The best orthodontists in Albany will tell you that maintaining good oral health during orthodontic treatment is more important than you may think. Keeping your teeth and braces free of food particles stops plaque from forming and thus avoids tooth decay. If a patient doesn’t clean properly and allows plaque and tartar to accumulate, it could evolve into more severe dental issues like cavities, gum disease, and even tooth loss.
Furthermore, if cosmetics are the most important factor for you, you should be aware of the potential white spots that can appear on your teeth if you don’t clean them properly during your braces treatment.
To avoid any undesired developments during or after your time with braces, it’s important to maintain a proper cleaning routine that uses tools like Interdental brushes, floss picks, and floss threaders to make the process easier.
What Is an Interdental Brush?
An interdental brush, as the name implies, is a special kind of brush designed to clean the space between your teeth. According to American Dental Association, the use of dental brushes or floss helps reduce the risk of gum disease and tooth decay.
The soft bristles, which attach themselves to a flexible metal wire, make a cone shape in the brush’s head, which itself attaches to a handle very similar to the one found in a toothbrush.
The brushes’ heads come in different sizes to fit the crevices between your teeth and orthodontics. Given that the space between our teeth changes from pair to pair, you are almost expected to use more than one size while cleaning.
Additionally, some interdental brushes also come with an angled head to get to the more difficult spots.
How to Use an Interdental Brush?
Move the brush along the sides of the brackets and inside the crevices formed between your teeth and the metal pieces. When passing from tooth to tooth, make sure to also clean along the archwire. Remember that you can bend the head of the brush to have easier access to the teeth in the back if you need it.
To keep your mouth clean and healthy, you should use an interdental brush when brushing at least once a day.
Interdental brushes work the same in every type of braces, so if you just got ceramic braces in Albany, there’s no need to worry; just follow the instructions mentioned above.
Benefits of an Interdental Brush Over Other Options
The main advantage of interdental brushes over flossing is their ease of use. Floss requires a higher level of dexterity to get the thread in between every tooth, and it only gets more difficult the further back the teeth are. With an interdental brush, cleaning is as simple as using a toothbrush, and its flexible head allows easy access to even the furthest teeth in the back of the mouth.
While you can use other tools like floss picks and floss threaders to make flossing easier, the whole process is still more complex and time-consuming than brushing with an interdental brush.
How to Brush and Floss With Braces.
The first step in brushing and flossing correctly is to make a habit out of it. You should brush your teeth at least twice a day, if not after every meal, especially during your Albany braces treatment. Additionally, you should floss or use an interdental brush once a day.
When brushing, tilt your soft-bristled toothbrush 45° against your teeth; this allows the patient to remove the food particles stuck on the sides of the brackets. Make sure to brush the top, sides, and back of every tooth. Use floss or an interdental brush to clean the harder spots.
When possible, use toothpaste with fluoride. Fluoride helps you eliminate bacteria from your mouth and remineralizes your teeth’s enamel.
How Plaque and Cavities Harm Your Treatment
If food particles are left undisturbed, they mix with saliva and bacteria in your mouth to form plaque. Plaque is the one responsible for eating away the outer layer of your teeth and causing tooth decay and, eventually, cavities. Although orthodontists can deal with cavities while a patient has braces on, you’ll want to avoid this situation as much as possible. Cavities can lead to total tooth loss, which means either pausing your treatment completely to fix the missing tooth or completely changing your treatment’s goals.
Whichever the case may be, dental complications while wearing braces will most likely extend your time with the appliances by a few weeks, if not months.
Maintain a Healthy Smile With Us
If you are looking for “orthodontic offices near me,” this is the stop. Estes Orthodontics office is at 591 San Pablo Ave. Albany, CA 94706. Here we’ll help you with any dental problem you may have; just schedule an appointment with us here, and you’ll be ready to go.
