Chew, but ensure the food debris and dental plaque are not trapped between your teeth and braces. The wires and brackets used in braces cause the complexity of the chewing process in your mouth.
You need to understand why? Since oral hygiene is required for everyone, it becomes even more critical for people to have braces, especially when looking for braces removal near me. Due to wearing braces, the small spaces and crevices in your mouth are created where food particles and plaque can get trapped easily.
How to Maintain Oral Hygiene With Braces?
Maintaining oral hygiene helps you prevent tooth decay or gum diseases. When wearing the braces, you might suffer from a slight discomfort or irritation on oral tissues like cheeks, lips, and tongue at the beginning, and you may notice a white spot on your teeth due to poor oral hygiene that denotes enamel demineralization.
The reason we emphasize oral hygiene with braces is validated through several case studies and numerous experiences, including those detailing the braces removal experience of patients who failed to have good oral hygiene while undergoing the braces treatment.
You may also get exposed to stains and discoloration on your teeth once the braces are removed. The following steps may help you maintain oral hygiene with braces.
- Regular Brushing after Every Meal
- This has to be your priority, especially when wearing the braces, since they cause food debris to be trapped more often than without them. Not cleaning or brushing your teeth regularly will lead to tooth decay. You can use the soft toothbrush and fluoride toothpaste that helps strengthen your gums and tissues.
- Flossing your Teeth
- It is not just a toothbrush and toothpaste; you also have to use flossing tools to clean the area of the teeth where a toothbrush can’t reach. It cleans the gaps between the two teeth and the region of gums where particles and debris are trapped.
- Use of Mouthwash
- You should frequently use the antibacterial mouthwash, which helps kill the bacteria caused by debris and plaques and maintain oral hygiene with fresh breath. You can use antiseptic or fluoride mouthwash that can help strengthen tooth enamel and protect against tooth decay.
- Eating Habits
- You should avoid hard, sticky food containing particles that cause bacterial properties. Hard food can damage the brackets and wires, especially on the initial days when you have just got the braces treatment done. You should also avoid foods that require hard biting and pressure on your teeth. You must consult a nutritional dietician to get the food you can consume for your health and body.
- Regular Dental Checkups
- This is equally important since your braces might get into a potential risk due to daily life activities, playing sports, or during your workout. It is always a good idea to keep a regular dental check to detect any potential issues and health problems regarding your teeth.
Brushing around the brackets and wires may require extra time and effort to clean the teeth with braces. Amidst these considerations, you might wonder, Does Medicare cover braces? Not effectively cleaning and removing the plaque and food debris can lead to the risk of cavities, gum inflammation, and gingivitis.
- Dental plaque is caused due to lack of oral hygiene, that sticky and colorless film you may observe forms on the teeth and contain the bacteria.
- This plaque is built up by trapped food particles and debris; not cleaning your teeth can lead to a high risk of cavities and tooth decay.
- You may observe the formation of white spots around the brackets due to the accumulation of dental plaques.
- Poor oral hygiene also causes bad breath, and you may also increase the possibility of extending or prolonging the time you need to wear the braces.
How to Brush and Floss Effectively?
We discussed that proper oral hygiene requires brushing and flossing effectively, but determining that effectivity is arbitrary. Learn more about specific vital factors that uplift your oral and dental hygiene.
What is Flossing?
Flossing is the oral hygiene practice involving cleaning the gaps and spaces between your teeth using the thin strand of dental floss. They are built to reach the area of teeth where toothbrushes can’t reach.
Dental floss is generally made of thin nylon filaments or plastic ribbons, closely lookalike or similar to thread. They can be inserted between those gaps and teeth and move back and forth to remove the trapped debris, food particles, and plaques.
In case you may face difficulty using traditional floss, there other alternatives that you can use tools such as loss picks, pre-threaded flossers, or water flossers.
How to Brush?
Choose a comfortable soft-bristle toothbrush, prefer a small head of the brush, and ensure it reaches all possible areas while brushing.
- A toothbrush should be held at a 45-degree angle to your gumline.
- Move gently with circular or back-and-forth motions to clean your teeth’ outer and inner surfaces.
- Clean and brush chewing surfaces with a back-and-forth motion.
- You can tilt your brush vertically to clean the inner surfaces of your front teeth using up-and-down strokes.
How to Floss?
You can choose any comfortable floss, such as waxed, unwaxed, flavored, or taped, that you find most compelling.
- Take about 45 centimeters (18 inches) of floss and wrap the ends around the middle or first fingers of both hands,
- Leave a small section of floss thread in between to work with.
- Gently slide the floss thread between your teeth, curving it into a C-shape against one tooth.
- Move the floss up and down while hugging the tooth, going slightly below the gumline.
Conclusion
In this article, we have discussed how to maintain oral hygiene and the application of brush and floss. We have also mentioned the procedure for brushing and flossing tools over your teeth. Here, you will also learn about the negative impacts that you might suffer with poor oral hygiene; we recommend you to consult a professional orthodontist or dental care specialist if you experience any oral or dental issues.
FAQs
Does oral hygiene affect braces?
Yes, since brackets and wires in the braces create additional spaces and surfaces, developing the place of trap for food particles, debris, and plaques. Thus, oral hygiene becomes even more important with braces.
How often should you use mouthwash with braces?
Mouthwash can be used daily, once before bed, as an addition to oral hygiene. However, it depends on several orthodontic factors; you must consult your doctor and get a recommendation based on your oral condition.
Is it safe to tongue kiss with braces?
It is generally considered safer to have a deep French kiss or tongue kiss with your partner, however, you must have a gentle and mindful approach while kissing and ensure the comfort level.
Should I brush my teeth 2 times a day with braces?
Yes, you should brush your teeth two times a day minimum, along with regular flossing and mouthwash once before bed. Brushing and floss become crucial while wearing braces because you must require cleanliness and oral hygiene.
