While your teeth are being realigned with braces, maintaining good dental hygiene is more important than ever. However, the arch wires and brackets of the braces make brushing and flossing in the normal way impossible. Instead, you will need to learn a few simple techniques for cleaning plaque and food particles not only from your teeth but from the braces and for flossing as thoroughly as you did before your braces were installed.
Getting It Together
It is important to have the right tools for the job. You will need to brush your teeth and braces with a soft bristled brush. You may use the same dental floss you are accustomed to with the help of a little device called a floss threader. As an alternative to a threader, some flosses are made with a less flexible end to allow them to be threaded through your arch wires without the need for a threader. Next, a proxy brush will help you clean even closer to the sides brackets than you are able to reach with a toothbrush. Finally, a good plaque-fighting rinse will help ensure that the job gets done more completely.
When to Brush
Because braces can trap and hold food particles close to the surface of your teeth, it is important to brush more often than you did before you had braces. Make a habit of brushing first thing in the morning, after every meal, and again at bedtime. Don't be shy about brushing your teeth in public. Carry a little dental care kit with you and brush wherever you are at mealtimes. Good dental hygiene is never uncool.
Brush
Brush your teeth gently, making sure to go over all surfaces in an easy circular motion. Change the angle of the brush to approach the brackets first from the top and then from the bottom. Make sure to brush the backs of your teeth as well as the chewing surfaces.
Slide the tiny proxy brush under the arch wired between each set of brackets. Brush up and down next to the brackets
Flossing
Flossing with braces is not difficult, just different. The main job of the floss is to clean the pocket between your gum and tooth on each side of every tooth. To get there with braces, you will need to thread the floss under the arch wire on your bottom teeth and over the arch wire on your top teeth.
To do this using floss with less flexible tips specially designed for flossing with braces, just insert the tip of the floss under the arch wire from the direction of your gum line. Then using your fingers, guide the floss between your teeth and floss as usual. Remove the floss and repeat the process until you have flossed all of your teeth. Don't forget to floss the sides of your back teeth.
To use regular floss, you may need a threader to accomplish the same thing. A threader is just a flexible loop that you will insert from the direction of the gum line under your arch wire. Once the threader is in place, put your floss through the loop and pull one end of the floss back past the arch wire by pulling on the threader. Floss as usual.
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