Maintaining Oral Hygiene with Braces

Brushing Technique with Braces

1. Start by rinsing your mouth with water to loosen any large food particles.
2. Brush the area between your gums and the brackets, angling your brush at 45 degrees towards the gumline.
3. Brush the area between the brackets and the chewing surface of your teeth, angling the brush accordingly.
4. Brush the chewing surfaces and the inside surfaces of your teeth as you normally would.
5. Use an interdental brush to clean the sides of each bracket and under the archwire.

Flossing Technique with Braces

1. Use a floss threader or a piece of stiff-end floss (like Super Floss) to thread the floss underneath your main archwire.
2. Once the floss is through, gently slide it up and down the side of one tooth, making sure to go slightly below the gumline.
3. Repeat on the side of the adjacent tooth.
4. Remove the floss and re-thread it for the next pair of teeth. This is a time-consuming but essential process.