5 Tips for Cleaning Braces

Keeping your teeth clean when you have braces can be a challenge. Due to their design, dental braces are prone to getting bits of food caught in them, which can put your teeth at risk of decay if you do not remove the food quickly. Use the following tips to keep both your braces and your teeth perfectly clean.

1. Consider Using an Electric Toothbrush

While it is possible to clean braces using a manual toothbrush, there are many advantages of using an electric brush instead. You can purchase orthodontic heads for mainstream brands of electric toothbrushes. These toothbrush heads oscillate extra gently to clean your braces without any risk of damaging them. Their bristles reach between wires to remove as much food and plaque as possible.

2. Seek Alternatives to Floss

Many people who have braces find string floss tricky to use. However, it is still important to make interdental cleaning a part of your daily dental hygiene routine. One good option is to use interdental brushes or floss picks to clean between each pair of touching teeth. This step is very important to get rid of food and plaque traces that can increase the risk of tooth decay.

3. Use Mouthwash to Rinse

Mouthwash is a very useful part of a daily dental hygiene routine if you have braces. You can forcefully swish a mouth rinse product around your mouth to drive traces of food from places where they might have become trapped. Spit the mouthwash out to get rid of this unwanted debris and leave yourself with fantastically fresh breath.

4. Extend Your Dental Hygiene Routine

You should expect to spend a little longer brushing and flossing your teeth when you have braces. Do not try to squash a full clean into a couple of minutes. Instead, give yourself a little more time so you can focus on brushing every surface of both your teeth and your braces, as well as flossing between them.

5. Have Regular Professional Cleanings

You can continue to have professional dental cleanings during your treatment with braces. A dental professional can use specialist tools to clean every part of your teeth and braces as thoroughly as possible. You might also like to schedule a professional clean for right after your braces are removed. This clean is an opportunity to get your newly straight teeth as clean and white as possible so that you can show them off.