Oral Hygiene
Taking good care of your smile becomes even more important while in orthodontic treatment. Keeping up with your regular dental visits is essential, as your dentist 
will help keep your teeth clean and check for potential problems. But in the end, it is up to YOU! It is extremely important for you to keep up with your dentists’ and orthodontists’ instructions to ensure that your orthodontic treatment gives you the best possible results; a healthy, beautiful smile that lasts a lifetime!
Keeping your teeth and gums clean is crucial. As plaque and small pieces of food are trapped on, between, and around your teeth and braces, they can cause a variety of unpleasant effects such as bad breath, cavities, and permanent marks on your teeth. In order to keep these things from happening, be sure to BRUSH your teeth often and FLOSS every day!
Brushing
- Be sure to brush thoroughly at least four times a day, including after every meal and before you go to bed.
- Use a fluoride toothpaste and a toothbrush that is in good condition. Braces can wear out a toothbrush quickly, so be sure to replace yours as soon as it shows signs of wear!
- Brush your teeth and braces the way your orthodontist and team members instruct you.
- An Interproximal Brush should also be used. This tool is provided to you by your orthodontist or team member, and is designed to fit in-between your archwire and your teeth to more completely remove the plaque and food particles near your brackets.
- Be sure to get at each and every part of your teeth, braces, gums and tongue! Don’t forget the backsides of your teeth and the areas next to your gumline. Remember to rinse thoroughly after you are done!
Flossing
- Flossing is super important and should be done every day, especially during orthodontic treatment.
- When flossing with braces, be sure to use a floss threader, which is provided to you by your orthodontist or team member when you get your braces put on. This tool is reusable, and allows you to get dental floss underneath your archwire easily.
- Start by cutting off about 18 inches of floss and looping it through your threader. Feed the threader under your archwire and between two brackets. Then, gently pull off the threader while holding one end of the floss.
- Gently floss as usual between your teeth being sure to clean along the gumline on both sides. When finished, pull the floss out and re-thread it into the floss-threader and repeat the process between your next pair of teeth.
This may seem like a lot of work, but remember: these are your teeth and you only get one set! To keep them for the rest of your life, you need to take great care of them every day!
Foods to Avoid
During orthodontic treatment, there are certain foods that should be avoided in order to keep your teeth and appliances clean and in good condition.
Sticky foods like caramels, toffee, licorice, gummy bears, Now & Laters, Starburst, Skittles, Sugar Daddies and Tootsie Rolls can easily get caught in your braces and can be quite difficult to remove.
Also, hard foods such as apples and carrots (unless cooked or cut into small pieces), nuts, popcorn, hard candy, corn-on-the-cob, bagels, pizza crust, beef jerky, hard pretzels, ice, and Doritos can also get caught in your appliances. These can also be damaging to your braces as well and therefore should be avoided as much as possible!
Chewing gum is also not recommended, however there are certain sugar-free varieties, which contain an ingredient called sorbitol that can actually be beneficial to your orthodontic treatment! A few of these include Trident White, Karefree Koolers, and Orbit White.