Pick Your Color
Braces and retainers are available in a wide array of colors. Websites such as stardentists.com and droconor.com have interactive games in which patients can experiment with different colored appliances to see what they would look like on their teeth.
American Association of Orthodontics
The AAO website braces.org has a "just for kids" section where patients can post their before, during and after pictures. It also offers a scholarship program and recipe section. Convert this to the office by taking patients' pictures and posting them in the reception area. Create an "orthodontics cookbook" that contains recipes created by patients. The five patients who bring in the most appliance-friendly recipes can win free copies of the cookbook.
To Tell the Tooth
This interactive game, available for free on the American Dental Association's website (ada.org) asks players multiple-choice questions about basic oral health. Orthodontists can adapt the same game concept and change the questions to focus on dental appliance care. Patients who score high win a prize, such as a coloring book, appliance-safe gum or a free checkup.
Hide and Seek Plaque
When patients come in for their first checkup after getting an oral appliance, ask them to brush their teeth in the office. Mix a few drops of dark-colored food coloring with 1/3 cup of water. Then have them swish it in their mouth and spit it out. Ask the patient to look into a mirror to see areas where there is still food coloring residue. These spots indicate plaque that they missed while brushing. Repeat the process with orthodontic equipment that cleans between appliances and teeth.