Home Care

Brushing and Flossing

Daily oral hygiene is critical to maintaining healthy teeth and gums during orthodontic treatment. You mayl notice that it requires more effort to keep your teeth clean with orthodontic appliances in place. Food may become trapped around your brackets and between your teeth and can only be removed by brushing and flossing. Plaque remaining on the teeth due to poor hygiene may cause swelling of the gums, cavities, and white scars on the tooth surface

Brushing after meals should become part of your daily oral hygiene. Use a soft toothbrush with firm pressure and brush at a 45-degree angle to the tooth; brush in small circles above and below the brackets. Your toothbrush will wear out more rapidly because of your appliances, so be sure to replace it when the bristles start to fray. A mechanical or ultrasonic toothbrush are popular options with many of our patients and can be used effectively without damaging your orthodontic appliances. Flossing is critical for cleaning between the teeth and should be done every day. Many flossing aids have been designed for assistance while flossing with braces. We will review hygiene with you at your regular visits and provide you with tips on taking care of your teeth while in orthodontic treatment. Finally, every patient with cemented appliances should be using a daily prescription strength fluoride rinse. For your convenience we have this rinse available for purchase in our office in a variety of flavors.

Oral Hygiene with Orthodontic Appliances

Oral Hygiene Presentation

To provide you with a better understanding of oral hygiene with braces, we have provided the following multimedia presentation.

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Eating Habits

Please do not eat hard foods: nuts, ice, crisp taco shells, whole apples and carrots (cut them into pieces first), hard French bread crust and rolls, spareribs, corn on the cob (cut the corn off the cob before eating), and popcorn! These foods risk breaking brackets and wires. Also beware of nail biting and pen or pencil chewing habits, since these can damage your braces. Do not eat sticky foods: taffy, caramels, bubble gum, or sticky candy of any sort. Use common sense about most foods:

Braces

Check your appliances periodically (at least once a week) for anything that may be loose or bent. If a bracket or band becomes loose or you break a wire, please call our office so that we may coordinate an appointment with adequate time to provide the appropriate care. Try to describe the broken appliance by using the diagram of appliances provided in your new patient kit. This will help us assist you in scheduling an appointment for you.

Elastics (Rubber Bands)

You may be asked at times throughout your orthodontic care to wear elastics (rubber bands). Elastics are attached to your braces and exert light forces to move teeth. In order for the teeth to move, a light, continuous force is required. It is therefore critical that you wear the elastics as directed by the doctor and change them at least 3 times daily in order to complete your orthodontic care on schedule.

Removable appliances:

A removable appliance is carefully designed to move or hold your teeth as prescribed by the doctors. It is very important that it is worn according to instructions and brought to each appointment for adjustments. After initial placement of the appliance you may notice increased saliva production, minor speech adjustments, or sore teeth for the first few days. This is a normal adjustment your mouth will make to the appliance and should be decreasing over a few days with continued wear of the appliance. It is often helpful to practice reading out loud or speaking in front of a mirror in order to improve your articulation while wearing the appliance. If you have a sore spot on your gums please call our office so that we can adjust your appliance for you. Wear your appliance as directed by the doctor. It may be removed while swimming or playing vigorous sports activities. Most importantly, PLACE YOUR APPLIANCE IN THE CASE WHEN IT IS NOT IN YOUR MOUTH! Never wrap your appliance in a napkin, tissue, or in your pocket as it may be thrown away or broken. Should you lose or break your appliance call our office so we can schedule an appointment for you.

Clean your appliance by brushing it daily with toothpaste. Efferdent may also be used on a weekly basis in addition to daily brushing.