It’s no secret that braces complicate your typical oral hygiene routine. But don’t worry: it’s nothing you can’t handle. With a little extra time and effort, you can maintain excellent oral hygiene while working toward the smile you’ve always wanted.
In this guide, we’ll explain how braces can complicate your oral hygiene, and offer some tips for keeping your mouth in tip-top shape throughout your teeth-straightening journey.
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How Do Braces Complicate Oral Hygiene?
Unlike other modes of orthodontia, braces aren’t removable. With braces treatment, brackets will be affixed to your teeth, connected by elastic ligatures and a wire. This is a lot of hardware to contend with during brushing and flossing. The brackets, wire, and elastic ligatures of braces provide numerous hiding places for plaque, bacteria, and food.
You’ll need to brush more frequently during braces treatment, to prevent any trapped food particles from wearing through your enamel. Your braces wire will make flossing more complicated, since you’ll need to thread your floss behind the wire to access your teeth. This adds time to your oral care routine.
The average braces treatment is 24 months. That’s plenty of time for a small problem stemming from poor oral hygiene to become more serious. The good news is that it’s also plenty of time for you to develop comprehensive oral care habits that set you up for success with your braces treatment.
Tips For Keeping Your Teeth Clean with Braces
We’ve established that braces treatment adds certain challenges to your oral care routine — but that doesn’t mean that a healthy smile is impossible. Let’s take a look at ways you can keep your teeth healthy throughout your braces treatment.
1. Make Time
Braces treatment will add more time to your oral hygiene routine. It’s important to account for this when you’re planning your day, so you can set aside the appropriate amount of time to properly clean your teeth.
It may sound simple, but even just waking up a few minutes earlier than usual can make a big difference in your oral care routine. Understand that you’ll need to spend a few minutes of your lunch break attending to your oral health. If you accept in advance these time commitments, it’s much easier to incorporate them into your lifestyle.
2. Change Your Brush Technique
For most of us, brushing our teeth is automatic — it isn’t a task we put very much thought into. Braces treatment requires a much more intentional approach to brushing teeth. You’ll need to use a soft bristled toothbrush and gently brush in small circles.
Pay close attention to the angle of your toothbrush while you’re brushing. We know most people don’t keep a protractor in their toiletries cupboard, but try to envision a 45 degree angle while brushing if you can. Downwards from the tops of your brackets, and then upwards from the bottom of your brackets.
Be sure to clean every single tooth and bracket. In addition to the angled brushing outlined above, be sure to brush your teeth straight on, from behind, and from either the exposed bottom or top (depending on the row). Make sure you’ve accessed every nook and cranny, and that there isn’t any food stuck to your braces hardware.
An electric toothbrush may be a good investment because its oscillating features help brush those difficult areas. Also, many newer electric brushes have orthodontic brush heads that are designed to work around brackets.
3. Brush After You Eat
Since brackets can trap food, it’s important to brush your teeth after every meal during your braces treatment. Even if it’s a simple snack, it’s best practice to brush your teeth immediately afterwards. The more you brush, the better chances you have at keeping your teeth safe from plaque during your braces treatment.
4. Pack Your Toothbrush
Since you’ll need to brush more frequently, it’s important to always have a toothbrush and toothpaste on hand — but it isn’t always easy to remember to pack these tools. We recommend buying a second toothbrush and tube of toothpaste to keep in your tote, backpack or purse so that you’re always prepared.
5. Clean Your Tongue
We often hear about the plaque living on our teeth, but did you know plaque can also live on your tongue? The grooves in your tongue offer a perfect environment for plaque to hide from your careful brushing and flossing. For this reason, it’s important to add tongue brushing to your oral hygiene routine.
Brush your tongue from back to front with toothpaste, and rinse with water when you’re finished. You can also try a tongue scraper, an inexpensive device you can purchase at a local drug store. Gently scrape your tongue from back to front a few times to remove plaque.
6. Invest In a Water Flosser
A water flosser is like a power washer for your teeth. This dental tool is used to dislodge food particles and plaque from small spaces, which makes it a great addition to braces treatment.
