The American Dental Association recommends brushing your teeth twice and flossing once each day. This is especially important when you have braces. Cavities and other oral health complications could increase the amount of time it takes to fully realign your teeth.
At the same time, Dr. Michael Hiller understands that braces hardware and components can sometimes create hard-to-clean places in your mouth. Sometimes your regular toothbrush and dental floss can struggle to adequately remove plaque and food deposits from these areas. In a situation like this, you might want to add one or two special oral hygiene tools to your repertoire.
An interdental brush has a small, angled brush head. This can be especially helpful for cleaning hard-to-reach places around braces components. It might also be handy for removing small food particles from bands and spacers.
You might want to also try using a water flosser like Waterpik® to help loosen and wash away food deposits. Just keep in mind that this is not a viable alternative to physically flossing your teeth.
If you’re having troubles working a strand of dental floss around wires or other braces components, you might want to try using a floss threader with waxed dental floss. This simple loop-shaped tool can help insert the strand of floss around orthodontic hardware. This can make it easier to floss your gumline.
If you had braces installed at Dr. Michael Hiller’s orthodontic clinic in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and you have oral hygiene concerns, you can always call 225-924-7367 to seek further advice from a staff member at Hummel Orthodontics. Â