1110 Stone Rd. • Kilgore, TX 75662 • 903-983-3426
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Oral Hygiene
When you have braces, maintaining your oral hygiene regimen is essential. Food and bacteria can get stuck in your braces and retainers, and these appliances make it even more difficult to remove plaque with brushing and flossing. Make sure to brush and floss carefully every time you eat to prevent oral health problems such as tooth decay and gum disease.
Here are some tips for how to practice proper oral hygiene while wearing braces:
Starting with the outside of the teeth, use circular motions while holding the toothbrush at a straight angle. Make sure to brush between the gums and braces while angling the brush downward and the portion of the tooth beneath the braces by angling the brush upward. Once you’ve finished cleaning around the braces on the front side of teeth, brush the chewing surfaces and inside of the teeth.
Make sure to floss at least once a day using a floss threader to help floss under the archwire. The floss threader allows you to get the floss above the archwire to hit the tops of teeth near the gumline.
Rinsing with an antiseptic dental rinse may help soothe irritations caused by orthodontic appliances. If you experience gum irritation, an antiseptic dental rinse may facilitate healing.
An interdental toothbrush, also known as a proxabrush, can come in very handy, helping you better clean between orthodontic wires and teeth. Shaped sort of like a short pipe cleaner, the interdental toothbrush is designed to be inserted underneath the archwire.
Keeping your retainer clean promotes oral health and prevents your appliance from tasting bad. Every time you brush your teeth, brush your retainer as well. Soak your retainer once a day in room-temperature water. Use denture-cleaning tablets to avoid the buildup of plaque and remove food particles from your retainer. It is essential that you avoid using hot water because it can distort your retainer.
Immediately following the braces placement procedure, you may experience soreness. Eating soft foods for a week should help lessen discomfort. While you can eat almost anything while wearing braces, you will want to avoid hard and sticky foods like ice and sticky foods like caramels, as these foods may cause damage to your braces. Because it can be more difficult to maintain clean teeth while wearing braces, we recommend that you cut down on your intake of sugary foods and drinks.
