Dental Hygiene

Today I want to talk about dental hygiene with braces on. And I'm going to preface the whole thing with the fact that doing anything that involves a mouth full of braces is a pain in the ass (literal and figurative), and dental hygiene is no exception. I've only had my braces on for two full days now, and while I'm starting to develop a rudimentary routine for brushing and flossing, it's been an uphill learning curve.

Before braces, I wasn't exactly a perfect patient in terms of brushing and flossing...more so flossing than brushing. I'd skip brushing my teeth here and there, and I'd floss when I remember to. But now with braces...there's no fucking around with either of those two things. Brushing and flossing are important, if I wanted healthy, clean teeth as well as straight teeth. And while brushing and flossing fairly straight forward and simple without braces, the same can not be said for braces.

First time I brushed my teeth after braces was basically a slobber fest. I had opted to not use my electric toothbrush for the duration of my treatment because I did not want to ruin my brush heads due to the brackets, and I did not want to spend more money buying specialized  brush head for braces. So it was back to manual toothbrush. I tried to do what the staff at the orthodontist clinic had shown me--brushing against gum line, while pointing the brush 45 degree towards the brackets, brushing the bottom of the teeth while point the brush 45 degree towards the brackets, brushing the chewing surface of the teeth, and the back of the teeth. I ended up drooling all over the sink and myself, snagging my toothbrush a few times, and being frustrated with the process. It also did not help that my top right teeth are a bit sensitive right now, and I have to be extra careful when going over that area. But after a few tries, I think I've got the brushing down pat. It's an ordeal when compared to brushing teeth without braces, but boy, flossing with braces takes the crown in being a nuisance.

I'm not good at flossing normally, and flossing with braces is a challenge. My orthodontist gave me Super Floss (pictured below), and they're basically a long piece of floss with a stiff wax end. You thread the wax end under the wire and use the floss to floss. I'm not a fan of Super Floss, because I find that the floss is a bit too thick for my liking. But I can see how it can be useful, and there is some in my travel cleaning kit.

Super Floss

So what I've been using is a mixture of dental floss, and soft picks. I use a threader to thread the floss through the wire, and I floss every tooth except the molars using this method. It does take some getting used to, flossing with a wire in the way, but I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. The molars I use soft picks to clean them, mostly because I always had so much difficulty flossing the molars, even when I didn't have braces. It takes time, effort and a bit of patience to floss with braces, but I think it's time I develop a good habit with flossing. After all, it's something that not only benefits me when I have braces, it'll benefit me for the long run. A hassle with braces, but like braces themselves, nothing easy is worth doing.