Just because you are wearing braces does not exempt you from maintaining your oral hygiene with brushing and flossing your pearly whites. If you keep up with brushing your teeth twice daily and flossing once daily, your teeth will look even better when you get your braces off. Also, to prevent cavities and gum disease, you need to make sure that you are cleaning not only your teeth, but also properly cleaning your braces. This article will go over a couple different brushes that will help to optimize your dental care during the tough time of having braces.
One of the best brushes you may want to invest in is the Oral-B Interdental Brush System. An interdental brush kit like this is designed with a smaller, angular head with a triangular brush that is easily replaced. This design will help to work around your braces and scrub under those pesky wires. Oral-B also has a really nice floss that you can use to get things out from between your teeth. The Oral-B Super Floss is an orthodontic floss that has a built in tongue thread. This will help you to thread that floss underneath your braces main wire.
But maybe an electronic toothbrush will better fit your brushing needs. If this is the case you can look at the Oral-B Precision Black 7000. This toothbrush comes with several different modes, such as daily clean, deep clean, whitening, sensitive massage, and tongue cleaning. This brush comes with a brush handle, an e-series brush head, an aesthetically pleasing charger base, a travel cap to cover the brush head, and a soft travel case. So whether you are brushing at home or on the go, your toothbrush will be right there, ready to scrub plaque away with the push of a button.
You may also want to check out the Phillips Sonicare DiamondClean. This electronic toothbrush also has a few different modes such as clean, sensitive, whitening, polish, and gum care. You will also get two brush heads, a brush handle, and a charging glass for you to plug into at home. It is especially good for an on the go lifestyle because it comes with a USB charging travel case. So when you are on those long trips away from home you won’t have to worry about running out of charge.
Many people have a hard time with flossing, especially while wearing braces. But the Waterpik Ultra Water Flosser solves any issues you may have had. This water-flossing device comes with ten different pressure settings and six different tips. It has been proven to be more effective for reducing your chances of plaque, gingivitis, and gum disease, than traditional dental floss. Having a water flosser is perfect for braces because a stream of water is easier to get past that wire.
Suppose you are looking for a more cost effective way to floss your teeth, and don’t want to spend 50 to 100 dollars on a water flosser, you can focus on buying wax floss. Wax floss will keep its form a lot easier, instead of ripping and shredding, getting stuck in your braces. You also want to make sure you are using a long enough peace of floss. About 18 inches is usually enough to adequately floss with. Next, you want to make sure that you be very careful with threading it under the main wire before running it between two teeth. The wax floss will stay together and thread through easier. And finally, be careful not to snap your floss, just run it gently up and down on each side of the tooth.
You will not regret looking at these products to maintain your teeth, and when those braces finally come off, you will be glad you cared so much during this troublesome time period.
Written by Dr. Darren Wittenberger, the best orthodontist Columbia MO has to offer, and owner of his own practice, Advance Orthodontics. Dr. Wittenberger enjoys sharing his expertise to ensure people can maintain the healthiest, straightest teeth possible!