You’ll simply fill the water basin with slightly warm water, and from a close range, aiming at your gumline, turn on the flosser. Start from the back teeth, and slowly make your way to the front.
Water flossers should not be a replacement for brushing and flossing, but an added element of treatment.
7. Use Waxed Floss
During braces treatment, flossing becomes much more challenging. You’ll need to thread floss behind your braces wires in between each and every one of your teeth. This can feel a little tedious, so you’ll want to try and find ways to make this as easy on yourself as possible.
Traditional floss can catch on brackets and rip apart, making a mess. Waxed floss is a great way to simplify this process. Waxed floss has a thin coating of wax on top, which makes it less likely to snag against your brackets.
Some waxed floss comes with a stiff end, which makes threading it through your braces wire a little less complicated. You can also purchase floss threaders at any drug store, which make it much easier to pull your floss behind your braces wire.
8. Use Mouthwash
Mouthwash is a great addition to your oral hygiene routine. This can help dislodge food caught in your braces hardware and wash away plaque. Mouthwash is not a substitute for brushing and flossing, but a supplement to your overall oral care treatment. Just don’t use a whitening mouthwash during your braces treatment, since this will give your teeth a two-toned effect when your braces are removed.
9. Regular Dentist Appointments
A trip to the dentist every 6 months is an important aspect of your overall oral health. Your dentist can remove plaque from all of the nooks and crannies you may be missing during your cleanings. Additionally, your dentist can spot oral hygiene issues early on, before they can become more serious. This kind of oversight can help you avoid invasive procedures and high dental bills later on.
Some people with braces prefer to visit the dentist more frequently just to stay on top of their oral health. Speak with your dental professional to see if this may be a good option for you.
10. Embrace Fluoride
Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral that protects your tooth’s enamel. There are many ways to incorporate fluoride into your routine. Most tap water in the U.S. has fluoride in it, so you may be getting some of fluoride’s benefits already. To bring more enamel protection into your life, be sure to choose toothpaste and mouthwash that uses fluoride.
You can also talk to your dentist about fluoride treatments. These treatments have a higher concentration of fluoride than your tap water or your toothpaste, which is why these are administered by your dentist.
11. Choose Nutritious Foods
You’ll need to give up certain foods during your braces treatment in order to avoid damage to your braces hardware. Foods like candy, caramel, and chewing gum can break or damage your braces brackets, which can create costly repairs and delays in your treatment. Beyond just your braces hardware, there are additional reasons to give up these foods during your treatment — and even afterwards, too.
You probably know that dentists advise against sugary foods, but do you know why? Sugar breaks down into acids that wear through your enamel. But sugars aren’t the only culprits contributing to poor oral hygiene. Processed and starchy foods are also problematic when it comes to your oral health, because these foods turn into sugars when we consume them.
The good news is that there are plenty of foods you can eat during your braces treatment. Whole, plant foods are high in fiber and in water content, which makes them a great addition to any diet, but particularly helpful during braces treatment.
Foods with a high fiber content require more chewing, which produces more saliva. Saliva helps wash plaque off of your teeth, so the more the better. Similarly, the high water content in whole plant foods contributes to your overall hydration, which also helps your saliva production.
12. Quit Smoking
Smoking can cause a variety of serious health problems, and your oral health is no exception. Smoking makes plaque build up more likely, which can make it even harder to stay up on your oral hygiene during braces treatment. Smoking also makes tooth decay and gum disease more likely, which can result in tooth loss.
If the health issues associated with smoking don’t sway you to quit, maybe aesthetics will. If you smoke during your braces treatment, the exposed part of your tooth will yellow, but the area beneath your bracket will not. This will create a tan line effect on your teeth when your braces are removed.
Pro Tip: Lingual Braces Require Extra Care
Lingual braces are located on the back of teeth instead of the front, so in addition to the complexities presented by standard braces, you’ll also have the challenge of cleaning an area that’s largely out of sight. This has the potential to add a bit more time to your new oral hygiene routine.
