Have you recently had braces applied? If so, you’ll want to take care of them so they’ll do their work as quickly and efficiently as possible, but you’ll also want to take care of your teeth underneath, and that means developing or maintaining excellent oral hygiene habits. Hopefully you already have these habits in place, but getting braces means you’ll have to increase your vigilance toward oral hygiene and that you’ll have to get a little creative when it comes to hygiene steps that used to be routine, such as flossing.
When you have braces, food can get trapped around the brackets, bands, under the wires and beneath the gumline in ways that didn’t happen before the braces were in place. In order to keep your gums and teeth health so that you can enjoy a bright, beautiful, straight smile when the braces come off, you need to be certain that you’re cleaning your teeth in the best way possible.
Brushing becomes more complicated with braces. You must use a soft bristle toothbrush and clean first carefully between the bracket and the gumline. Angle your brush head downward toward the gum, allowing you to brush slightly beneath the gumline and removing food particles. Next, brush on top of the brackets, again angling your brush downward. Do this for the inner and outer arches of both your upper and lower teeth at least twice a day or after meals, but especially before bedtime.
In order to floss your teeth, you’ll need to thread the floss behind the wire and then floss normally, removing and rethreading the floss in the wire between each bracket. Run the floss along the body of the tooth, beneath the gumline, for each tooth. It’s recommend that you use a waterpik in order to remove the maximum amount of food, debris and bacteria that could lead to gum disease.
Take care of your oral hygiene while you are wearing braces, and when they finally come off, you’ll be left with the beautiful, healthy smile you’ve always dreamed of having.
Dr. Fotovat offers braces to patients in the Burbank CA area.
