If you or someone in your family wears braces, take heart. Before you know it, you’ll be flashing a confident smile if you keep these few things in mind.
Don’t Let Plaque Win
Once teeth are straightened by braces, it is easier to reach plaque on and between your teeth. But while wearing braces, plaque and food particles have additional places to accumulate and become trapped. Use an Oral-B® Electric Toothbrush with an Ortho® brush head that’s specially designed to effectively and gently clean around braces.
Treat Your Gums Kindly
While wearing braces, you might consider using the sensitive mode of your Oral-B Electric Toothbrush. The sensitive mode oscillates at a lower speed for extra care and comfort along the gum line—and around the brackets and orthodontic wires.
Brush and Floss Like a Pro
Using an Oral-B Electric Toothbrush makes this routine easy.
- Get started. Remove elastics, bands, or removable parts of orthodontic appliances.
- Clean your braces. Carefully clean around wires and pins.
- Brush each wire. Move top to bottom, and all the way around upper and lower teeth.
- Brush your teeth. Dental professionals recommend brushing your teeth for two minutes, twice daily. That means each quadrant of your mouth gets 30 seconds. Oral-B Electric Toothbrushes have a built-in timer that pulses every 30 seconds to let you know when to switch areas of the mouth. As you’re brushing, make sure to clean all areas of the tooth. Some people find they get the best clean going tooth by tooth.
- Floss once a day. Use waxed floss and thread it carefully under the main wire before passing between two teeth. Don’t snap it—simply move up and down gently, remove, and move on to the next pair of teeth. Use Oral-B Superfloss®, which is self-threading or regular floss with a floss threader to place above and below the orthodontic wire.
- Rinse, and then check your teeth. Rinse thoroughly. Examine teeth and braces in the mirror, and remember to look for any remaining food particles.
Plan Regular Checkups
Seeing your orthodontist for checkups and adjustments is essential. He or she can repair broken pieces, answer general questions, and address any irregularities such as cavities or gingivitis. Your dental professional may recommend a fluoride treatment as a precaution.