Oral Hygiene and Braces

Oral hygiene is one of the most important parts of maintaining a healthy smile, and when you’re undergoing orthodontic treatment such as braces, it becomes even more important to ensure that you are on top form with it. When you have braces, your teeth are more susceptible to the build-up of food, bacteria, and plaque, making them vulnerable to cavities and dental decay. Fortunately, preventing these problems is simple with strong oral hygiene – but you do have to know how to properly brush your teeth with braces. Here are our tips on brushing with braces.

Our advice

Regardless of the type of braces you have, clear or metal braces, brushing with braces is relatively simple, but there are a few tweaks you’ll need to make to your brushing technique. As always, you should aim to brush for a full 2 minutes using a toothpaste that includes fluoride in its composition. And while both manual and electric toothbrushes are effective, you should take care not to hit your braces with the back of the brush if you’re using an electric one as this could result in damage.

It’s important to realise that having brackets means that you have an extra surface to brush. This is where the Braces Brushing Technique comes in. It goes as follows: When you brush the outside of your teeth (or the inside, if you’re wearing lingual braces), you should brush both from the top angled down, to get the top side of the bracket, and from the bottom angled up, to get the bottom side. This helps to dislodge any food particles that may be lodged in your brackets or wires, preventing plaque and decay.

Aside from our Braces Brushing Technique, brushing your teeth with braces is relatively similar to brushing normally.

With that said, though the duration of your brushing is the same as usual, the frequency should differ. You should brush at least four times daily and floss once a day using floss threaders.

By keeping up this oral hygiene schedule and using our technique, you can help prevent dental decay during your treatment and ensure you’re on your way to a beautiful and healthy new smile.