Did you know that poor brushing with braces can lead to serious dental issues like cavities and gum disease?
That’s right, not brushing your teeth with braces or having bad brushing habits with braces can lead to some severe consequences. On the other hand, knowing how to brush your teeth with braces can keep your teeth strong and healthy.
Are you a teen or adult who’s interested in overcoming or avoiding poor dental hygiene with braces?
In this article, we’re sharing expert insight into the consequences of not brushing teeth well with braces. We’ll also provide helpful information on:
- How to get rid of plaque around braces
- What happens when you don’t floss with braces
- How to brush your gums with braces
- Which orthodontic brushes for braces are best
Keep reading to learn more about the effects of not brushing your teeth with braces and how to establish good oral habits.
The Consequences of Poor Brushing With Braces
The consequences of not brushing your teeth with braces can be drastic and sometimes irreversible.
Here are some of the most common effects of not brushing your teeth with braces.
White Spot Lesions
White spot lesions (WSLs) go hand-in-hand with poor brushing with braces. They’re an early sign of tooth decay and form when plaque and bacteria on teeth break down (demineralize) tooth enamel.
Plaque and bacteria flourish in areas that are hard to reach and clean. So, if WSLs develop, they typically appear directly around brackets—the place where brushing and cleaning are the most challenging.
There are two ways to handle WSLs:
- Prevent them with good brushing habits and techniques
- Get your dentist to repair them using a product called Icon by DMG America
However, not all WSLs can be treated with Icon. So, the best course of action is to prevent them by learning how to get rid of plaque around braces.
Cavities
Cavities are another issue that can arise due to bad brushing with braces. They’re holes in your tooth that develop from tooth decay.
Plaque is a mixture of food particles and bacteria that get stuck on your teeth. If you don’t regularly remove plaque from your teeth, the bacteria will feed off the food particles and release acids that break down your tooth’s white outer layer (the enamel).
Over time, these acids can create a hole in your enamel, and you’ll need to get your dentist to treat your cavities. If you don’t get your dentist to fix your cavities, you could experience:
- Increased sensitivity
- Infection
- Tooth loss
Dentists can fill cavities or place crowns on teeth, but you can also prevent them through proper oral hygiene.
Gum Disease
Lastly, gum disease is a dental problem that results from poor dental hygiene with braces.
Like cavities, plaque and bacteria are the main culprits of gum disease. If you don’t know how to brush your gums with braces, plaque and bacteria can build up around your gum tissue and cause an infection.
Some signs of early gum disease (gingivitis) include:
- Gums that bleed easily
- Red, swollen, or tender gums
- Inflamed or puffy gums
- Gaps between teeth and gum tissue
Fortunately, gingivitis is treatable with a professional dental cleaning and good brushing habits.
However, if you leave gingivitis untreated for too long, it can become a more severe condition—periodontitis.
Periodontitis can penetrate deeper into the gum tissue and affect the tooth bone. As the infection eats away at gum tissue and bone, teeth can become loose and even fall out.
Periodontitis is much more challenging to treat and is often irreversible. Therefore, the best course of action is to start good cleaning habits early to prevent gingivitis. And if you’re developing gingivitis, you should schedule a dental cleaning to get rid of it.
Ultimately, the best way to ensure good oral health and prevent these issues is to establish good oral habits and practice them throughout your braces treatment.
How to Brush Your Teeth With Braces
When it comes to good oral health, orthodontists don’t like to take any chances. Developing cavities or gum disease with braces may lead your orthodontist to remove your braces and suspend your treatment.
A suspended treatment means that you’ll likely have to wait longer for a straighter smile.
Avoiding bad brushing with braces and the effects of not brushing your teeth with braces comes down to three factors:
- Establishing good habits early
- Using effective equipment and products
- Knowing the right techniques
Let’s take a deeper look at these three critical factors more closely so that you won’t have to deal with the consequence of not brushing your teeth well with braces.
