While orthodontic treatments with orthodontic appliances like braces will give you results that will allow you to maintain healthy teeth easier than ever, it is still very important to maintain dental health during the treatment itself. Not doing so can have devastating consequences for your teeth’s health and looks.

Orthodontic appliances create various spots where bacteria and food particles can accumulate, making the orthodontic patient prone to more infections and dental caries. Because of this, it’s essential to work every day to keep the results you work hard for.

Dental Health Problems Caused by Poor Dental Hygiene

Many severe oral health issues can arise from a lack of proper and frequent cleaning. If an orthodontic patient is not careful, the consequences can go from mostly cosmetic problems to severe infections and cavities that can lead to stopping the orthodontic treatment completely.

Talking about cosmetic problems first, there is a big possibility of your teeth staining during your orthodontic treatment if you don’t maintain proper oral hygiene.  Not only can they get a yellowish tint, but you can get white spots where the brackets once were. Additionally, other severe issues are not only bad for your general dental health but also have strong negative effects on how your teeth and gums look.

Lack of proper brushing leads to dental plaque accumulation and tooth decay. After you lose your teeth’s outer layer, you are much more likely to suffer from painful cavities and infections. Making the problem worse, leaving plaque on your teeth and gums could lead to periodontitis, a severe gum infection that can cause permanent damage in the form of bone loss and complete tooth loss.

How to Maintain Excellent Oral Hygiene With Braces?

There are a few oral hygiene instructions that your orthodontist will give you at the beginning of your treatment. The two most important are avoiding certain types of food and brushing and flossing consistently. Click here to know what to eat with braces.

When it comes to brushing your teeth, you should do it at least twice daily and floss once a day. This will keep the bacteria and food particles from accumulating between teeth and orthodontic appliances.

If you can’t reach every crevice with regular toothbrush floss because of your orthodontics in Santa Monica, try using either a floss threader or an interdental toothbrush. They’ll make flossing easier, faster, and more effective.

Orthodontic patient or not, you should also try using fluoride toothpaste or fluoride mouthwash. The fluoride in them helps remineralize your teeth’s outer layer and fights bacteria in your mouth.

What Are Interdental Brushes?

Interdental brushes are a particular type of toothbrush designed to make cleaning the space between teeth much easier, especially for those with orthodontic appliances.

There are a few differences between an interdental brush and a regular toothbrush. Depending on the model, the handle is mostly the same but usually has a curve as it gets closer to the head. The head in itself is entirely different. It basically consists of a small flexible metal rod that has perpendicularly attached soft bristles all around it.

Using interdental brushes is pretty straightforward. First, choose the correct size of the head for the size of crevice you are trying to clean. Then, just pass the brush through the crevice in a front-to-back motion. Its flexibility will allow you to access any crevice where food and plaque accumulate easily, even while using orthodontic appliances.

Interdental brushes are extremely useful for those who are going through orthodontic treatment and are currently wearing appliances and for older people who have a hard time getting floss around every tooth. The American Association of Orthodontists even recommends it as a must-have when wearing aligners or braces.

Additionally, interdental brushes excel at removing plaque and bacteria from larger interdental spaces where using floss is less effective.

Dental Hygiene With Invisalign

It is much easier to maintain proper dental hygiene with adult or teen Invisalign treatment in Santa Monica. Orthodontic patients don’t have to deal with the many obstructions other orthodontic appliances come with. Given that clear aligners allow you to remove the orthodontic appliance completely whenever necessary, it is much easier to avoid plaque buildup.

There are just a few oral hygiene instructions that you should follow when wearing Invisalign for teens in Santa Monica to maintain good oral health throughout your orthodontic treatment. First, be sure to remove your aligners before consuming anything other than water. Second, remember to wash your clear aligners thoroughly with water after each meal. Third, you must brush the inside and outside of the aligners at least twice daily to remove all the bacteria, and food residue stuck in them.

As you can see, oral hygiene compliance with Invisalign treatment for adults in Santa Monica is much easier than with traditional orthodontic appliances. There are no physical obstructions, no dietary restrictions, and cleaning is almost as simple as with no appliances at all.

Protect Your Smile With the Best

If you wish to get the perfect smile you always wanted, then you are in the right place. At Abraham orthodontics, we’ll do our best to find the orthodontic treatment and appliance that fits you best, whether it is regular metal braces, clear braces, Invisalign, or others. You can just schedule your appointment with us here, and you’ll be on your first appointment in the office in no time.