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how to clean your teeth and braces

When your braces come off, you hope your teeth look straight and give you the beautiful smile you dreamed about. It’s important to know the role that good dental hygiene plays so you will have that gorgeous smile.

Pitfalls of Poor Dental Hygiene

The downside of not having good dental hygiene is that cavities can form or discoloration can occur in areas where braces bonded to your teeth. When that happens, your smile can be disappointing instead of awesome.

Rinsing Frequently

When wearing braces, you’re more prone to having food get trapped between your braces and your teeth. Anyone wearing braces should rinse their mouth three to four times a day to wash the food away.

Brushing the Right Way

Rinse your mouth before brushing. Colgate Oral Care Center recommends placing your toothbrush at the gum line and using a 45-degree angle. Also brush from top of the brackets, angling the tooth brush to brush downward from the top. After that, be sure to brush the bottom of the bracket and the wire as you angle the toothbrush upwards. The angles are important because you want to be sure to remove all plaque and any food debris.

Flossing Between Your Teeth

Like brushing, flossing is important for removing plaque and food debris between the teeth and at the gum line. Floss can often reach areas your toothbrush can’t.

Using a Water Pik/Flosser

Sometimes your dentist will recommend using a water pik (also called a flosser) to help remove plaque and food debris.

Hutto Hippo Family Dental  provides state-of-the-art and caring dental services to families in the Austin area.