Flossing With Braces
- Floss at least once per day
- Use a floss threader, which will help you reach around archwires
- Feed one end of a piece of floss through the threader
- Grab each end of the floss and slide it up and down on either side of each tooth
- Pill the piece out and repeat in the next section between brackets and wires
Brushing with Braces
- Use a soft bristle or electric toothbrush for a full two minutes
- Use a toothpaste that contains fluoride to help prevent cavities
- Place the tips of your toothbrush bristles flat against your teeth and use small, circular motions to clean them.
- Tilt the brush toward the gum line to clean the areas between braces and the gums using the same circular motions
- Use a back-and-forth motion when cleaning the surfaces of the teeth
Give extra attention to the areas between the wires, teeth, brackets and gums to make sure there aren’t any left behind food particles.
Mouthwash
- After thoroughly flossing, followed by brushing, we recommend using a cavity fighting mouthwash once or twice per day.
- Swish for 30-45 seconds and spit out.
- No rinsing.
Special Orthodontic Tools
Today’s orthodontic treatments are accompanied by a lot of special tools to help keep teeth clean and work around brackets and wires. Ask us for these tools at your next orthodontist check-up to help make cleaning around your braces a little easier.
- Interdental Brushes
- Floss and Threaders
- Orthodontic Flossers
Maintain a Braces-Friendly Diet
Keeping teeth cavity-free isn’t completely about how you brush and floss. Prevent cavities from all angles by eating from a braces-friendly diet with tips like:
- Eating soft foods for post-appointment meals, but make sure they aren’t foods that easily get stuck in the braces.
- Avoiding foods that require biting into that can pop brackets off
- Eliminating sugary sweets and other non-friendly braces foods that get stuck in teeth.