How to properly brush your teeth with braces?
In the process of orthodontic treatment, patients experience difficulties with oral hygiene. This is because the braces and the arc that connects them prevent a regular toothbrush from cleaning plaque and food debris from the tooth gaps. Moreover, the complex foreign structure becomes an additional source of infection, collecting identical food residues on the surface.
This problem can have dire consequences, as the ability of the dentist to prevent and treat caries while the patient is wearing braces is also significantly limited. Considering this fact, it is worth monitoring oral hygiene as carefully as possible during the active phase of bite correction. You must purchase everything for braces cares in an online store or pharmacy. The list of necessary devices will be given to you by the dentist after the installation of the orthodontic structure.
Why do you need special care after the installation of braces?
We have already considered the first and most important reason – braces interfere with the high-quality cleaning of teeth from food and soft plaque. That is why brushing your teeth with braces with a regular brush is ineffective. Over time, the plaque will begin to thicken, and getting rid of it will become even more difficult. Moreover, bad breath will become your companion despite rinses and mouth fresheners. By the way, you will also be unable to use chewing gum due to the same braces in your mouth!
If caries has developed on the tooth, then before starting treatment, the dentist will remove the bracket from it, suspending the process of correcting the bite until the end of therapy. In addition to the fact that this generally lengthens the treatment time, removing and re-installing the bracket is a paid procedure. Therefore, careful dental care will allow you to get the desired “Hollywood” smile sooner and prevent unnecessary financial expenses.
Tools for the care of the braces
Oral care appliances during orthodontic treatment may look strange and uncomfortable at first glance, but they are not. If you are interested in where in Moscow you can buy an orthodontic toothbrush and brushes for cleaning braces, then ask this question to a dentist or search the Internet. Today, most pharmacies and online stores offer a complete range of hygiene products for patients undergoing orthodontic treatment. Moreover, the prices for these instruments can vary, both from fairly high prices for professional dental brands (for example, toothbrushes and brushes for Curaprox braces (Curaprox) and to mass-market brands that are affordable for brushes (toothbrushes and brushes for Oral braces). B (oral bi).
How to take care of your teeth after braces?
In general, the basic principles of dental care remain unchanged:
- Actively brush your teeth twice daily – in the morning and the evening.
- Cleanse as needed after every meal.
- Visit the dentist regularly for preventive professional hygiene.
However, considering the braces on the teeth, each stage becomes longer and requires very special tools.
Orthodontic brush for cleaning braces
An orthodontic toothbrush looks like a regular toothbrush. However, the special arrangement of the bristles on its head attracts attention. Firstly, such brushes are available only with soft hairs or medium hardness. Secondly, the length of the hair varies from the longest along the edge to the shortest in the middle of the brush. Thus, their appearance resembles the letter V. Today, buying a toothbrush for braces in pharmacies is quite simple since such a model is already included in the portfolio of almost all well-known brands from the economy to the luxury segment.
How to brush your teeth with braces with an orthodontic toothbrush? The process will take place in three stages:
- Horizontal movements clean the dentition’s vestibular (outer) surface (where the braces are located). If you have a linguistic construction, then horizontal movements are made accordingly from the inside, moving along the length of the arc.
- We place the toothbrush at an angle of 450 to the surface of the gums and carefully clean the structure itself and the gaps under the arc with a little pressure.
- In the usual way, we clean our teeth from the inside (outside, if the braces are lingual).
How to clean braces with a brush?
If few people can be surprised with a set of brushes for braces, then special brushes are a completely new tool in the arsenal of an ordinary person. The brush is a small vertical brush, which is very convenient for cleaning interdental spaces.
In addition, the brush is indispensable for cleaning the tooth’s surface under the arch connecting the braces. It must be carefully inserted under the arc and rotated clockwise to remove plaque and stuck food particles.
An important rule of hygiene is the life of the brush. If an orthodontic toothbrush is ready to serve its owner for 2-3 months, it should be changed every two weeks. Usually, orthodontic brushes for cleaning braces are sold in sets of several pieces for patients’ convenience.
How to use a mono-bundle brush for braces?
In the photo, a single-beam brush for braces resembles the letter “G.” This is a miniature bundle of bristles attached at an angle to a long handle. You need to use it with special sweeping movements, moving from the neck of the tooth to its crown. It is very convenient to use such a brush to clean the bracket itself because, in addition to one small bundle, the working head is also small and allows you to look into the most inaccessible places.
Some brands offer to buy multifunctional brushes with different attachments for braces and more thorough oral hygiene. In this case, it is worth paying attention to the overall ergonomics of the design. The handle should fit comfortably in your hand (ideally, have rubber stops or notches), and the nozzles should be firmly attached.
