How to maintain proper orthodontic hygiene at home?

One of the vital elements for maintaining optimal oral health is great oral hygiene at home.

When you are going under orthodontic treatment, good oral hygiene is even more important, as plaque builds up quicker around brackets, bands, and wires.

To prevent gum disease and cavities, you need to clean both your teeth and braces properly.

Teeth cleaning and Orthodontic Treatment

Here are some tricks for how to keep your teeth, gums, and braces in good shape:

1. If you are using elastics, remove them before flossing and brushing.
2. To floss your teeth if you wear braces, feed the short end of the floss through the space between the main arch wire and the upper portion of the tooth closest to the gum. Use a gentle sawing motion to work the floss on each side of the two teeth the floss is between. Be careful not to pull with too much force around the arch wire.
3. For brushing your teeth, begin by using a regular soft toothbrush. Brush each of your teeth individually for about 10 seconds, before moving onto the next tooth, brushing in a set pattern so that you don’t miss any teeth. Brush both the inside and the outside surfaces of your teeth.
4. Next step will be to brush your teeth with an inter-dental brush (proxabrush) – a brush that is specially designed for cleaning between two brackets. Insert the brush down from the top and then up from the bottom between the brackets. Repeat several times until all teeth have been cleaned.
5. Use other oral care products as instructed by your Puyallup orthodontist.

 

Most suitable products for orthodontic hygiene

Here are the most suitable products for your orthodontic hygiene at home:

Inter-Dental Brush (also called Proxa-brush or Proxi-brush) – use this one to clean between your brackets and under wires to get debris and gunk out. You can purchase an inter-dental brush online, but you can also get one from your Puyallup orthodontist.

 

Tuft Interproximal Brush – this brush can really help to clean between your teeth if you have gaps or spaces.  It also works well to clean around your brackets and other fixed appliances, like fixed retainers.

Regular Soft Toothbrush – a good soft toothbrush will do a perfect work for cleaning your teeth and braces with the only notion that you might need to replace it more often when you have braces, as the brackets may cause extra wear.  Keep an eye on it and replace it when it starts to look worn.

Floss and Floss Threader – this set works just like a needle and a thread to get the floss between your teeth and clean them properly.

For finding the most suitable way to clean your own braces, consult your Puyallup orthodontist. The experts from Orthodontic Excellence will guide you to the most suitable products for your orthodontic care and show you precisely how to use them.