Brushing and Flossing
When you have braces, it’s crucial to brush and floss after every meal in order to keep your teeth and gums healthy throughout your orthodontic treatment. Our team will help you to choose the right toothbrush, toothpaste, and dental floss for your teeth and your appliance.
Brushing with Braces
Brush your teeth for two minutes after every meal with a soft-bristled, small-headed toothbrush and fluoride toothpaste. If you have both a powered and manual toothbrush, Dr. Dana recommends using a powered toothbrush in the morning to remove the plaque after breakfast and a manual toothbrush in the evening after dinner to brush in circles to clean the teeth and stimulate the gum tissue as explained below.
Brush the outside and inside surfaces of your teeth using small, gentle, circular motions while positioning the head of the toothbrush at a 45-degree angle to the gum line. Brush the chewing surfaces and the inside surfaces of your front teeth using short, gentle, back-and-forth motions. Pay close attention to the areas around your brackets or other appliances.
Flossing with Braces
Flossing after every meal will help keep your teeth and braces clean, which will also help keep your treatment time on track. To floss with braces, use a floss threader or special orthodontic floss to thread the floss behind each wire.
Wrap the ends of the floss around your pointer fingers of both hands, and leave a few inches of taut floss between them. Gently slide the floss between each set of teeth using a back and forth motion. Floss the sides of each tooth beneath the gum line to remove plaque and food particles.
Repeat this process until you’ve flossed all of your teeth. If you find that your floss is not removing all the food particles between your teeth and around your braces, ask us about a water flosser!
