Good Oral Hygiene Habits Are Important with Braces

Traditional braces incorporate a series of metal brackets that are cemented onto the front surfaces of your teeth with a strong dental adhesive. They are integrated with orthodontic wires and other hardware components to create a system capable of gradually realigning your teeth.

This process of straightening and aligning your teeth is maintained through regularly scheduled adjustment appointments at Coastal Orthodontic Care. Each of these sessions will apply a modest amount of tension to the orthodontic components, which will stretch the periodontal connective tissues that anchor your teeth in your gums. This will gradually move your teeth closer to their ideal alignment.

If you develop cavities or other oral health problems during your braces treatment, it could alter the tension in your braces and periodontal sockets. This could potentially complicate the realignment process and increase the amount of time it takes to complete your treatment.  

To prevent this from happening, it’s important to brush your teeth each morning and night and to thoroughly flossing at least once each day. For best results, you might want to try using some special oral hygiene tools.

Interdental brushes have small brush heads that can help remove food material from some of the hard-to-reach areas around your braces hardware. This can be especially helpful for releasing small food particles from bands and spacers in the back of the mouth.

Waxed dental floss in a floss threader might also help you insert the strand under orthodontic wires, thus allowing you to effectively clean away plaque and food particles from between teeth and around the gum line.

If you have received braces in Ventura, California, from Dr. Adam Lautt, and if you have oral hygiene questions, you can always call 805-650-1080 to speak to one of our team members.