How Adults Wearing Dental Braces Can Maintain Good Oral Hygiene and Keep Their Appliances in Good Shape
Posted on: 1 August 2017
Like many other adult dental patients, you may not fancy the idea of having to wear braces, but that might be the only effective way to move your teeth into proper alignment. If your dentist has determined that you are eligible for dental braces, you might be wondering about how you can maintain proper dental hygiene while wearing braces and keep the orthodontic appliances in tiptop condition.
Here are some useful tips you should follow to achieve these goals.
Be more thorough with daily teeth cleaning.
It is important for adult brace wearers to recognise that wearing braces bestows upon them the added duty to be more thorough when they are brushing their teeth. This is because small food particles can easily get trapped in the braces if regular brushing does not cover all teeth and brace surfaces.
When it comes to brushing teeth while wearing braces, it is important to replace your regular brush with an interdental one. An interdental brush is more effective at the job of removing plaque and food particles that may be caught in your braces and between your teeth, thanks to its small, round-shaped, bristled heads.
The best part about using interdental brushes is that they help kill two birds with one stone — these brushes can easily fit in hard-to-reach parts of your teeth and braces to ensure optimal removal of plaque and food particles, thus eliminating the need to floss teeth.
Be willing to make some dietary adjustments.
When you are putting on braces, you will need to be a bit more cautious about what you eat. Generally speaking, you should avoid hard and sticky foods. Hard foods like nuts, apples, raw carrots, etc. can bend or break the wires in your braces, whereas sticky or tacky foods like sweet candies, peanut butter and caramel will be difficult to brush out.
Avoid habits that may cause damage to your braces.
Aside from avoiding consumption of hard and sticky foods, you should also avoid nasty habits like biting off long fingernails, pen-chewing, etc., which can cause your braces to easily get damaged by subjecting them to undue force.
Seeing your dentist for scheduled examinations and cleanings is a critical part of the treatment process. Therefore, do not skip any post-procedure dental appointments. Also, make sure you see the dentist if any serious problem crop up while you are wearing your braces. They'll know what to do to remedy the problem.
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