subject: Do You Wear Braces? Learn How To Protect Your Smile While Wearing Braces [print this page] When you get braces, caring for your teeth becomes very important, and more care will be needed than usual. Watching what you eat and how you care for you braces is vital to ensuring your braces bring you the results you desire. With proper care and routine cleaning, you can guarantee yourself a radiant smile when you are finished with your orthodontic treatment.
Flossing and Brushing Tips For Your Braces
While wearing braces, the risk of gum disease and tooth decay is much higher as food particles and bacteria are easily lodged in and around the wires. If not cared for properly, this build up can stain your teeth and lead to tooth decay.
Routine brushing and flossing are more important than ever and should be done correctly and regularly. If possible, brush your teeth with fluoride toothpaste after every meal. Follow by rinsing with a fluoride mouthwash to remove any remaining food that may be trapped in your wires. Flossing will be more challenging with braces, but is necessary for removing food from those hard to reach places. Feed the floss between the wires to reach the spaces between your teeth and use a gentle sawing motion to work the floss in and out of your teeth.
Maintain a Braces- Friendly Diet
When wearing braces, it is important to monitor your behavior and eating habits. Such habits can bend, break or loosen your braces and should be avoided.
Luckily, most foods can still be eaten if cut into small pieces or mashed so that they can be easily chewed. Enjoy an ear of corn by removing the corn from the cob, or cut your apple into small pieces rather than eating it as a whole. Other foods can break, bend or loosen your braces and should be avoided. Refrain from chewing bubble gum, ice and other chewy foods like taffy or caramels. Hard foods like nuts, popcorn and hard pretzels can also loosen your braces and should not be eaten until your braces are removed.
Also refrain from habits such as pencil chewing, nail biting and picking at your wires as this can also lead to broken braces. Keep in mind that broken braces will require extra appointments and time. Make an appointment immediately if yours are damaged so that your orthodontic treatment won't be delayed.
Protect your Mouth
If you participate in sports that require physical contact, you will want to be especially careful while wearing your braces. Any contact to the mouth could not only loosen your braces, but it could seriously injure your teeth and gums. When playing sports where there is chance of getting struck in the mouth, wear a custom designed mouth guard. These durable mouthpieces fit over your braces and teeth and protect your mouth tissue from painful contact with your braces.
Caring for your braces will require a little more time and effort on your part, but it is necessary to keep your teeth and gums healthy. Remember that your orthodontic care is only temporary, but your new, beautiful smile will last a lifetime!
Talk to your dentist in London, ON for more information on how to properly care for your teeth when you have braces. Proper care is the next step to a beautiful smile.
