After each meal, floss your teeth and braces to keep them clean, which will also help you stay on schedule with your treatment. When brushing your teeth while wearing braces, thread the floss behind each wire using a floss threader or special orthodontic floss. Leave a few inches of taut floss between your pointer fingers on both hands after wrapping the ends around them. Back and forth between each set of teeth, gently slide the floss. To get rid of plaque and food fragments, floss between the gum line and the sides of each tooth. Continue doing this if you do flossing with braces.
Traditional Flossing
This tried-and-true flossing technique is excellent for removing food and plaque from in between teeth, but it can be challenging for people who have braces. It takes time to thread the floss around the brackets and wire.
If you utilize this technique, allow yourself 10 to 15 minutes to floss your teeth. You only need waxed floss as a tool. Unwaxed floss has a tendency to rip and become stuck in metal brackets.
How to do traditional flossing with braces
- Cut a length of floss between 18 and 24 inches.
- Between the primary wire and your teeth, thread the floss. Being in front of a mirror makes it easier to monitor the thread and make sure it is moving in the desired direction.
- To make handling the floss simpler, wrap the ends around your index fingers.
- Slide the floss up and down the sides of both teeth while gently pressing it between the two teeth. Make an upside-down U if you’re doing the top teeth:
- Follow the gum line up the side of one tooth, then follow it down the side of the other tooth.
- From under the wire, take out the floss and carefully unthread it. Don’t force the floss out of the tooth, please. The wire could unintentionally be knocked out of the bracket.
- Repeat the technique on the following set of teeth.
Floss threader
With a cheap but essential tool, you may speed up the conventional flossing technique. The name of this tiny, plastic gadget is a floss threader. You may effortlessly pull floss beneath the braces wire with the use of a floss threader.
Your dental hygiene regimen will take much less time if you use a floss threader. Floss threaders are available in the oral care department of supermarkets and pharmacies. Additionally, your orthodontist may have trial threaders that you can use before purchasing a whole bag.
How to floss while wearing braces with a floss threader
- Pull a piece of waxed floss between 18 and 24 inches long through the floss threader’s eye.
- Put the plastic needle’s point under the wire of your braces. Pull the floss slowly through the wire. With one hand, hold the floss threader.
- To have more control over the fine thread, wrap the floss around your index fingers.
- Slide the floss up and down the sides of both teeth while gently pressing it in between the two teeth. Make an upside-down U if you’re doing the top teeth: Follow the gum line up the side of one tooth, then follow it down the side of the other tooth.
- Pull the floss out from behind the wire and carefully remove it from the spaces in between the teeth.
- Repeat the procedure on the following set of teeth after rethreading the floss threader.
Verdict
There are many other ways of flossing with braces like dental tap, waterpik or irrigator. A confident smile might be facilitated with braces. They may also lessen your likelihood of developing future oral health issues. However, maintaining good oral health while wearing braces is essential for a variety of reasons. Food and germs that can cause stains and cavities are removed by brushing and flossing. They can also stop gingivitis and other issues with oral health that might become serious in later life.
While maintaining your teeth while wearing braces may take some time, you’ll be grateful for the effort when the braces are removed and your smile is attractive and healthy.
