Caring for your teeth with braces can be difficult, but the reward is well worth it. In addition to your checkups and follow-up treatment, you will have to invest a little bit more time into brushing and flossing, and watch what you eat. In this article, we give you some tips for how to care for your braces after you’ve had them put on.
Caring For Your Braces With Good Brushing and Flossing
Cleaning your teeth with braces requires a little bit of extra attention when brushing and flossing. When you brush, make sure that you remove any elastics on your braces. When you brush your braces, hold your toothbrush at a 45 degree angle relative to your gums to remove any plaque and food materials on them. While brushing, make sure that you are spending about 10 seconds on each tooth. It is recommended that you brush after each meal, but we stress a minimum of brushing your teeth twice per day.
Make sure that you get a floss threader so you are highly effective when flossing. Your orthodontist at The Smile Specialists will instruct you on the best way to floss. Be sure to floss at least once per day, but twice per day is always preferable.
Rinsing is important to help disinfect your teeth. Make sure that you use a mouthwash after brushing and flossing. Before and after brushing and flossing, rinse with water to make sure that food particles are clear. Rinsing with water after brushing and flossing will help eliminate the aftertaste of toothpaste and mouthwash while making sure that your mouth is clean.
Watching What You Eat With Braces
After you have braces installed, you should be very careful with what you eat. As a rule of thumb, you should avoid hard foods. These include rolls, pizza crust, potato chips (like Doritos), sticky candy, and other foods. Tough meat, like jerky, can also damage your braces.
Foods that you can eat include dairy, breads (soft tortillas are better than hard shell if you like Mexican food), soft white meats (like turkey and chicken), fruits, and more. If you are looking for something sweet to eat while eating braces, you can eat ice cream instead of hard and sticky candy. While wearing your braces, you might find that you eat healthier.
Playing Sports and Musical Instruments
This is an important thing to think about if you are a parent. If you play a brass instrument, you might find that playing this instrument is a little bit more difficult with braces, but you will become accustomed to playing with more practice. For sports, it is highly recommended that you invest in a mouth guard to protect your braces while on the court or playing field.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about how to keep your braces clean and your mouth healthy through your treatment, don’t hesitate to give us a call today at 610-489-6032.