How healthy are your teeth? Although many people are quick to underestimate their dental health, the fact of the matter is that there are a lot of different elements that play into overall dental wellness. From how often you brush and floss to how regularly you attend regular checkups, it is important to stay in close communication with your dentist, especially if you come down with a new symptom. The purpose of this website is to help people to understand and resolve dental issues, since small symptoms can lead to big problems down the road. Check out these posts to learn more about dental care.
If you've recently had traditional braces fitted, then you might be finding it hard to floss. While your orthodontist will have reminded you just how important it is to floss every day when you wear braces, your wires will get in the way.
You can still floss when you wear braces; however, you have to find different ways to do this job. What are your options?
1. Manual Floss Threading
Brace wires get in the way of floss when you try to pull it through your teeth. However, this doesn't mean that you can't do this job manually.
All you have to do is to take a piece of floss and thread it under the wire near the gap you want to clean. When the floss is behind the wire, you can position it to move into the gap to clean it. Remember to take care when you remove the floss so that it doesn't move or damage your brace wire.
2. Floss Threaders
If you find that manually threading floss behind your brace wires takes too long or is too frustrating, then you can use a floss threader. These threaders are like plastic sewing needles. They give you more control over the floss and where it goes, so they'll speed up flossing for you.
Here, you thread floss through the hole in the threader. You then pass the threader behind your brace wire. As you pull the threader up behind the wire, it puts the floss in the right place to use. When you're done, you slide the floss out from between your teeth and use the threader to pull it out.
While threaders work on the same basic principle as manual threading, they make flossing less of a chore. They help you get floss behind your wires and into place fast. You won't waste time trying to push a soft and floppy thread of floss into the right places.
3. Water Flossers
If you want an easier floss, then it might be worth trying a water flosser. These devices do the same job as regular floss; however, they use water to clean between your teeth.
Here, you hold the flosser close to the parts of your mouth you want to clean and turn it on. It squirts out a stream of water. Some of this water will go between your teeth, where it will clean out the gaps.
Water flossers are also an easy way of keeping your gum line clean. You can even use them to clean around your brace brackets.
For more advice on flossing during your braces treatment, contact an orthodontic office like Monacell Orthodontics.