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More adults and children are getting braces than ever before. It's important, when you are in the care of an orthodontist to do what the doctor says, follow his or her advice, and take care of your braces. Be sure to brush and floss often and don’t eat any of the foods that can break your brackets off. Even kids can be responsible for keeping their braces in good condition and clean.
The most important factor in keeping your teeth and gums healthy during orthodontic treatment is brushing and flossing. The American Association of Orthodontics recommends that you brush and floss your teeth after every meal and before you go to bed. It is important to keep the teeth clean because food can get caught in the braces and cavities will form. Some orthodontists will prescribe a 4 % fluoride gel to brush with, to strengthen teeth even further and avoid cavities.
Some children and teenagers do not like to brush their teeth, however, if they do not brush their teeth it can have disastrous results. Food will get caught in their braces and their breath will smell awful. Serious decay will occur and possibly even gum disease. Encourage children with braces to brush often.
Your orthodontist and all the orthodontic technicians will instruct you on how to clean the braces. Use a regular toothbrush first and brush normally. Some orthodontists give out special toothbrushes to reach hard to get spots like the bottlebrush that goes under the wire and between brackets to scrub where your toothbrush won't. Other cleaning tools you might want to get are; waterpik, interdental brushes, electric toothbrush, rubber tips, floss-threaders, just to name a few.
Flossing is hard but is mandatory. You can get floss threaders, but if you can slip the floss under the wire pretty easily that is fine. Just so long as you can floss between each and every tooth each day.
If you have a retainer, biteplate, or another removable appliance, scrub them with baking soda to clean them each day. You can use toothpaste too, or an effervescent denture cleaner.
The next step in taking care of your braces is avoiding the foods that can break them or pull them off. Gum is usually not recommended. Other foods to avoid are anything that is sticky, gooey or overly crunchy. Hard foods that you have to bite with the front teeth can knock off a bracket. Cut up apples and carrots and other foods like these into small bite sized pieces. Certain hard candies and sticky candies should also be avoided. Do not chew on ice. Smoking is not a good idea when you have braces either, because when you get the brackets off there will appear a little white square on every slightly discolored tooth. Costly bleaching treatments doesn't always fix this problem, either.
If a bracket does fall off, the orthodontist will attach another bracket. However, every time the orthodontist has to replace a bracket, it extends the orthodontic treatment longer. If you swallow a bracket that has fallen off it is not a serious problem. Brackets are usually made of a medical grade stainless steel which just passes through your digestive system. Inhaling a bracket is a different matter, however. If you inhale a bracket, and the bracket gets into your lungs, it could cause a problem. If this happens, the orthodontist will normally ask an MD to use a bronchoscope to remove the bracket.
There are some physical activities that the American Orthodontic Association advises against. Patients should not participate in sports where there could be blows to their mouth. Sports like boxing and wrestling should be avoided. Fighting should also be avoided. You should wear an orthodontic mouthguard whenever you participate in any sporting activity. If you play a musical instrument that involves the mouth such as a trumpet be sure to mention it to the orthodontist. The orthodontist will install something called a "lip protector" which will make it possible to still play musical instruments. Oh, and by the way, kissing is still possible when you have braces!
If the orthodontist has installed any orthodontic equipment that you have to wear or adjust, do it exactly as he says. If you don’t you could delay getting your braces off for months or even a year. If you are wearing rubber bands to manipulate your bite, change them as prescribed. You should take off your rubber bands before each meal and put in new ones after you are done eating. You should also change the rubber bands before you go to bed.
You will be glad you followed you orthodontic's directions exactly when you get your braces off on time or even early!
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