As for the bristles, it is worth choosing brushes with a soft and medium degree of hardness to care for orthodontic structures so as not to damage the miniature structures.
How to use an electric toothbrush for braces?
Some patients wonder if braces can be cleaned with an electric or ultrasonic brush. However, you can choose models that are equipped with special nozzles. As a rule, such a nozzle looks like a single-beam brush of a slightly larger diameter. The brush itself should be made of soft or medium bristles. An important feature of orthodontic electric brushes is a special low-intensity mode, allowing you not to spoil the braces themselves during cleaning. Usually, manufacturers of high-quality models post a video on the Internet on how to properly brush your teeth with braces and provide a link in the instructions or to a proprietary application that needs to be installed on your phone.
Flossing teeth with braces
Ordinary dental floss has become so firmly established in our lives that high-quality daily hygiene is impossible. Is it worth giving it up for the period of orthodontic treatment? Can you brush your teeth with braces with regular floss? Of course, it is possible, orthodontists answer; however, using extra instead of the usual thread will be more effective.
Superfloss is dental floss. However, it combines several functions at once. For example, one of the brands widely represented in the dental market produces threads with a hard tip, which allows it to be inserted under the arch of an orthodontic construction. In the middle of the thread segment, a part of a spongy, porous fiber is presented for a more thorough removal of food debris.
How do you clean braces with an irrigator?
The irrigator is a universal device for oral hygiene, which is also suitable for cleaning braces. The essence of the method lies in the fact that water under high pressure is supplied to the teeth. Thus, it is possible to gently and effectively remove food debris from the interdental spaces and plaque from the surface of the teeth without damaging the orthodontic structures themselves.
If necessary, rinse aid, or disinfectant solutions suitable for dental use can be added to the water tank.
What kind of paste should I use to clean my teeth with braces?
Most often, braces care kits sold in the store include toothpaste with a high content of fluoride or calcium. This is justified by the fact that the orthodontic system hurts tooth enamel, slightly thinning it. However, dentists do not recommend using fluoridated toothpaste frequently while wearing braces, which can contribute to enamel staining. They will become especially noticeable after the removal of the system and will require additional measures to restore the smile’s aesthetics.
From the doctors’ point of view, the patient is recommended to concentrate on regular mechanical cleaning of the teeth from plaque and food without being carried away by toothpaste’s excessively abrasive and mineralizing effects.
Additional activities after cleaning
In addition to directly brushing the teeth during orthodontic treatment, other manipulations may be required to improve the patient’s quality of life, such as rinsing the mouth and working with wax.
Mouthwash
Dentists recommend using mouthwash every day. This allows you to quickly freshen your breath while chewing gum remains an inaccessible luxury for bracing patients.
In addition, regular rinsing of the mouth with antiseptic solutions helps to relieve inflammation, which especially often makes itself felt in the first days of wearing braces.
Why is wax needed?
If you buy a kit for cleaning braces, in the vast majority of cases, in addition to the already familiar tools listed, it will also contain wax. Why is it needed?
It is no secret that the sharp edges of braces and even the arc can cause micro-trauma to the mucous membrane of the tongue, lips, and cheeks. This is especially noticeable in the first 2-3 weeks of wearing braces when this orthodontic system’s known shortcomings are manifested to the maximum.
To avoid the formation of wounds and bleeding and generally improve the patient’s quality of life and increase his loyalty to treatment, orthodontists recommend the active use of wax. A small amount of it must be kneaded in the hands and applied to the part of the bracket with sharp edges. Gradually, the need for this will disappear since the oral mucosa adapts to the structure of the teeth.
Is it possible to do professional cleaning with braces?
It is worth noting that professional teeth cleaning at the dentist are mandatorily shown before installation and after the removal of braces. In the first case, this allows you to remove calculus and plaque from the surface of the tooth to:
- Minimize the risk of developing caries during orthodontic treatment;
- Ensure better attachment of the bracket plate to the tooth surface.
Accordingly, at the end of the treatment, the doctor removes plaque that has settled on the teeth due to hygiene difficulties and thus evens out the color of the teeth.
If the patient is shown to wear braces for a long time – more than six months, then professional cleaning is carried out at the agreed time or according to the doctor’s indications. At the same time, there is no need to remove the braces themselves; it is enough to remove the arches during cleaning (and even then, not always).
The price of professional teeth cleaning with braces at a dentist in Moscow is slightly higher than that for other categories of patients.
Peculiarities of tooth treatment depending on the type of orthodontic construction
Regardless of which structure is installed on the teeth – vestibular or lingual – the cleaning steps and the rules for maintaining oral hygiene remain the same.
It is only worth noting that braces made of plastic and ceramics can slightly absorb pigment from food, so they need a more thorough cleaning after eating (not earlier than 15 minutes, but not later than half an hour after eating).
