Flossing with Braces

While wearing braces, flossing and brushing your teeth is critical to have healthy teeth and a smile.

Flossing, or cleaning between your teeth with wax-covered thread, scrapes the hard-to-reach regions that brush misses. Therefore, it is important to floss between each tooth daily and clean around the brackets and under the wires of your braces with a little interproximal brush.

Flossing is essential, no matter if it is longer with braces. Flossing once a day can be crucial in preventing gum disease and tooth decay while you wear your braces for a more confident smile. This article's flossing techniques may help speed up and simplify the process.

Traditional Flossing

This tried-and-true flossing technique helps straightforward food and plaque stuck between your teeth. However, it can be difficult for people who wear braces as it takes time to wrap the floss around the brackets and wire.

If you utilize this procedure, allow yourself 10 to 15 minutes to floss your teeth. The only tool required is waxed floss. Unwaxed floss tends to rip and become entangled in the metal brackets. The following are the steps you can follow to floss:

• Cut a piece of floss 18 to 24 inches long.
• Thread the floss between your teeth and through the main wire. It's an excellent option to do this in front of a mirror to check that the thread is moving in the appropriate direction.
• To make handling easier, wrap the floss ends over your index fingers.
• Slide the floss gently between the two teeth, then up and down the sides of both teeth.

Waterpik

A Waterpik is a one-of-a-kind dental gadget that cleans between teeth and along the gumline with a continuous stream of water. Moreover, the stream of water is so effective at cleansing your mouth you only need three to five minutes to floss with this dental device. Furthermore, a water flosser typically costs around $50, though some types are more expensive.

Waterpiks with orthodontia tips is available from some manufacturers. These tapered tips clean more readily around braces and between teeth than regular tips.

• How to Use a Waterpik to Floss
• Fill the water reservoir in the machine. You can add mouthwash to the water to make it antimicrobial.
• Use the water flosser's tapered tip. To ensure that the flosser is working correctly and that the water pressure is sufficient for you, press to send water through it.
• Lean over the sink and insert the flosser tip into your mouth.
• Turn on the water flosser. While flossing, allow the water to flow from your mouth. It is essential to keep water from splashing out of your mouth by closing your lips.
• The water stream should be moved along the gumline and between each tooth.

Floss Threader

You can speed up traditional flossing with a floss threader, a tiny plastic gadget.

Using a floss threader will make your dental care time short. Floss threaders are readily available in the oral care department of supermarkets and pharmacies. Your orthodontist may also have sample threaders that you can try before purchasing a whole bag.

• First, pull an 18- to 24-inch piece of waxed floss through the floss threader's eye.
• Then, insert the plastic needle's point under the wire of your braces. Pull the floss gently through the wire. With one hand, hold the floss threader.
• It would be easy to wrap the floss around your index fingers to control the fine thread better.
• Lastly, gently slide the floss between the two teeth and up and down the sides of both teeth.

Dental Tape

Traditional flossing might be painful for some people, especially those who do not floss regularly before wearing braces. When you initially start flossing, your gums may bleed and feel inflamed. The gums will get healthier with time, and flossing may no longer be necessary.

If your gums are sensitive, try flossing using dental tape. Use dental tape in the same way you would floss. The feel of this ultrathin floss is soft and spongy. It's a little thinner than regular floss and wider than ribbon. This makes it easier to slip between teeth.

Flossing with Braces: General tips and tricks

These basic practices and regular flossing will help you keep your pearly whites sparkling bright.

• Schedule routine cleanings: Cleanings by a dental hygienist are recommended when wearing braces. They can help prevent staining by deep cleaning around the brackets and hardware. Consider arranging a three-month cleaning.
• Avoid whitening toothpaste: While you may believe that maintaining your teeth brilliant white is a good idea, brushing with whitening toothpaste may cause problems in the future. Because whitening chemicals cannot penetrate beneath the brackets, just the exposed surfaces of your teeth will be whitened. After removing the brackets, you may notice off-white spots on each tooth.
• Use an electric toothbrush: Electric toothbrushes clean better than manual brushes to achieve more significant results with less effort. Electric toothbrushes might cost $100 or more, but you can get a discount or voucher from your dentist.

Conclusion

Braces can help you build a confident smile. They can also reduce your risk of acquiring future oral health problems. However, taking care of your teeth while wearing braces is crucial for various reasons. Brushing and flossing help remove food and germs that cause stains and cavities. They can also assist in preventing gingivitis and other oral health problems later in life.

It takes time to care for your teeth while wearing braces, but you'll be glad at what you did after the braces are off and your smile is attractive and healthy.

Contact your Danville dentist, Dr. Hoss Abar, DDS, MSD, at Danville Orthodontics to learn more about flossing with braces.

Resource:

Demystify Adult Braces

This media/content or any other on this website does not prescribe, recommend, or prevent any treatment or procedure. Therefore, we highly recommend that you get the advice of a qualified dentist or other medical practitioners regarding your specific dental condition.