Oral hygiene
Brushing and flossing with braces
Starting your braces treatment is an exciting time. Before your teeth begin aligning for a healthier smile, it’s crucial to know how to brush and floss with braces to keep your smile clean and healthy. While brushing and flossing with braces may require additional time and patience, you will have a beautiful, sparkling smile after your treatment.
Why is cleaning your teeth with braces so important?
While your braces’ brackets and wires work hard to align your smile properly, you must still practice oral hygiene for healthy teeth. Brushing and flossing become even more critical during your braces treatment to prevent plaque buildup and stain outlines on your teeth.
Some additional benefits of cleaning your teeth with braces include:
- Preventing cavities where the braces attach to the teeth
- Improving the comfort levels of your braces
- Keeping your gums healthy
Brushing with braces
To clean your teeth while wearing braces, use a toothbrush with soft bristles and fluoride toothpaste to clean your teeth. Hold the toothbrush at an angle and move it in small circles to clean any food particles trapped in your gum line or on your teeth’s upper, lower, inside, and outside surfaces. Before rinsing, brush the roof of your mouth and tongue to prevent bad breath.
We recommend brushing your teeth at the following times to keep your braces and teeth as clean as possible:
- Breakfast time
- Lunchtime or after school
- Dinnertime
- Before going to bed
Flossing with braces
Flossing is a great way to clean areas your toothbrush may have difficulty reaching. We recommend flossing your teeth daily before going to bed for a clean and healthy smile.
If you have a floss threader, use the device to place floss under the archwire and gently move it up and down along your teeth while being careful not to put excessive pressure on your archwire. You will hear a squeaking sound when your tooth is clean. After flossing between your archwire and braces, start flossing your other teeth.
To floss without the help of a floss threader, perform the following steps:
- Pull the amount of floss you need from the dispenser. You should be able to wrap the majority around your index finger and a small section around another finger with two inches of floss between your fingers.
- Place the floss between two teeth, move it up to the gums, and then back down to pull out plaque and food.
- As you move on your other teeth, unwrap clean floss from your index finger until you use all the clean floss.
- Take a few seconds to floss behind your back molars as well.
Request a free orthodontic exam today!
At Nicolas Orthodontics, we help all our patients achieve a bright, healthy smile they can show off for years to come.
Request a free orthodontic exam today to take the first steps toward a straighter smile. Call 561-361-5665 to visit our Boca Raton, Florida, office and 561-210-9090 for our Boynton Beach, Florida, office. We look forward to helping your smile shine!