Congratulations! Braces will give you a beautiful smile. Caring for them isn’t complicated. Taking care of your new braces is simple when habits become routine. Here’s how to care for your braces and protect your smile during treatment. We’ll also offer practical care advice for those with aligners.
In this post, we will cover:
- The daily routine that keeps braces clean
- Tools that make cleaning around brackets easier
- Foods you can still enjoy with braces
- Foods and habits that may damage your braces
- How clear aligner care differs from braces
Proper Braces Care Comes Down to Cleaning Well and Protecting Your Appliances
Cleaning and caring for braces is simple:
- Follow your orthodontist’s care instructions (you may have a specific appliance requiring recommended care).
- Brush thoroughly for two minutes after meals, snacks, or bedtime to clean teeth and brackets.
- Use ADA-accepted non-whitening fluoride toothpaste.
- Avoid foods and actions that could damage your braces.
Taking care of your new braces requires a new oral hygiene game. Those brackets and wires create extra spaces where plaque and food particles can get caught. Brush systematically around brackets and wires, and along the gum line to keep your pearly whites protected from harmful cavities. Eliminating cavity creators will reduce problems associated with poor oral hygiene with braces. This is all part of understanding what orthodontic treatment involves from day one.
Clean Around Brackets and Wires, Not Just the Tooth Surface
Cleaning and caring for braces requires slowing down to clean above, below, and around each bracket on every tooth. Purposely seek out cavity creators hiding in hard-to-reach areas. Oral hygiene becomes a seek-out-and-remove mission rather than a quick brush over a smooth tooth surface.
Use Extra Tools to Reach the Places Your Toothbrush Misses
Cavity creators are stealthy, but they can’t evade your efforts with the right tools. Sometimes called interdental brushes, interproximal brushes are uniquely designed to remove plaque and food particles from around brackets, wires, and spaces between teeth.
A water irrigator (water pick) will sweep away cavity creators from their hiding places. Water irrigators shouldn’t replace brushing, flossing, and other oral hygiene methods, but are highly effective at removing plaque and food particles that cause cavities.
Rinsing with a fluoride mouthwash is often recommended. Fluoride strengthens tooth enamel and guards against decalcification. Because treatment needs vary, follow your orthodontist’s recommendations.
Modify Foods Instead of Assuming Everything Is Off-Limits
The do’s and don’ts with braces are more about modifying foods you enjoy instead of avoiding them. Slice an apple into bite-sized pieces before biting directly into it. Do the same with sandwiches and pizza. Remove corn from the cob before eating it. Choose softer foods after an adjustment when your teeth are especially tender. Small modifications offer more options to protect your braces during treatment. When in doubt, ask your orthodontist for recommendations.
Avoid Foods That Can Bend Wires or Break Brackets
Foods such as caramel, popcorn, licorice, taffy, hard candies, mints, and nuts are hard to modify and should be avoided. Hard, sticky, crunchy, or chewy foods can stress the brackets and wires on your braces. Loosened brackets, bent wires, or broken appliances can delay the treatment plan. Always check with your orthodontist first if you’re unsure whether a food choice is safe.
Do You Care for Clear Aligners the Same Way as Braces?
Clients who can correct their smiles with aligners simply remove them before eating or drinking anything other than water. Before putting aligners back in, however, one must thoroughly clean their teeth. Food particles, sugars, and other residues get trapped against tooth surfaces and promote cavities if not cleaned away first. Though aligners are easy to care for, consistent oral hygiene is essential.
Make Caring for Your Braces Part of Your Everyday Routine
Using helpful tools to clean between teeth and around brackets helps to prevent cavities. Make smart food choices and modifications to protect your orthodontic appliance and keep your treatment on track. If something happens to your appliance, like a loose bracket or bent wire, contact your orthodontist.
Now that you know how to take care of your braces, make it part of your routine, and soon you’ll be flashing a beautiful smile.
If you live in Temecula, Hemet, or the nearby communities of Redhawk, Harveston, French Valley, East Hemet, or San Jacinto, Miles of Smiles Orthodontics is here to help you care for your braces. Excellent oral hygiene at home, coordinated with regular orthodontic visits, will protect your smile and keep your treatment on track.
