Can I Use an Interdental Brush Instead of Dental Floss?
Maintaining good oral health is crucial in avoiding unexpected complications that could pop up during your Enid orthodontic treatment. Cavities, white spots on your teeth, gum disease, and even complete tooth loss are all very painful and uncomfortable consequences of bad oral hygiene during your time with braces.
Fortunately, your Enid orthodontist will give you all the tips and tricks you need to stay clear of dental plaque and all the dental issues it brings with it. You’ll need to learn how to brush and floss properly with braces, as well as how to use new tools that will help you get the job done easier and faster than ever.
We understand that sometimes all that information can be quite a lot to take in, so here we have compiled most of the information you’ll ever need to keep your braces in the best condition possible. But don’t forget to follow your diet!
How to Have Good Oral Hygiene With Braces?
If you are asking these questions, you are on the right track! There are a couple of different factors that go into having good oral hygiene during your orthodontic treatment in Enid. Not only will you have to learn how to brush every part of your mouth, including the back of your teeth and the interdental spaces between them, but you’ll also have to make a habit out of it!
No matter how good you brush and floss unless you do it consistently, it won’t do you any good. Plaque and bacteria will still accumulate, slowly eating away the enamel of your teeth and irritating your gums until you develop periodontal disease. Every single day you should brush at least twice and floss once. This is the minimum recommended by most dental specialists, although brushing after every meal is ideal.
Brushing
Firstly, most dental specialists will recommend a soft-bristled toothbrush and fluoride toothpaste for your daily brushing. Secondly, you have to make sure to clean every surface possible.
For braces wearers, you must cover the front side of your teeth (including the top, bottom, and sides of the bracket), the interdental space, the chewing surface (for molars), the backside of every tooth, and the wire going across both your row of teeth. Additionally, you should brush your tongue and inner cheeks.
Now that you know every place to clean, you should try to follow an order, so you know you have covered every side of every tooth. Healthline recommends spending at least two minutes brushing your teeth and tilting your toothbrush 45 degrees facing the gum line to reach the bacteria and plaque better.
Flossing
Flossing is an incredibly important step to keeping your teeth clean and free from dental caries and periodontal disease. Flossing allows you to reach and clean not only the space between teeth but also the small openings and crevices between your brackets, wires, and teeth that catch food and bacteria during the day.
It is a little trickier to work with once you have braces, but still, it’s important to take the time to do it at least once every day. If you need some assistance, you can look for a floss pick or a floss threader. A floss threader works like a needle, helping you pass the floss between the archwire and your teeth.
Make sure to get at least 18 inches of floss and thread it between your archwire and your teeth. Then, use your index fingers to push the floss between your teeth and follow the side of both teeth from the gumline to the bottom until you see no more food or plaque residue.
Believe it or not, the American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) suggests that flossing before brushing may be the way to go as it’s apparently more efficient in removing plaque and exposing the teeth to fluoride.
Mouthwash
While mouthwash does not replace flossing or brushing, the American Dental Association (ADA) does recognize its benefits. Mouthwash has been shown to be able to reduce bad breath, plaque, gingivitis, and tooth decay. Just make sure to pick up a fluoride-containing mouthwash. Fluoride is the one responsible for remineralizing your teeth’s enamel, making them more resistant to tooth decay.
Mouthwash is pretty straightforward to use. Just serve yourself the recommended amount and use it to rinse the inside of your mouth. Remember to follow your dentist’s instructions for prescription mouthwashes and not to use them on patients younger than six years old as they may swallow big amounts of the solution.
Helpful Tools
If you have any difficulty with any of the steps given, there probably is another more modern tool ready for you to try. For example, if you are having a hard time flossing, maybe it’s time to try a water flosser. Water flossers are machines that shoot water from an attached reservoir into your teeth and gums to remove bacteria, food particles, and plaque from the hardest places in your mouth without you having to figure out how to get a piece of floss in between every pair of teeth, essentially working as an interdental cleaning device.
Aside from modern technology, you can and should pay a regular visit to your Enid dentist in order to maintain your good oral health. With regular check-ups, your dentist can not only identify early signs of dental issues, but they can perform regular professional cleanings, which are sure to stop any food, plaque, or tartar build-up.
An Interdental Brush Is a Great Alternative to Traditional Flossing
If you are looking to improve your oral cleanliness, then interdental brushes are the right tool for you, as they are both efficient and easy to use. But first, what are interdental brushes? An Interdental brush is basically a toothbrush with a small flexible head. Various small, soft bristles attached to a flexible cable are what make up these heads. Given that the space between teeth can vary, they come in multiple different sizes.
The ADA presents a 2019 study that found that interdental brushes not only reduce gingival inflammation and plaque scores but are also more efficient than regular floss at reducing periodontal inflammation.
How to Use an Interdental Brush?
Using interdental brushes is relatively simple. First, you’ll have to choose the correct sizes for you. Your Enid dentist can help you with this step whenever you are at the office. Second, just insert the interdental cleaning aid in between your teeth and brush in a back and forward motion. For some teeth or crevices in your brackets, you’ll need to bend the tip to make it easier to reach. Once you brush all the interdental spaces between your teeth, you are good to go!
Just as with a regular toothbrush, remember to change your interdental brush once the bristles start getting worn.
Dental Hygiene With Invisalign
As you would expect, maintaining dental hygiene with Invisalign is much simpler than with traditional braces. While gum inflammation is still possible, and you’ll still need to follow some oral hygiene instructions, Invisalign removes the biggest obstacle you can have while going through orthodontic treatment Enid, that being small metal brackets and wires getting in your way.
The first step into how to clean Invisalign trays is removing them every time you are about to consume anything that’s not water. After you remove them, make sure to rinse them with water before putting them back on their protective trays. While rinsing them won’t eliminate the bacteria in them, it will remove major food particles left.
While Invisalign themselves recommend cleaning them at night, some dental specialists recommend you clean your trays every time you brush your teeth, which, as mentioned, should be at least twice a day.
How to Clean Invisalign Trays?
To clean your Invisalign trays, you’ll need a soft-bristled toothbrush, a soft formula toothpaste or soap, and, if you wish, an additional cleaning solution.
Start by rinsing them with water and then use the toothbrush to clean both the inside and the outside of both trays. You may find it easier to clean the outside of the aligners by keeping them on and brushing them like you would brush your teeth. Finally, just rinse them again and let them dry.
Cleaning products
If you wish, you can also add another step to your cleaning process. Enid Invisalign offers various products to improve the efficiency of your oral cleanliness. You may opt for one of the following: Invisalign cleaning crystals, Invisalign cleaning foam, Invisalign cleaning spray, and their aligner cleaning solution Steraligner.
For those who are looking to get the cleanest aligners possible and don’t want to expend more money, there are multiple cleaning solutions that you can make at home relatively easily.
Keeping Your Teeth Clean
If you wish to improve your interdental cleaning method, reduce your gingival inflammation, or wish to know how to clean Invisalign products for teens, you are in the correct place. Here at Rose Rock Orthodontics, we are ready to do whatever is necessary to make your smile shine. Just schedule your appointment with us here, and we’ll get you started as soon as possible.
