7 Accessories That are Crucial in the Cleaning of Your Braces

Are you an orthodontic patient with braces? Like regular teeth, your braces are perfect hiding places for food particles. These particles become stuck between your teeth and your orthodontic hardware. You’ll need to learn how to clean and care for your orthodontic braces to prolong their life and safeguard your oral health. This post presents to you the seven most common braces cleaning accessories that orthodontists often recommend for patients with braces.

Why Clean Your Braces?

Orthodontic treatment is expensive — and at times, it isn’t wholly covered by health insurers. Orthodontic braces and care are significant investments for your family’s finances and time. The challenge of getting affordable braces and orthodontic care elicits the need for you to take good care of your braces and oral health.

Routine flossing and brushing aren’t enough in ensuring that your mouth and braces are as clean as they need to be. As such, you have to use brace cleaning accessories to improve your oral care.

Here are seven orthodontic care products for cleaning your braces and teeth

1. Super-Floss

This flossing accessory is made of pre-cut strings of floss, which have a plastic threader at their ends. Unlike other flosses, you don’t have to make a loop when using super-floss. As such, it offers improved cleaning convenience. The accessory also has a spongy component, which can clean large spaces between gaps.

2. Electric or Manual Fine Bristled Toothbrush.

A typical toothbrush can be rough to the delicate structure of your braces and it may cause damage to your braces. Since affordable braces are hard to come by, you should clean your braces with an appropriate brush to ensure that they don’t get damaged. Electric brushes with a circular motion and fine bristles are the most ideal because they can reach between the wires, gum line, and brackets.

3. Floss Threader

The plastic floss threader is an accessory with a loop that allows you to attach a floss string. The tool has a stiff point, which you can position between your gum line and teeth for cleaning. The threader is well-positioned and pulled to clean the spaces between the gaps of your teeth and braces.

4. Oral Irrigation Systems

Oral irrigation systems are orthodontic accessories that push a thin stream of water through a device to flush around your orthodontic hardware and teeth. These irrigation systems can flush out acids, plaque bio-films, bacteria, and food from locations that are otherwise hard to reach. These tools are useful in cleaning your braces, but you should not forego routine flossing and brushing.

5. Water Flossers

Water flossers are cleaning accessories that remove plaque and food remains from your gums, braces, and teeth. This method of flossing is more effective than regular flossing. If you’re using it, then you don’t need to use traditional flossing. It’s also helpful because it gives your gums some massage.

6. Gum Soft-Picks

These picks have rubble bristles with tapered ends. The picks can get between adjoining spaces created by the orthodontic devices. The versatile and soft picks clean these adjoining spaces.

7. Orthodontic Relief Wax

Orthodontic wax is a special kind of wax that creates a sealing barrier between the lips and braces. This wax is manufactured from medical-grade paraffin. The clear wax covers the brackets’ sharp edges and wires. The seal makes your mouth more comfortable while your mouth adjusts to your braces.

Summary

Braces straighten your teeth, improve your speech, and prevent jawbone erosion and gum disease. While surveys show that 47% of teens that use Invisalign types of braces also get a boost of self-esteem while undergoing orthodontic treatment, many teens who wear metal braces may have to deal with the complications surrounding this type of orthodonture.

Of course, getting affordable braces is always a challenge. As such, clean and take good care of the few braces that you already have. With these tips in mind, you’ll be able to prioritize proper care for both your braces and your mouth, in general.