Appropriate cleaning and flossing of your teeth are vitally important for healthy teeth and gums. Especially when you have braces, maintaining oral hygiene becomes a bit of a complex process as you have to take care of the brackets and wires of the braces. If you are looking for how to floss with braces, we have got you covered.
Here we are uncovering the pro techniques and tips to floss your teeth even if you have braces.
Flossing essentially cleans the surface between teeth. It scrubs the hard-to-reach places which are easily missed by brushing your teeth, especially with brackets and wires in the way. As flossing is essential, do not skip flossing, even if it is demanding more time with your braces. If you floss your teeth systematically, you can speed up the process. In fact, no matter which method you prefer, it is necessary to floss regularly to prevent gum disease or any other type of dental issue while braces are working to align your teeth for a more beautiful smile.
Importance of flossing
Most of the time, dentists often advise people to floss daily. Especially if you have braces, flossing is essential to prevent oral issues. The food and drink that we consume daily introduce acids and bacteria into our mouths. Brushing twice a day can help get rid of this bacteria and maintain your oral hygiene. But some areas of the mouth need a little more attention, where even brush can’t reach. Hence, flossing is required.
Some areas of the mouth, like between your teeth, are prone for bacteria to hide. Plus, these areas are difficult to clean just by brushing your teeth.
However, using wax-covered floss can help clean in between your teeth and clean these hard-to-reach places. Braces create even more surface area for bacteria to hide when you have braces, making flossing even more important. If you do not keep up with a good, daily floss routine with braces, it may emboss a negative impact on your oral health, sometimes leading to oral health issues, such as:
- Gum disease
- Tooth cavities
- Stained teeth
- Odorous breath, etc.
Now let’s focus on how to floss correctly and prevent oral health issues.
Traditional flossing is a great way to clean food debris and plaque from between teeth. When you floss regularly, you are preventing many serious dental problems. But, when you have braces, flossing becomes challenging. It might create difficulties to clean the areas between teeth. Also, threading the floss nearby the brackets and wire usually takes more time.
So, spare about 10 to 15 minutes to floss your teeth with braces. With traditional flossing, you only need a tool you will need is waxed floss. If you use unwaxed floss, it might tear or be stuck in the metal brackets of braces.
How to floss with braces?
- The first step is to cut an 18 to 24-inch piece of floss. The length of floss is important, which will allow flossing easily and quickly.
- Now, start flossing between the main wire and your teeth. Make sure you are in front of the mirror while flossing your teeth. It will help you clean the surfaces effectively. And, you can see where you should clean with the floss wire.
- You should wrap the ends of the floss around your index fingers. The tight grip is essential for thorough cleaning.
- Next, tenderly press the floss between the two teeth. Slide the floss up and down on the sides of both teeth. And, if you are flossing your top teeth, make an upside-down U shape for better cleaning.
- Lastly, remove the floss. Gently unthread it from behind the wire. Here you should be careful not to raise the floss out of the tooth. You might unintentionally knock the wire and pop it out of the bracket of your braces.
Now, you can move to the next pair of teeth and repeat the flossing process for the rest of your teeth. Flossing with braces is challenging, but if you follow the above-mentioned steps, you can easily floss your teeth.
Apart from flossing, you should focus on other factors to maintain oral health while having braces. For instance, it is necessary to brush each tooth at the gum line and below the brackets while having braces. When you brush thoroughly, it minimizes the potential risk of plaque accumulation between the teeth and braces.
If you are looking for any type of dental care services in Roswell, GA, TruCare Dentistry is a perfect place for you. We provide comprehensive dental care services for people of all ages. Our clinic aims at offering standardized dental care services to improve your oral health. Whether you have a minor dental problem or seek expert advice, we can help. Schedule your appointment to get the best dental care to keep your oral health in good shape.