The How to Guide
Maintaining Oral Hygiene and Braces Care
After years of enduring through the aches and pains of wearing braces, there comes a day at the end of orthodontic treatment (one of the best days of your life!) that the patient may remove their braces. However quickly they may find out that their teeth and gums are damaged. As such, for the treatment they will require more time, money and energy. In this moment, all the dreams of a Hollywood smile go down the drain when the orthodontist breaks the bad news. Fret not readers, don’t worry, this is why I have written this guide explaining how you can better maintain your oral hygiene and care! It lies in your hands.
With braces, patients usually find it hard to clean their teeth and due to this bacteria in the mouth form damaging the gums and teeth. As soon as food is eaten, bacteria in the oral cavity undergoes a glycolytic process to ferment the sugars in food through fermentation. As a result, lactic acid builds up creating an acidic environment inside the oral cavity. This is when the oral cavity is in its most vulnerable stage and there goes the Hollywood smile…
If oral hygiene measures are abandoned because the patient finds it hard to brush with braces on, bacteria will exponentially grow producing more acid which means increased damaged teeth. Additionally, braces and wires make it easier for food debris to get stuck between teeth and gums, leading to increased deposition of plaque and calculus (calcified/hard plaque). This plaque and calculus ultimately damage the gums and the bone which anchors the teeth. If you lose your gums and bone, then you will inevitably lose your teeth as well!
Now, to prevent plaque formation there are oral home measures such as tooth-brushing, and flossing that can make your life a lot easier, and your mouth a whole lot fresher! What my patient’s do not realize, is that once their teeth enters the decaying process or when the plaque calcifies forming calculus, then only can the dentist help them!
As the famous saying goes by ‘’Prevention is better than cure’’, no matter how good of a treatment your dentist provides you with, natural teeth can never be replaced. Hence, readers and my dear patients, please take better care of your oral hygiene first before going for treatments on top of your orthodontic treatment. Other than oral hygiene, please make sure that your braces do not break due to poor compliance, as this will further prolong the removal of your braces!
So here are some tips on how to maintain your braces while you embark on the special orthodontic journey:
- Cut or tear hard food before eating them
- Try to eat with your back teeth as much as possible
- Biting on front teeth should be avoided
- Chewy or sticky food (candies, jellies) should be avoided as much as possible
- If the bracket harms your gums or any part of the oral cavity, just apply the wax which your orthodontist must give you on top of it.
Brushing with braces:
- Brushing is done while moving the toothbrush in circular motions
- Three surfaces must be cleaned. Top, bottom and front of the braces
- The part where teeth meet the gums should be brushed along with the eating surfaces of the back teeth
- Brushing should be done for at least 2-3 minutes
- Brushing should be done at least twice a day. First after breakfast, and second before going to bed.
Flossing with braces:
Flossing can be a bit tricky with braces on. The floss must be threaded under the wire and then used between two teeth. If the floss can’t go under the wire, you must use a floss-threader which helps in getting the floss under the orthodontic wire in your braces.
Interproximal brush with braces:
Sometimes food is stuck in between the braces and the teeth which can’t be removed by tooth brushing or flossing. For such scenarios, an interproximal brush can be used. It is simple to use. Use it gently in between the orthodontic wire and teeth, making sure you don’t break off the bracket! Use it in areas where the interproximal brush can easily go in the orthodontic wire as in unnecessary force can break the bracket.
Remember orthodontic treatment with poor oral hygiene is damaging for your teeth and gums rather than being advantageous, it turns out to be a disadvantage! So orthodontic services will only help if you take care of your oral hygiene.
Keep smiling because you deserve it!
