because you didn’t get them when you were in middle or high school doesn’t mean that the opportunity has completely passed you by. You are never too old to start working towards your dream smile. After all, you continue to show it off and take care of it every day. It should be something you’re proud of! Continue reading to learn several ways that adult braces can be beneficial for you.

Happy fall! As a reminder, the current recommendations for coming into the office are as follows:

1) If you are generally unwell- fever, congestion, coughing, sneezing, having a hard time with allergies, feeling-like-a-truck-hit-you flu-like symptoms, please reschedule. Even in non-pandemic times, we are still working in the mouth, and it is uncomfortable,unhealthy, and unnecessary for the patients and staff for you to be here instead of at home resting.

2) Please wear a mask into the office, even if you are vaccinated.

3) If anyone at home is ill, COVID or otherwise, we are allowing a 10 day “family feel-better” rescheduling period.

4) If someone at school or your home was in contact with your child and has been diagnosed with COVID, please reschedule, even if your child is asymptomatic.

Thank you for your understanding and working with us to keep everyone safe!

Dave Cordes

Our offices are open for regular orthodontic appointments as well as new patient exams. In order to remain open safely, we ask that anyone entering the office, please review these COVID-19 screening questions in advance:

1) Over the last 3 days, have you had a fever, chills, dry cough, shortness of breath, stomach upset, extreme headache or loss of taste or smell?
2) Have you, or has anyone in your household, had close contact with a person who tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 14 days? Has anyone in your family bubble had to quarantine or isolate due to such an instance?
3) Have you travelled outside of your home state, other than for work purposes, in the last 14 days?

If you have answered “Yes” to any of the above questions, we kindly ask you to reschedule your appointment. Keeping our patients, our staff and myself safe is always a top priority.

With many thanks in advance and here’s hoping for a better New Year ~ Dave Cordes

To Our Family of Patients:
Recently the Governor of Massachusetts has pushed back the reopening date to May 18th and the Governor of Connecticut has extended their date to May 20th. While dental offices are considered “essential” businesses, all of the dental offices in these states are trying to comply with this order so that PPE can be preserved for frontline healthcare providers fighting COVID-19. Therefore, with the exception of emergencies, our offices will stay closed until then. Our Westfield office plans to reopen on May 18th and our Enfield office will reopen on May 20th. If you do have an emergency, PLEASE call any of our offices. Heather and Stephanie are receiving calls while working from home and will contact me.

Also, when we do reopen, you will have a very different experience with our office since we are implementing protocols to further enhance disinfection and promote patient safety. There will be plexiglass shields at the front desk between yourself and the ladies at the desk. We will be limiting seating in the reception areas, asking that only the patient come in and the families remain in the car. If a parent or guardian feels that they must accompany the patient or if we require your presence, we will ask that only one person do so. If the patient has a mask, we urge them to wear it while in the office and remove it only at the time we begin actual treatment. (If your child feels awkward about wearing one, tell them “everyone is doing it.” We are too and they will fit right in!) When the patient comes in, we will be taking their temperature with an infrared forehead thermometer scan and then having them wash their hands.

Additionally, you will see that our staff has a “new look.” Gone are the tie dye shirts and they have been replaced with scrubs, gowns, double masks and face shields. (But yes, I am holding fast to my orange Crocs!) We are disinfecting the high touch points in the office throughout the day and will be fogging the office at night with hospital-grade disinfectant.

While in orthodontics, we generally are dealing with a healthy, younger population, all of these measures are out of an abundance of caution to keep everyone safe. Through it all, we will be engaging the patients in conversation, laughing with them and making all of these measures seem not so scary.

I am looking forward to seeing all of you back in our offices and sharing stories about what you have been doing (or not doing) and getting back to working on your smiles! Until then, Stay Safe, Chin Up, Smile and God Bless.

Dave Cordes

Following guidance from the President’s COVID-19 Task Force, and the Governor of the state of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Dental Society has strongly requested that all dental offices postpone non-urgent office visits until May 4th. Currently the Governor of Connecticut is requesting that dental offices stay closed until April 22nd. At the time of this writing, we expect that Connecticut may extend that deadline to be in line with neighboring Massachusetts and the President’s request of early May. Therefore, all of our offices will plan to reopen together on May 4th unless statewide restrictions are lifted early or extended. Everyone should receive a call or email with a new appointment in the next few days. We will have a stand-by assistant for all offices to handle emergencies by appointment, and Dr. Cordes is available as well.

Heather and Stephanie will still be available by email and by phone during regular office hours to handle questions or concerns. Everyone that we have reached out to the first time around to move appointments has been VERY understanding. THANK YOU! When we are allowed to reopen we will be extending office hours and also seeing patients on days we normally would have been closed in order to accommodate people.

I miss all of the people that come into our office. I miss your stories of how your day is going, the smiling faces and my staff which is like part of my family.

