Protecting Your Healthy Smile While Wearing Braces!

October 27, 2008 | Posted by admin

Orthodontic treatment is an important investment for your future. While wearing braces, it is essential that you take care of your teeth and gums.

More Care Needed During Treatment
Have a look in the mirror at your new braces. As you see, the brackets and wires have many nooks and crannies that can trap the food and plaque. This means you risk of tooth decay and gum problems may be higher while you are wearing braces. You need to pay special attention to cleaning your teeth everyday and to your diet. Permanent damage to tooth enamel can occur if the teeth and brackets are not kept clean. Areas on the enamel surface may begin to lose minerals (the early stage of tooth decay) leaving unsightly white spots. You may also develop inflamed, bleeding gums (gingivitis).

Gingivitis and the early stages of tooth decay can be reversed by taking extra care with your oral hygiene and by eating a tooth friendly diet. If left untreated, they can lead to bigger problems that will require treatment and have lifelong effects. While you are having orthodontic treatment, you need to continue to have a regular check ups to ensure little problems don’t become big ones.

Braces Friendly Diet and Habits
There are foods that can loosen, break or bend wires and bands when you are wearing braces. Avoid hard foods such as nuts and hard biscuits. Avoid sticky food and chewing gum! No chewing ice!

Habits such as nail biting, unnatural tongue thrusting, pencil chewing and nervous picking at your wires can also break braces. Be aware of these and make an effort to stop them. If you do break your braces, be sure to make an appointment with your Orthodontist immediately. Broken braces are not correcting your teeth.

Care at Home
When cleaning your mouth while you are wearing braces, you need to pay special attention not only to your teeth and gums, but also to the brackets and wires.

Here are 6 steps for keeping your teeth, gums and braces in great shape:

1. Using fluoride toothpaste and a small toothbrush, place your tooth brush at an angle 45 degrees against the gums. Gently brush along the gum line where the gums and the teeth meet, using a small circular motion on each tooth.
2. Spend about 10 seconds on each tooth, brushing in a set pattern so that you don’t miss any teeth.
3. Gently brush the braces. Press your toothbrush firmly enough so that the bristles spread into the gaps between the wire and the tooth. Brush in and around all of the brackets and wires.
4. Brush both the inside and the outside surfaces of your teeth using a gentle circular motion on each tooth.
5. For chewing surfaces, use a firm back and forth motion.Spit out excess paste then closely inspect teeth and braces in a mirror to check that they are clean.
6. Maintaining good oral hygiene is especially important during orthodontic treatment. The placement of orthodontics brackets and wires create a real challenge for effectively removing plaque and ensuring teeth and gums remain healthy.

Categories: Orthodontic Treatment | Tags: brackets, gums, orthodontist, wire | No Comments »