Avoiding Cavities with Braces: Easy Tips to Follow

It’s always essential to make sure you’re following good oral hygiene practices with your teeth to prevent cavities. However, routine dental hygiene becomes even more important if you have braces. It’s tougher to clean teeth when you have braces, so you’ll need to work even harder to prevent cavities from forming while you’re undergoing this orthodontic treatment. Once you have your braces removed, you want to have a white, straight, beautiful smile that’s free from cavities. Here are a few easy tips you can follow to avoid cavities while you’re wearing braces.

Tip #1 – Brush After Mealtimes

Whether you have a full meal or a small snack, it’s a good idea to brush your teeth about 30 minutes after you have a meal. Braces can easily trap food, and when food sits in your teeth, it can cause cavities to form. When you brush after meals, make sure you brush thoroughly, making sure that the bristles get into the gaps between braces and teeth to remove food particles completely. Brush around and in all the wires and brackets. It’s a good idea to go with a soft toothbrush and a good fluoride toothpaste will help prevent tooth decay too.

Tip #2 – Invest in Some Special Cleaning Tools

Since it can be so tough to clean teeth when you have braces, it’s a good idea to invest in some special cleaning tools to help out. Using interdental toothbrushes along with the regular toothbrush a couple times a day is a great idea. Interdental toothbrushes are very small and often disposable and they are used to help clean between teeth and between the wires of your braces. These brushes are great for reaching places your regular toothbrush just can’t reach. Another special tool that may be recommended is a WaterPik, which uses the power of water to clean teeth and around your braces.

Tip #3 – Don’t Forget Flossing

Even though it probably sounds like a big chore, flossing is so important when you have braces. Floss helps to get into those places between teeth that are tough to reach. Your dentist can show you the best way to floss when you get braces, so make sure you’re flossing a minimum of once a day to avoid any cavities between teeth.

Tip #4 – Rinse with a Fluoride Mouthwash

Sometimes there are still a few food particles left behind even after flossing and brushing, which is where a good mouthwash can help. Rinsing well can eliminate any leftover particles on teeth that could cause decay. A fluoride mouthwash is a great choice since fluoride helps to prevent tooth decay. Talk to your dentist about which fluoride mouthwash may work best for your needs.

Tip #5 – Avoid Certain Foods and Drinks

While you have your braces, there are certain foods that can be bad for your braces and your teeth. Although it’s often tough to avoid temptation, you won’t have braces forever, so try to avoid the foods and drinks that may cause you trouble. Sticky foods like gum, taffy, and caramel are a problem if you have braces. Hard foods like apples, nuts, and hard candies can be a problem too. It’s also best to avoid sports drinks, fruit drinks, and soft drinks while you’re wearing your braces.

Tip #6 – Don’t Skip Routine Checkups

Heading to the dentist for routine checkups is always important, and you should have a checkup and cleaning every six months. However, it’s especially important that you avoid skipping those checkups while you’re wearing braces. In fact, you may be asked to come in more often while you are wearing braces. Don’t blow off those appointments. It’s important to have your braces checked and to ensure that you don’t have any tooth decay starting on your teeth. Catching any problems early is always essential and can prevent even bigger problems in the future.

Soon your braces will be off and you’ll get to enjoy the lovely smile you want, but while you’re wearing them, be extra vigilant about caring for your teeth. With a bit of extra care, avoiding problem foods, and regular checkups, you can avoid cavities and ensure you’re happy with your smile once the braces come off for good.

The Right Way to Clean Your Braces

Maintaining good oral hygiene is extremely easy when you don’t have braces. You brush, floss, rinse with mouthwash and continue on with your day. Unfortunately, things get more difficult when braces are put on.

All the hardware that makes up your braces from the wires and brackets to the expanders, bands, elastics, springs and screws, present unique challenges that make cleaning difficult. Learning how to work around these challenges and properly clean your braces will help you protect your teeth.

Understanding Why Cleaning Braces can be so Difficult

Before you learn how to properly clean your braces, you must learn about why it is so difficult to clean your teeth when you are undergoing orthodontic treatment.

Cleaning your braces is difficult because there are so many different surfaces where food can get stuck, plaque can build up, and acid can collect. When this happens it can cause germs and bacteria to grow and spread throughout the mouth. Bacteria and plaque growth can cause tooth decay, cavities, gingivitis, and even damage the structure of your teeth.

Properly cleaning not only your teeth, but the hardware around your braces will help prevent any damage from occurring that may be caused by germs and bacteria.

How to Properly Use a Toothbrush When You Have Braces

Brushing your teeth when you have braces is different than brushing your teeth without braces. You will still use the same type of toothbrush, either a manual or electric toothbrush that has soft bristles and a compact head, but your brushing technique will be different.

To properly brush your teeth when you have braces, do the following things:

Remove any elastic bands you may have in your mouth before brushing
Hold your toothbrush at a 45-degree angle right along the gum line.
Move the toothbrush in a back and forth motion across the teeth
Sweep the toothbrush over the biting surface of your teeth
Gently brush the tops, fronts, and bottoms of the brackets
Brush the wires

Learn Proper Flossing Techniques for Flossing with Braces

Flossing helps remove food that may have gotten stuck between your teeth or under the wires. When wearing braces it is important that you thoroughly floss your teeth at least once a day. This involves taking a silky gloss dental floss and threading it between the teeth and under the wires. This will help remove any food particles that may have become stuck between your teeth or around your braces.

Flossing while on the go can be difficult as it is time consuming. If you don’t have enough time to properly floss your teeth, you can choose to use interdental picks, proxybrushes, or soft picks to remove any food particles. These items are not as effective as traditional flossing, but they will help keep your teeth clean until you can get home and properly floss. Best of all, they are small enough that you can easily fit them in your pocket, wallet, or purse and take them while you are on the go.

Use an Oral Irrigation System to Clean Your Teeth

Even with proper brushing and flossing, food can still get stuck between your teeth and around your braces. An oral irrigation system can help remove any food, plaque, or bacteria that are left behind after brushing and flossing.

Oral irrigation systems take water and create a gentle stream. The stream has just enough force that it can flush out food, bacteria, and germs that accumulate around hard-to-reach places in your mouth.

Using an oral irrigation system can help improve your oral health when you are wearing brace. However, it should never be used as a substitute for brushing and flossing. It is still important that you brush and floss several times a day whether you use an oral irrigation system or not.

Your Orthodontics Team is There to Help with Proper Cleaning of Your Braces

Your orthodontics team at Valderrama Orthodontics wants to make your experience wearing braces easier. Our team will take the time to walk you through the proper way to clean your braces and answer any questions you may have about the process. If you should ever run into a problem, you can call our office and we will gladly assist you.

Are you interested in getting braces for you or your child? Call our office today to schedule an appointment to discuss orthodontic treatment.