See you soon,

Dave Cordes

The outbreak of COVID-19 has prompted the Massachusetts Dental Society to strongly request that we postpone non-urgent office visits. Our Westfield office will be closed from March 17th and our Connecticut offices will be closed beginning March 18th. We will be reopening tentatively on March 7th. We have already spoken with a few people who will need to be seen next week, and everyone else should receive a call or email with a new appointment in the next few days. We will have a stand-by assistant for all offices to handle emergencies by appointment, and Dr. Cordes will also be available for any urgent matter.

Our front staff will still be available by email and by phone during regular office hours to handle questions or concerns. Thank you for your understanding!

Dear Patients, Parents, and Caregivers,

The health and well-being of our patients is our top priority, now and always. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, we are closely following and adhering to precautions advised by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Massachusetts and Connecticut Departments of Public Health, the American Dental Association, and the Massachusetts and Connecticut Dental Societies.

We want to assure you that we are taking continuous steps to ensure that our offices remain a safe place for every patient. It’s important for you to know that dentists are leaders in infection control. The precautions we take every day will also help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

We follow Universal Precautions developed by the CDC to protect both health care personnel and patients. We sterilize all instruments after each use and clean each dental operatory after each patient visit, using surface disinfectants that kill all known infectious diseases, including coronavirus. Dedicated hand washing and one-time use disposable materials also help maintain a safe environment for our patients. Our staff are regularly trained in these procedures. Additionally, at this time, we are increasing the frequency of disinfection in the main waiting areas as well as removing magazines and other high-touch items.

Our office remains open to care for our patients following the above guidelines. As always, if you have a fever, are coughing, or are exhibiting symptoms of respiratory illness, you may be a risk to other patients or staff members. Even if you believe you have allergies, if you or your child are actively coughing in the office, we will ask you to leave and reschedule your appointment. If you are experiencing a fever (greater than 100.4), cough, or shortness of breath, please remain at home and contact your primary care physician immediately.

***We ask that only one person-any parent or caregiver-accompany the patient into the office in order to properly reduce congestion.

If you would like to reschedule an upcoming appointment or talk through any concerns, please feel free to contact our office. Updates will be on our Web Blog, Facebook and by email.

Phone: 413-562-8100
Text: Appts@cordesorthodontics.com
Email: Heather@cordesorthodontics.com

For the most up-to-date information and guidance, please visit the CDC website at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus.

Thank you or your help.
Dr. David Cordes and Staff

2020 is an impressive year. It marks the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day , a world-wide civic celebration recognizing the importance of taking care of the environment. It is also the 75th anniversary of community water fluoridation. In 1945 Grand Rapids Michigan became the first community to fluoridate their drinking water (not to be confused with Flint, MI which had lead in their water- different mineral). Despite current skepticism over whether communities should continue to add fluoride to public drinking water, there are some positive statistics that stand today with years of research backing them. Here are some myths that have been busted.

1) People get fluorosis from drinking fluoridated water. Fluorosis happens when children with developing teeth consume too much fluoride from any source, and those teeth erupt with white lines or streaks. The ADA notes that “The type of fluorosis found in the United States has no effect on tooth function and may make the teeth more resistant to decay.” Once teeth erupt you cannot develop fluorosis. To prevent fluorosis, you may want to use baby formula mixed with non-fluoridated water, watch younger children so that they do not swallow toothpaste, and make sure your dentist and pediatrician know if your water is fluoridated before taking fluoride tablets.
2) Fluoride causes cancer: In 2015, the U.S. Public Health Service lowered the recommended level of fluoride in water from 1.0 (in Massachusetts) to .7 parts per million. This was in response to the availability and use of other fluoride rinses, toothpastes and fluoride supplements that people may take to reduce the build up of fluoride in the body. Shown in animal testing, excessive fluoride can build up in the bones and in growth plates, especially in male rats, causing osteosarcoma. The American Cancer Society has collected studies over the last 25 years, and has not identified any direct correlation between communities with drinking water and an increase in cancer or cancer risk in humans. This is not to say that consumption of high levels of fluoride from other sources combined does not cause an increased risk.
3) Why fluoridate water in communities if adults do not need it? A big debate is whether the risk of fluoride in drinking water out weighs the benefits to children with developing teeth. A report by Medical News Today in 2019 looked at an Alaskan community that decided to eliminate fluoride in its drinking water and study what happened over time. Backing up findings by the ADA, in a 9 year period, they found that there was a 25.2% increase in cavities in this community, despite the availability of fluoridated rinses, toothpastes and supplements. They also noted that the cost to families for cavity treatment rose by 73%. The benefit of fluoride to strengthen the enamel in unerupted teeth, and to remineralize the enamel in erupted teeth creates healthy teeth that last a lifetime.

https://www.mouthhealthy.org/en/az-topics/f/fluorosis 2/27/20

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/a-call-for-reducing-fluoride-levels-in-drinking-water/ 2/27/20

https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/water-fluoridation-and-cancer-risk.html 2/27/20

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324086 2/27/20