To be honest, brushing your teeth when you have orthodontic braces on can be a much more difficult and time-consuming task than you earlier expected, but it’s a challenge you must face and overcome if you would like to get those perfect teeth.
In this article, I will be giving you some quick tips you can follow to easily carry out brushing your teeth more easily while on braces but before we go ahead to do that, lets first talk about the importance of paying attention to your mouth hygiene and keeping your teeth and braces clean.
Importance of Brushing Your Teeth Regularly While On Braces
Taking the time and having the dedication to always keep your braces and teeth clean is important because there are lots of health problems that can arise from poor hygiene. When you neglect to brush because its time consuming, then you risk standing in danger of food getting stuck in between the braces and eventually causing more problems than you can imagine. These health problems can range from tooth decay, inflamed gums, discolored teeth, swollen gums to infected gums, cavities and the loss of the tooth.
Ensuring you brush regularly is important in order to get all the benefits you want from using dental braces.
How Often Should You Brush?
The most dentist would advise you to brush your teeth at least twice a day and floss at least once. This is the standard advice and should be in the morning after having breakfast and at night after you’ve had your dinner. While carrying out this task, you must remember the goal is not to freshen your breadth but instead to ensure you remove all food particles that might be lodged in between your teeth and the braces. And we know you can’t brush immediately after every meal or snacks but you can still achieve partial cleaning by rinsing your mouth out with water in order to loosen and dislodge food particles.
OK, now we have done with that, let’s get into the meat of the matter and drop the tips for brushing while on braces.
1. Use the right toothbrush
When you are on braces, you want to ensure the kinds of toothbrushes you use are soft-bristled in order to prevent gum reactions, damage and wear on your teeth. You also want to choose toothbrushes with small heads that would easily let you get to every corner with being stopped by the brackets.
2. Electric toothbrushes are the best
There is nothing wrong with using a standard toothbrush however, an electric toothbrush works very well when it comes to cleaning the teeth while on braces. Some of these toothbrushes even have sensitivity settings (making it possible for to easily achieve a clean tooth with little to no pain) and timer settings (works very well if you think you don’t take enough time to brush). However, even with all its benefits, it is not an excuse to shorten your brushing time or reduce the amount of effort you put into brushing.
3. Don’t scrub
If you are used to scrubbing your teeth in order to get the best clean but while on braces that’s not a good idea. Instead, you would want to gently pick your way around the bracket. The goal should be to try as much as possible to remove food particles between the braces. This usually takes more time but if you do it right, you will end up with a very clean mouth.
In conclusion
Yes, we know brushing your teeth regularly while you on braces is hard work but it will pay off and you will begin to appreciate the kind of work you put into your mouth hygiene once the orthodontic braces come off and you see your sparkling teeth and beautiful smile.