There’s no doubt that braces are a fantastic way to get a healthier smile. After all, straighter teeth are easier to brush and floss effectively, which helps keep harmful plaque and cavity-causing bacteria at bay. But there’s a catch-22: during braces treatment, even though it’s more important than ever to maintain your oral health, it’s actually harder to do so. That’s because your brackets and wires are in the way, making it much more difficult to clean those hard-to-reach areas between your teeth.

But don’t worry! Your Denver, Granby and Winter Park orthodontists are here to give you all the best tips and tricks for keeping your teeth and gums clean and healthy, and to tell you exactly how to prevent cavities with braces. In this post, Dr. Renee Moran and the Foundations Orthodontics team will share:

The importance of proper oral hygiene during braces treatment
The health risks of cavities with braces
How to brush and floss your teeth with braces
How to prevent cavities with braces

Why Brushing and Flossing with Braces Matters

Maybe you’ve already started treatment with braces or perhaps you’re still talking to your orthodontist about your options for straightening your teeth. No matter where you’re at in your orthodontic journey, chances are you’ve been told to be extra diligent about your oral health with braces. Learning to brush and floss with braces is a learning curve for patients of any age but proper oral hygiene can have a significant impact — for better or worse! — on your orthodontic outcomes.

Why is brushing and flossing with braces so important? When you have brackets and wires on your teeth, it makes it easier for food particles to get trapped in between your teeth and underneath your appliance. If you don’t brush and floss your teeth effectively, it creates the prime conditions for plaque and cavity-causing bacteria to thrive. Ultimately, this can lead to more serious oral health concerns down the line, like gum disease and tooth decay or permanent scarring on your teeth.

Health Risks of Cavities

Cavities, also called tooth decay, are one of the most common health concerns in the world, affecting people of all ages (including babies!). They start as small holes in your teeth that gradually become bigger if left untreated, rooting deeper into the inner layers of your teeth. While you may not notice any side effects of cavities in the early stages, cavities can lead to painful toothaches, infections and tooth loss, and potentially even life-threatening health concerns. They can be caused by a number of different factors, including bacteria in your mouth, frequent snacking without brushing your teeth, drinking sugary beverages, and not brushing or flossing your teeth well. When it comes to developing cavities with braces, it is typically due to the latter.

You might be thinking that it doesn’t really matter if you get a cavity with braces. Your dentist will simply give you a filling and you’ll be good to go, right? Unfortunately, that’s not really the case. While fillings certainly do help to fix cavities in the immediate term, they don’t affect the behaviors that lead to the cavities in the first place. Until you start taking better care of your teeth now and for the future, it’s likely that you will continue to develop cavities. And as recent studies have shown, untreated tooth decay may lead to serious health conditions, such as brain or heart infections.

We’re not trying to scare you and it’s not all doom and gloom. We just want the best for you and as your Denver orthodontists, it’s our job to look out for your oral health! The good news is that preventing cavities with braces is actually very simple. Keep reading for our best tips on how to brush and floss with braces.

Tips for How to Avoid Cavities with Braces

Before you got your braces put on, you already knew you had to brush your teeth twice a day, and floss at least once daily. Now that you’re in orthodontic treatment, you’ll need to step that up a bit. Trust us, it’s the easiest way to maintain healthy teeth and gums both during and after treatment. Here’s how to avoid cavities with braces, so that you can enjoy a smile that’s not only beautiful and straight but healthy too.

1. Floss and Brush After Every Meal, Snack or Beverage

Remember that pesky cavity-causing bacteria we were talking about? The best way to get rid of it is to floss and brush your teeth…often. With braces, flossing once a day and brushing only in the morning and before bed won’t cut it. You’ll need to floss after every time you eat, and brush after every meal, snack and drink to make sure food particles don’t get trapped behind your braces. Make sure to floss first to get the debris loose, then brush and rinse it away for healthy teeth with braces.

2. Avoid Overly Sugary Foods and Drinks

This one is kind of a no-brainer, but it’s important to avoid sugary drinks and treats when you have braces. Once again, it comes down to the fact that it’s harder to keep your teeth clean when you have brackets and wires in the way. Try your best to keep the sweets to a minimum and if you do eat sugary treats, make sure to brush and floss!

3. Build a Braces To-Go Kit

Wondering how you’re going to brush and floss your teeth when you’re out of the house? We recommend that all of our braces patients build a little to-go kit — complete with toothbrush, toothpaste and flossers — so that you always have everything you need on the go. Simply throw it in your purse, backpack or bag when you head to work, school or out for lunch. It’s an easy way to prioritize your dental health to avoid cavities with braces.

4. Visit Your Orthodontist Regularly

One of the best ways to keep your oral health on track throughout braces treatment is to maintain regular visits with your Granby, Winter Park and Denver orthodontist. Aside from assessing how your treatment is going and adjusting your braces as needed, Dr. Moran can keep tabs on your overall oral health and make sure you’re not developing any cavities. If she spots any concerns, she’ll help you establish positive habits to keep your teeth healthy with braces.

How to Floss and Brush with Braces

It’s one thing for us to tell you that you need to brush and floss with braces, but it’s another thing for you to figure out how to do it properly! That’s why we’re here. When you get your braces put on, Dr. Moran will show you exactly how to floss and brush effectively, but this post is here for you to reference if you ever need a refresher. Here’s how to floss and brush with braces:

1. Floss with an Orthodontic Flosser or Waterpik

It’s safe to say that flossing isn’t the most fun activity under the best of circumstances, but an orthodontic threader can make flossing with braces significantly easier. A threader helps you guide the floss under and around your braces, giving you access to those hard-to-reach areas between your teeth. A Waterpik is another great addition to your at-home oral health routine. It uses a thin stream of water to directly flush food particles and debris away from your teeth and hardware.

2. Brush with Precision

Brushing your teeth with braces requires a little more finesse than regular brushing. We recommend holding your toothbrush at a 45-degree angle and brushing back and forth right at the gum line. Then brush around the entire bracket, sweeping down towards the biting surface of your teeth. Remember to brush after every meal, snack or beverage (other than water).

3. Rinse with Fluoride Mouthwash

Sometimes, even with effective brushing and flossing, food particles will still get missed. Using a fluoride mouthwash afterwards can help get rid of those final bits to make sure your teeth are as clean as possible. If you’re out and about and can’t rinse with mouthwash, even a good swish with water can help.

Now you’re a pro at avoiding cavities with braces! But if you still have questions about how to brush and floss your teeth with braces, the Foundations Orthodontics team is always here to help. Need to book your next appointment with Dr. Moran or ready to find out if braces are right for you? Contact us today.

How to Prevent Cavities With Braces