If you’re considering investing in braces to improve your teeth alignment and enhance your smile, you might be curious about how to floss with braces. Flossing is an important step in dental hygiene because it removes food particles between teeth. So how can you thoroughly clean your teeth while wearing metal brackets, wires, and elastics?
As one of the top providers of braces in Metairie, LA, we at Maldonado Orthodontics understand the importance of educating patients about proper flossing techniques with and without orthodontic devices. Here, we explain the right orthodontic care to ensure your teeth and gums are healthy during and after treatment.
Tips for Flossing Teeth While Wearing Braces
Many people have talked about how a good smile improves your mood, confidence, and self-image. Though braces can enhance your smile by correcting orthodontic problems like overbites, gapped teeth, and crooked teeth, dental hygiene and flossing also help brighten smiles.
Flossing is always necessary, yet it’s crucial for those wearing braces. Food has more places to hide when you have this orthodontic treatment. Flossing eliminates food particles and plaque buildup from between your teeth and around your dental hardware. If you don’t floss, you increase your risk of poor gum health, tooth decay, and dental discoloration.
Now that you know the importance of maintaining your daily dental cleaning routine despite wearing braces, consider these tips below to learn how to floss with braces the right way.
Use a Floss Threader
Dental floss threaders are small plastic devices that make flossing around braces easier. Unlike the traditional flossing method that involves sliding a long piece of floss around the sides of each tooth, floss threaders require you to gently pull a piece of floss through the threader tool’s loop.
Once the floss is in place, insert the tool under your braces’ main wire and pull the floss through it. From there, you can smoothly get the floss between each tooth, along the gum line, and around every metal bracket.
Dental threaders are helpful because they’re reusable and inexpensive. They make maneuvering the floss into the correct spaces easier, even though the flossing process itself is still time-consuming.
Try Dental Tape
Dental tape is similar to dental floss, except it’s bigger and covers a broader portion of your teeth. The tape consists of waxed nylon that easily glides over and between teeth. With this flossing method, you can cut your time caring for your teeth while being confident in the tape’s thorough dental cleaning capabilities.
You’d use dental tape the same way you’d use dental floss. Yet, the wider surface area on the tape makes it easier to get around each tooth. The biggest disadvantage to this flossing technique for braces is that it can irritate your gums if you’re not careful.
Consider a Water Flosser
A water flosser is an oral irrigation device that eliminates the need for traditional dental floss by using water to get in between the nooks and crannies in your mouth. The device disperses a sharp stream of water that’s gentle enough not to irritate gum tissue yet strong enough to remove plaque and food particles from your teeth, gum line, and braces.
Use the Right Kind of Floss
With so many floss options available, knowing which is best for braces can be tricky. It’s best to stick with waxed floss. This sort of coating makes it easier for floss to glide around your teeth without snagging on your braces.
Keep Your Smile Healthy With Dental Care From Maldonado Orthodontics
At Maldonado Orthodontics in Metairie, LA, you can be sure we’ll teach you how to floss with braces and keep your teeth and gums in healthy condition. Our dental practice has more than 35 years of experience serving more than 6,000 patients needing early, adolescent, or adult orthodontic treatments.
Our experienced, board-certified orthodontists and support staff offer compassionate care in a relaxing environment. From surgical orthodontics to regular brace adjustments, we do it all — contact us today at (225) 869-3753 for a consultation.
