Whether you’re between appointments or facing a longer-than-usual gap in your orthodontic visits, it’s important to remember that you’re an essential partner in your treatment process. Your oral health care continues even when you’re not in the orthodontist’s office. Maintaining an oral hygiene routine is essential to your care.
All of the additional nooks and crannies created by your orthodontic appliances are the kind of spaces that plaque and bacteria in your mouth dream of. If you’re not extra diligent, you can create all sorts of other problems for your smile when your braces finally come off.
In this guide, AAO expert orthodontists will share tips for maintaining your oral health and getting the most from your orthodontic treatment between visits.
Bite-Sized Tips for Maintaining Oral Hygiene
It’s important to put in extra effort to clean your teeth and maintain your toothcare routines to ensure you don’t develop cavities where parts of your braces meet your teeth.
Make sure to:
- Brush your teeth multiple times a day using toothpaste
- Use your interproximal brush you received from your orthodontist, to clean hard-to-reach spaces
- Floss at least once a day
- Use water to rinse your mouth if you’ve had a sugary beverage
- Avoid foods that get stuck in braces
- Call your orthodontist as soon as you notice something is broken or loose
Why is Oral Hygiene Such a Big Deal With Braces?
Once you have braces put on, it can create additional challenges for your normal tooth care routine. Aside from taking up extra space in your mouth, braces create extra hard-to-reach spaces and gaps near teeth where food, plaque, and bacteria like to hide.
It requires extra effort to keep these spaces clean, and you may need to brush your teeth more frequently. However, if you don’t keep your teeth clean, you may find when your braces come off that your teeth are full of cavities or have started to develop white marks.
What Are Some Tips for Maintaining Good Oral Hygiene with Braces?
While maintaining a good toothcare routine may be a bit more intensive with braces, it’s far from difficult. Good oral hygiene tips include:
- Brushing multiple times a day
- Flossing frequently
- Rinsing your mouth after consuming sugary substances
1. Clean your teeth multiple times a day
If you’re wearing an orthodontic appliance, such as braces or aligners, keeping your teeth clean is important regardless of the situation. Ideally, you should be brushing after every meal with toothpaste.
If you’re wearing aligners, make sure to remove them before eating or drinking anything other than water, and give them a thorough cleaning too! If you have braces, use your interproximal brush to reach hard-to-reach areas.
2. Floss frequently
Just as important as brushing your teeth is flossing! It’s even more important to floss now that you have an orthodontic appliance in your mouth. Leaving bits of food stuck to and between your teeth and braces is a recipe for cavities.
Make sure you take dental floss with you wherever you go. You can easily get a pocket-sized container to bring with you.
3. Rinse your mouth
This tip is one that people often forget. After every sugary snack or drink, rinse your mouth with water. This clears out any lingering sugars that bacteria in your mouth thrive on.
Other Tips and Tricks for Effective Orthodontic Treatment
Keeping your teeth clean is essential, but you should also develop a few good habits to ensure your orthodontic treatment proceeds without complications.
Wear your elastics or retainers as prescribed
Follow your orthodontist’s recommendations to keep your orthodontic treatment on track. Running low on rubber bands? Don’t worry. Call your orthodontist to devise a plan to get more.
Avoid hard, sticky foods and sugary drinks
It’s always important to handle your appliances with care. Avoid hard, sticky foods that could potentially break brackets. Skip or limit sugary beverages, such as sports drinks and soda. Water is best!
Pack an orthodontic travel kit
The most significant change many people experience when they first get braces is the need to brush, floss, and rinse their mouth on the go. For many patients, lunchtime occurs outside the home, at school or work. That means you’ll need to bring what you need with you to take care of your teeth while you’re out and about.
Make sure you pack your toothbrush, interproximal brush, dental floss, toothpaste, and extra elastics just in case.
It’s also a good idea to pack some orthodontic wax in the event your braces start making your mouth a little sore. This is especially recommended after an orthodontist adjustment.
Call Your Orthodontist if Anything Goes Wrong
Your orthodontist is still there for you, even between visits. Contact them if you have any concerns during this time.
Make sure to report any broken brackets or loose wires as soon as they happen. It’s important that all parts of your braces are functioning properly for your treatment to be effective. The sooner you schedule an appointment to fix your braces, the less likely you’ll need to add additional time to your treatment to get everything back on track.
Orthodontists are highly trained and experienced professionals who would be happy to help you.
