Effectively Brushing and Flossing with Braces

How to Brush and Floss With Braces

There’s never a bad time to focus on oral hygiene, but while you have braces you’ll need to pay extra attention to the cleanliness of your teeth. This is because food can easily attach to brackets and wires, putting you at a higher risk of experiencing tooth decay. At the same time, braces can also make it more difficult to clean your teeth, which creates a bit of a catch-22. But by using these simple tips, you can more effectively keep your teeth clean while you have braces.

When to Brush and Floss

Since your teeth are more vulnerable to tooth decay while you have braces, one simple step to combat plaque buildup is to clean your teeth more often. Start by brushing after every meal, which would most likely increase your daily teeth-brushing at least by one time per day. And if you don’t floss every day already, now is the time to start.

By keeping up this daily routine, you will give your teeth the best chance of staying healthy while you straighten your teeth with braces.

Picking the Right Toothbrush

While keeping your teeth clean is very important while you have braces, you also don’t want to accidentally damage your brackets or wires when you brush your teeth. Pick a soft-bristled toothbrush to make sure you can thoroughly clean your teeth without being too hard on your actual braces. Get a toothbrush with a head specifically shaped to accommodate braces, which should feature longer bristles on the edges. For maximum cleaning, consider getting an electric toothbrush, which tends to be more effective than a manual one.

Flossing with Braces

There’s a pretty glaring obstacle you’ll notice right away when trying to floss with braces: the wires that run through all of the brackets on your teeth. You’ll need to essentially re-learn how to floss when you start orthodontic treatment with braces. To access the gums in between the teeth where it’s most important to clean, you will have to thread your floss under the archwire.

To make this easier, it helps to invest in a floss-threader, a simple device that will save you some time and effort when flossing your teeth.

Supplemental Cleaning

On top of your regular brushing and flossing, you can best keep your teeth clean by adding some extra cleaning methods, such as a water flosser or air flosser. These devices use pressurized cleaning to remove leftover food from in between your teeth. Just make sure not to replace flossing with using these devices.

You can also help keep your mouth cleaner by rinsing with mouthwash. Doing this will kill leftover bacteria in your mouth, reducing your chances of tooth decay while also getting rid of bad breath.

You can learn more about life with braces and how you can best keep your teeth clean during orthodontic treatment by scheduling a free consultation here at The Smile Store. Contact our office today to schedule your appointment!