Taking care of your braces and oral health is of the utmost importance and will help ensure that your treatment has the best possible outcome.
Caring for your teeth and braces during treatment
Cleaning your braces is just as important as cleaning your teeth. Whether you use a regular toothbrush, or an electric toothbrush, you should give your braces a scrub at the same time as you’re brushing your teeth. Switching to a soft toothbrush is recommended.
While brushing twice a day should be maintained, it’s a good idea to brush your teeth after every meal and snack for the duration of your treatment. This will help remove small traces of food from your braces and help you to continue good dental hygiene. If you find flossing with dental floss trickier with your braces, you could try using floss threaders or interdental brushes.
Hard, sticky, chewy, and crunchy foods should also be avoided where possible, as these can bend the wires in your braces, or cause damage to the brackets. Extra-sugary foods and drinks should also be avoided as these can cause discolouration and decay, particularly around the brackets.