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Brushing And Flossing
With Braces

Brushing with braces can be different from what you’re used to doing. Flossing with braces can be a bit of a challenge, too. However, it’s incredibly important that you do both regularly. Without proper brushing and flossing with braces, you could have white spots, tooth decay, cavities, gum disease, and even a delay in your braces treatment while we treat your teeth. 

Hentscher-Johnson Orthodontics is here to help you maintain great oral hygiene while getting treated with braces or clear aligners. Here are a few tips to help you brush and floss better throughout your treatment. 

Brushing with Braces

brushing - Brushing & Flossing

You may think brushing with braces will be difficult, but it’s not difficult! The right toothbrush can make brushing with braces much easier. While manual toothbrushes are OK, electric toothbrushes have more scrubbing power. Most also have rotating or moving heads that can get around brackets and wires and get to the plaque hiding around them. 

 

Make sure you brush every tooth surface. Take special care to go around the brackets and wires and get as much plaque as possible. Make sure you brush at least twice a day for at least two minutes at a time. It’s best to brush after every meal, but sometimes schedules don’t allow this. Just brush every morning and night, and brush after lunch if you can.

Brush with fluoride toothpaste for extra protection. Just make sure you wait half an hour to eat or drink, so the fluoride has time to work fully and protect the enamel on your teeth.

Flossing with Braces

flossing - Brushing & Flossing

Flossing with braces looks like it will be difficult. Believe it or not, it’s easier than you may think! Use a floss threader! These are thin pieces of plastic with a large eye that you can thread dental floss through. You then slide the floss threader over or under the archwire and between your teeth, carrying the dental floss. Then you can floss as normal, scrubbing between your teeth and below the gum line to remove plaque and food particles. 

Brushing and flossing with braces is easier with the right tools. If you need more help, contact us at Hentscher-Johnson Orthodontics if you’re in the Columbia, IL, or Waterloo, IL, areas, and we’ll be happy to help!

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