Brushing and Flossing with Braces

Brushing and flossing with braces will take a little more time than your regular oral hygiene routine; however, is extremely important. Food can easily get trapped around your brackets and, if you do not thoroughly clean your teeth, can cause decay. Dr. Cusimano is skilled at giving you a beautiful smile, it is up to you to make sure that your teeth stay clean and healthy through the process!.

Supplies

• Soft bristled toothbrush (or power toothbrush)

• Floss threaders or Superfloss

• Proxabrush

• Flouride Toothpaste

• Waterpik (optional)

How Often

• Brush at least twice a day – preferably after every meal for 2 minutes

• Floss at least once a day

How to Brush With Braces

If you use a technique when you brush, you are more likely to brush all surfaces of the tooth every time. Here is one suggestion: Start in the back and brush in circular motion across the face of the teeth and work your way to the other side. Then go back and tilt your brush to clean the underside of the brackets then the upper side of the brackets. Then brush the biting surfaces of the teeth. Now take and brush the lingual side (the side next to your tongue) by starting at the gum line and brushing towards the edge of the teeth in a sweeping motion. Do the same on both your upper and lower teeth. Don’t forget your tongue!

Use the proxabrush to clean around and in between the brackets for any food debris not removed by your regular tooth brush.

Flossing with Braces

Using a floss threader (thread your floss) or superfloss, push the threader under the wire of your braces and grab on to each end of your floss, slide it up and down the sides of both teeth and gently into the gumline to clean any debris out. Pull the floss out and repeat until you have flossed your whole mouth, using a clean section of floss each time.