Effective Ways to Brush Your Teeth with Braces
Jul 02, 2016
Brushing with braces is no easy task. Here are six tips and tricks that will help you keep your mouth healthy and clean while wearing braces.
1. Use A Soft Toothbrush.
When you have braces, the most important place to brush is the space between the brackets and the gums. We suggest using a soft toothbrush because it is impossible to brush this area without the toothbrush coming in contact with the gums. A hard or medium toothbrush will actually cause more damage to the gum line.
2. Start With A Wet Toothbrush And No Toothpaste
The foam toothpaste creates makes it difficult to see what you are doing while you brush your teeth. Using a wet toothbrush first allows you to carefully remove all the food and plaque from around the braces.
Once your teeth have been cleared of debris, add a small amount of toothpaste to your brush, taking advantage of the benefits of the paste, which include fluoride, whiteners, abrasives, and breath fresheners.
3. Use A Picking Motion
While scrubbing does a respectable job of cleaning the brace’s surface, it will not eliminate plaque and food that are caught under the wires and brackets.
A picking motion, however, will achieve a much better result. This is because the average toothbrush has approximately 2,000 bristles that perform just like little toothpicks, reaching all the brace’s nooks and crannies.
4. Spend At Least Two Minutes Brushing
Split your time evenly, 30 seconds on your upper right side, 30 seconds on your lower right side, 30 seconds on your upper left side, and 30 seconds on your lower left side.
5. Use The Best Toothpaste
This is a bit misleading. The best toothpaste is actually the one that tastes best to you and, therefore, will encourage you to brush for the full two minutes.
6. Know When To Rinse
In the morning, when you finish brushing, you are totally welcome to rinse your mouth with water to remove the leftover foam.
At night, however, you can spit, but AVOID RINSING. This will keep your teeth protected through the night.
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