How To Keep Your Teeth Clean With Braces

Oral hygiene is crucial for everyone, as having a clean mouth will help ensure that you have a beautiful smile for decades to come. However, when you’re wearing braces, it can be an almost overwhelming challenge to keep your teeth clean. Nonetheless, it’s actually more critical to do so during this time, particularly because food particles and other items will get stuck in the brackets, creating significant problems down the line.

But how can you make sure that you’re cleaning sufficiently? It’ll take a little more work, but here are some methods you can follow to keep your teeth and your braces spotless:

Get a Better Toothbrush

Chances are that the brush you’re currently using isn’t up to the challenge of working around metal brackets. Thus, you will want to upgrade to something sturdier, like an electric toothbrush or a model with stiffer and longer bristles that can get into more nooks and crannies.

Clean Your Brush

For the most part, your mouth will be a lot messier than usual when you’re wearing braces – there’s just no way around that. Therefore, you will want to spend more time on brush maintenance, such as replacing it more often (about every three months) and rinsing it out well after each use.

Get a Water Flosser

Flossing is much more critical when you’re wearing braces because it’s so easy for food and other particles to get stuck in the brackets. You will want to get either a flossing pick or a water flosser to keep your mouth clean. While it can feel more like a chore than usual, your teeth will hold up a lot better when you do it regularly.

Gargle Salt Water and Mouthwash

No matter how good you are at brushing and flossing, there will still be pieces of food stuck in your braces. To help loosen them up and keep your mouth clean, you will want to use both mouthwash and salt water. The latter option is excellent for soreness and pain as well as removing tiny particles.

If you need braces, then contact 360 Orthodontics today. We offer specialized services, and we can make sure that your experience is as enjoyable as possible. Be proud of your smile. See how we can help.