Wearing braces comes certainly with extra effort to keep your teeth and gums under perfect hygienic condition. The braces can pose some challenges when it comes to brushing and cleaning the teeth properly. But certainly there are ways and means of keeping oral hygiene. Here are even tips to maintain your teeth healthy with braces on them.
- Normal Brushing – Brush your teeth after every meal. This can help remove all food debris in your mouth. So in effect you might end up brushing your teeth almost four times a day. Make sure you brush your teeth for 2 full minutes. The brushing has to be done with a special ortho brush which will be prescribed by your dentist. The bristles on the tooth brush might wear out faster because it is cleaning the braces, the metal and the wires. Hence make sure you replace the toothbrush once every two months.
- Interdental Brushing – A special brush is given by the dentists when you wear and sport braces. These can reach out underneath and in the crevices of the braces. The interdental brushes are helpful in removing large food debris stuck in the braces. Make sure to brush in interdental brushes after every meal.
- Rinsing Your Mouth – A proper rinsing helps to get rid of all the miniscule debris stuck between the teeth, and the metals and wires. A good mouth wash should help to rinse your mouth properly.
- Flossing – Since normal flossing is not possible due to the presence of metal and wires, the use of water flosser is supported by a dentist.
- Safety of Fluoride Toothpaste – Fluoride is the best defense against dental decay. The chances of getting dental decay is slightly higher when we wear braces. A toothpaste with fluorideis the best defense against decay. Your dentist might recommend the best fluoride toothpaste and mouth wash to be used.
- Eating Habits – Since the braces are to be worn while eating too, it is extremely important that we give preference to what we eat. Food that are sticky and hard food have to be avoided. Sticky food like cheese, chocolates, pizzas, etc., can cause a mess and can be a nightmare cleaning. Any food has to be made into small pieces and they need to be soft so that they do not impact the braces. Also sugary and refined food needs to be avoided because they increase the chances of dental carries.
- Smiling and Inspecting the Braces – Always smile and inspect the braces by widely opening the mouth before a mirror. By doing this you can watch if there is any food debris attached to the teeth or braces.