How To Look After Your Teeth While Wearing Braces

Tooth care during orthodontic treatment is most important – here’s why….

The increasing desire to have a more attractive smile has led to more local people seeking teeth straightening treatments. For years there has been something of a resistance to this as to do so requires the wearing of dental braces, sometimes for a significant length of time.

Traditional style braces are not as cumbersome and obvious as they used to be, but many do still use metal wiring and brackets which can be very visible when you smile.

There are, however,  new ‘invisible’ braces which we will come to a little later on which negate this problem. In the meantime, we need to take a look at some of the things that our Wickford patients need to do in order to maintain healthy teeth and gums when they wear traditional style dental braces.

Standard braces

As these braces generally use wires and brackets that are fitted and adjusted by the dentist  in order to straighten the teeth, it probably comes as no surprise to find that food can become easily trapped in them. This is problematic as, if not removed, issues such as tooth decay and gum disease can easily follow. There is little point in having an even smile if your teeth have been affected in this way.

Let us take a look then, at what you need to do to ensure a healthy mouth when wearing this type of dental brace.

1. Give your teeth a gentle brush after each meal using a soft bristled toothbrush. This will help to loosen any food particles that have become trapped. In addition to this, swill water round your mouth vigorously as this will also help.
2. Brush and floss regularly. Don’t change your daily routine, and continue to brush your teeth twice a day as usual. Make sure to floss as well wherever this is possible. It might be a little trickier when you wear braces, but any effort will be rewarded. Although, in normal circumstances, not considered to be as effective as regular floss, you might wish to consider purchasing a water flosser to reach difficult areas for the duration of your treatment period.
3. Avoid sugary and sticky foods. Sugar is well known to cause tooth decay so avoid this as much as you can. Especially avoid sticky foods as these will become stuck in the braces more easily.
4. Avoid harder foods as these can damage the wiring and may lead to further problems.
5. Make sure to see the local dentist at the Cygnet Dental Practice more frequently during the course of your orthodontic treatment. They will want to see you more regularly anyway in order to check the progress but also to keep an eye on your overall oral health. If they make any suggestions on how to improve your oral care, please follow them.

Cosmetic orthodontics

As you can see, wearing traditional dental braces to correct the positioning of your teeth can come at a cost if you don’t also take good care to look after your teeth and gums while wearing them. It should also be noted that some cosmetic orthodontics also use the same approach albeit using different and finer materials. The fact is though, that food can still become trapped with these so the above still applies. The big difference is that most cosmetic braces are often only worn for several weeks to correct minor problems so the risks are also reduced.

For longer term teeth straightening treatments, there is now a range of new style orthodontics which do away with the wires and brackets altogether. One of these is the popular Invisalign orthodontic system. Instead of wires and brackets, a series of transparent trays are worn for the required length of time. The transparency makes them much less visible when being worn and this is one of the main reasons for their popularity.

Another significant benefit of this system is that they are convenient and better for your oral health as not only does food not become trapped as easily, but the patient can, and should, remove them from their mouth, not only to eat but also to clean their teeth. There is no reason therefore why your teeth should suffer at all if you do this correctly. You will also need to keep the trays clean and our Wickford dentists will explain how to do that effectively.

Wearing braces doesn’t have to be the challenge that it once was with this new generation of orthodontics. If you are unhappy about your current smile, whether it is due to crooked teeth or any other problem, we are happy to do what we can to help. An initial consultation is one of the best ways to do this and you can book yours by calling the Cygnet Dental Practice on 01268 733078.