3 Must-Dos to Take Care Of Your Braces

Braces are important for straightening teeth and improving dental health. Although we always think of wearing braces as a teen, they can be worn at any point in your life. No matter what age you choose to wear braces, you have to make sure to take care of them.

If you don’t take care of them properly, you could end up with tooth decay, gum disease, and damaged braces, which could make your treatment longer and more uncomfortable. On the other hand, good care of your braces helps your treatment go well, keeps your teeth clean, and might even reduce the time you need to wear them. In this article, we will go over several tips to help you take good care of them.

1 – Daily care

Brush your teeth after every meal and before going to bed to keep your braces and teeth clean. Use a soft toothbrush to gently clean around your braces and every surface of your teeth without causing damage.

Flossing with braces can be tricky but it’s very important. Use a floss threader or special orthodontic floss to get the floss under the braces’ wires. It’s best to floss once a day, especially at night, to ensure your teeth are clean before you sleep.

After brushing and flossing, rinse your mouth with a fluoride mouthwash. This helps wash away any leftover food and bacteria, adds a layer of protection against cavities, and keeps your mouth fresh.

2 – Eating with braces

Having braces means being careful about what you eat to avoid damaging them and to keep your teeth healthy.

Some foods can break or harm your braces and should be avoided. Hard foods like nuts, ice, and hard candies can break the wires and brackets. Sticky foods such as caramel, gum, and taffy can get stuck in your braces, making them hard to clean and increasing the risk of tooth decay. Also, don’t bite into hard foods like apples and carrots with your front teeth. Instead, cut them into smaller pieces.

Softer foods are safer and easier to eat with braces. Good options include yogurt, bananas, pasta, and soft-cooked rice.

3 – Dealing with common issues

While wearing braces, you’re likely to face a few typical problems. Feeling some pain is common after you get braces or when they are adjusted. To help with the pain, rinse your mouth with warm salt water or take pain relievers suggested by your orthodontist. If your mouth is swollen, a cold compress on the outside of your mouth can numb the sore areas.

Braces can break or become loose sometimes. If a wire breaks and pokes your mouth, try to gently push it back with the rubber end of a pencil. If that doesn’t work, put orthodontic wax on the wire’s end to protect your mouth until you can see your orthodontist. If a bracket comes loose, don’t try to fix it yourself. You should call your orthodontist to get it repaired. Trying to fix it on your own could make things worse.

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Meredith

Meredith blogs at The Mom of the Year, where she dedicatedly earns her title one epic parenting fail at a time, offering quick, relatable laughs for fellow parents and all their empathizers. She has been part of several best-selling anthologies, featured on prominent sites such as Huffington Post, In the Powder Room and BlogHer, and loves her role as the Executive VP/Operations Manager of The BlogU Conference. When she's not breaking up fights over Legos and juice boxes, she remains fully committed to sharing a less serious look at the world of parenting.

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