1. Establish Good Habits Early
Want to know how to get rid of plaque around braces? Start by establishing good cleaning habits early.
Brushing and flossing with braces is a little more challenging and takes some getting used to. But the sooner you start putting good habits into practice, the easier it will become.
It’s like learning an instrument. You don’t just sit down one day and play the piano or guitar perfectly. Instead, you need to take time every day to learn new techniques and practice. Over time, you’ll get better, and you’ll learn new songs more quickly and easily.
The same is valid for overcoming poor brushing with braces—the sooner you start practicing good habits, the easier it will be down the road. However, the reverse is also true. If you don’t establish good habits early, it will be more difficult to create them later.
2. Use Effective Equipment and Products
The second step to avoiding poor dental hygiene with braces is to use the correct equipment and products.
Here are some professional recommendations when it comes to what equipment and products to use with braces:
- Toothbrush: An electric toothbrush is the best orthodontic brush for braces because it makes brushing less dependent on your actual technique (more about cleaning techniques in the next section). Whether you use an electric toothbrush or not, you’ll also want to make sure to use a toothbrush with soft or extra-soft bristles.
- Toothpaste: When it comes to toothpaste, choose a toothpaste that includes fluoride.
- Flossing: With flossing, you can use a floss threader or platypus flossers. Oral-B has a great flossing product called Super Floss. A WaterPik Water Flosser can also help remove food, plaque, and bacteria from teeth.
- Mouthwash: Using a mouthwash can help supplement your brushing and flossing. It’s an excellent way to help fight against plaque, gingivitis, and tooth decay. Like toothpaste, choose a mouthwash brand that has fluoride in it.
If you’re unsure of what products or equipment to purchase or use, you can always ask your orthodontist for recommendations.
3. Know the Right Techniques
Lastly, knowing how to brush your teeth with braces is necessary to keep your teeth and gums clean and healthy.
For brushing, many people don’t know how to get rid of plaque around braces effectively. The best way to ensure clean teeth is to brush at least twice a day and:
- Make gentle, circular movements with your toothbrush
- Brush above and below the brackets and wire at about a 45-degree angle
- Clean along your gum line
- Use an interdental/proxy brush to clean between the wire and brackets
If you’re able to brush your teeth after every meal, that’s ideal. But twice a day is still better than not brushing your teeth with braces at all.
When it comes to flossing, it’s best to floss each night before you go to bed. Using a floss threader can help you more easily get the floss under the brackets. A platypus flosser is another tool that can make flossing quick and simple.
Once you’re done brushing and flossing, you can rinse your mouth with mouthwash.
Following this routine every day will ensure that your teeth and gums remain healthy for the duration of your braces treatment.
Expert Help on Overcoming Bad Brushing With Braces
Braces are a powerful tool for straightening and aligning your teeth. But they can also make brushing and flossing a little more complex, and poor brushing with braces can lead to tooth and gum issues.
So, what happens when you don’t floss or brush with braces?
The three main consequences of not brushing teeth well with braces are:
- White spot lesions (WSLs)
- Cavities
- Gum disease (gingivitis and periodontitis)
If you want to avoid poor dental hygiene with braces, it comes down to knowing:
- How to brush your teeth with braces
- How to get rid of plaque around your braces
- How to brush your gums with braces
You can maintain healthy gums and teeth with braces by:
- Establishing good habits early
- Using effective equipment and products
- Knowing the right techniques
It’s also important to schedule regular dental checkups and listen to your orthodontist’s recommendations regarding brushing and flossing with braces.
At Bates Orthodontics in Richmond, VA, our passion is to provide everyone with a bright, beautiful smile. Using Lightforce technology, we create a personalized treatment plan specific to your needs. So whether you’re a teen or adult looking for straighter teeth, we have a solution for you. We also provide early orthodontic treatment for kids age 7 or 8 to ensure that their mouth is ready for braces later in their teen years.
Schedule your free consultation today to see how braces or Invisalign can get you the smile you’ve always wanted.