Water flossers and floss threaders are especially helpful for lingual braces. You might also consider purchasing a small mirror to inspect your teeth after brushing and flossing. Particularly at the beginning of treatment, this can give you a better idea of how well your methods are working to remove food from your brackets.
Risks of Poor Oral Hygiene During Braces Treatment
We all know that striving for excellent oral hygiene is important. But sometimes it can be hard to remember what is at stake with our oral health. Here are some reminders of what you can help prevent by maintaining great oral hygiene during your braces treatment.
Tooth Discoloration
There are a few ways teeth can be discolored during braces treatment. Any tooth stains that occur will only be staining the exposed part of your tooth. The bracket will keep part of your tooth unstained, which can create a two-toned effect once your braces are removed. Stains can be kept to a minimum with good oral hygiene.
Demineralization is another form of tooth discoloration. If you have poor oral hygiene, little white spots (though sometimes brown or yellow) may appear on teeth during braces treatment. These spots are small holes wearing through your enamel. Demineralization isn’t a cavity, but it can become one if your oral hygiene doesn’t improve.
Tooth Decay
The demineralization process that we introduced above is the very first stage of tooth decay. Tooth decay occurs when acids in plaque begin to wear through enamel. If left untreated, this can become a cavity. If a cavity isn’t filled, it can dig deeper and deeper into your tooth.
Once a cavity reaches the innermost layer of your tooth (the pulp) it can cause a bacterial infection and create a pus filled sac called an abscess. In some cases, this results in tooth loss.
Gum Issues
Poor oral hygiene during your braces treatment affects your gums, too. Plaque that stays up at your gumline can cause irritation and swelling, also known as gingivitis. Gingivitis is common and treatable, but it’s also the beginning stage of gum disease, and can become more serious if left untreated.
Gum (or “periodontal”) disease can also be caused by poor oral hygiene. With gum disease, your gums gradually recede due to plaque or tartar buildup at the gumline. Without intervention, gum disease can eventually result in tooth loss.
Final Thoughts
We know that caring for your teeth during braces treatment can feel a little daunting at first. But with a little extra time and attention and following the tips we’ve outlined above, it’s possible to maintain excellent oral hygiene throughout your entire treatment — and even afterwards, too.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is gingivitis reversible?
Gingivitis is absolutely reversible. This early stage of gum disease can usually be reversed by maintaining excellent oral hygiene. A visit to the dentist can help remove any plaque or tartar on your teeth. Coupled with great brushing and flossing habits, your gingivitis should be reversed in a few short weeks.
Do braces make cavities more likely?
Braces make it harder to maintain great oral hygiene. If you have poor oral hygiene, cavities start to form. This doesn’t mean that braces are directly causing cavities, it just means you’ll need to be more vigilant with your oral hygiene during braces treatment.
Can I get a cavity filled during braces treatment?
You can. Whether or not your dentist removes your braces hardware depends on the location of your cavity, but usually this isn’t necessary.
Are there ways to simplify flossing during braces treatment?
There are. Floss threaders are a great tool that help weave your floss behind your wire. Water flossers are another tool you can use at home. Water flossers use water pressure to dislodge food and plaque from your braces hardware.
What do I do after lunch if I don’t have my toothbrush?
It’s never ideal to leave your toothbrush at home during braces treatment, but it happens. If after a meal you find yourself without a toothbrush, simply rinse your mouth out with water for 30 seconds and brush as soon as you are reunited with your toothbrush.
Are some forms of braces better for oral hygiene than others?
All braces treatments will make oral hygiene more complicated, but there is some variation between them. Self ligating braces do not have elastic ligatures fastening the braces wire to the brackets. Without the elastic, it can be a little easier to keep your braces brackets clean.
Is it possible to brush teeth too hard?
It is. Brushing too hard can actually lead to gum recession. We recommend using a soft bristled toothbrush to avoid hard tooth brushing. If you think you might be brushing too hard, talk to your dentist about how you can make your technique a little gentler.
Is tooth demineralization visible?
It can be. Oftentimes tooth demineralization appears as small, white spots on your tooth, though sometimes they can appear brown or yellow.
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