Once you get braces, you may wonder how to properly brush and floss your teeth. With wires and brackets in the way, keeping your teeth clean can feel like a challenge.
Rest assured, brushing and flossing with braces isn’t as daunting as it may seem, especially if you have the right tools. Zombek Orthodontics has a few tips for brushing and flossing braces teeth, making both tasks much easier!
How are you going to clean your teeth with braces? Is there a special braces brush to get around all that hardware now? Any toothbrush will work fine with braces, though electric toothbrushes are better.
Most electric toothbrushes have rotating heads that can spin around the brackets to dislodge food particles and plaque. Some even have second parts of the toothbrush heads that move up and down and vibrate to scrub the particles and plaque away. A few electric toothbrushes even come with an “orthodontic head” or speed mode specially made to get around braces, brackets, and wires more easily.
If you need more flexibility, try a proximal brush, an interdental brush, or a proxabrush. While designed for cleaning between teeth, these brushes can also help reach around wires and brackets for better oral hygiene.
Flossing with braces may seem impossible, but it’s easy with a floss threader. Most floss threaders come in two styles.
The first is thin plastic with a large eye shaped like a sewing needle. You thread a piece of dental floss through the eye, then slip the floss threader under your braces wires and through your teeth.
The other floss threader is a piece of plastic attached to the end of a piece of dental floss. Since it’s all one piece it’s easy to use it and toss it away.
As with brushing with braces, a proximal brush can also help floss with braces. The tiny brush slides between your teeth to floss. It can also brush around your brackets to loosen food particles.
Should you use a water flosser for braces instead of dental floss? No, but a water flosser can significantly improve your oral hygiene habits. Water flossers lack the scrubbing power of true dental floss, so it shouldn’t be a substitute for using dental floss.
A water flosser can dislodge food particles and plaque from around your brackets and between your teeth. Some water flossers, such as Waterpik, have an option of a unique orthodontic flossing head made for use with braces.
We all know brushing and flossing our teeth regularly is vital for good oral and overall health. Good oral hygiene habits are especially important during braces treatment.
Plaque can build up faster and become trapped around braces brackets. Not brushing with braces can accelerate tooth decay. Cavities can slow the treatment of your braces because we may need to remove your archwire and a bracket or band so your dentist can fill a cavity.
Not brushing can also cause enamel decalcification or demineralization. This can cause white spots on teeth after braces. Those white spots cannot be removed from your teeth, so you must whiten your teeth after braces or, in extreme cases, cover your enamel with veneers.
One of the goals of orthodontic treatment is to have a beautiful smile you are proud to show off. To reach that goal, you need to brush your teeth at least twice a day for two minutes at a time. You also need to floss at least once a day before brushing to remove any plaque and food particles from flossing afterward.
Brushing and flossing daily will keep your teeth clean, but we have a few more tips to help you get the most out of your oral hygiene habits and create a gorgeous smile after braces.
Braces treatment can create the smile you’ve always wanted, and Zombek Orthodontics has helped develop many gorgeous new smiles in the Weston, FL, and Hollywood, FL, areas. However, how well you care for your teeth is key to successful braces treatment.
Brushing and flossing are essential to great braces treatment. It may seem challenging, but it’s easier than you may think. Visit us at Zombek Orthodontics for braces treatment. We’ll happily show you how to get the most out of brushing and flossing with braces!
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