7 Tips to Prevent Ceramic Braces From Staining
Ceramic braces are brackets that are made to easily blend in with your teeth hence making them unnoticeable. Unlike the metallic and clear braces, these are made to look like your teeth hence more preferred. The ceramic braces are also favored due to their ability to align teeth much faster than the metallic and clear brackets. However, as much as we would like to have these unique ceramic braces, they stain easily if not well taken care of. You need to know the factors that lead to staining beforehand, so you can prevent your ceramic braces from staining in the future. Unfortunately, some people learn through experience which should never be the case.
Brush Your Teeth After Every Meal
This cannot be emphasized enough. This is a practice that should be trained even to small children due to its importance. Making it a habit to brush your teeth with braces immediately after meals ensures that the food color and flavors are washed off hence leaving the mouth clean. This will also prevent tooth decay which is higher due to food getting trapped in between brackets.
Floss and Rinse Frequently
Flossing and rinsing your mouth with mouth wash ensures that all the dirt in all the hard to reach places with a tooth brush is well cleaned. Failure to do this the ceramic braces will start to discolor and eventually stain. Flossing after snacks will also ensure that your teeth and brackets are always clean hence reducing chances of staining.
Stop Smoking
Smoking is one of the most harmful practices that ruin oral hygiene. Not only does it discolor and stain your teeth, the cigarette smoke also ruins the color of your ceramic braces. Nicotine also gives the ligatures a yellow color which is very unattractive. The worst thing about cigarette smoking and nicotine staining your teeth is that it is a permanent stain that requires a whole new procedure to clean.
Avoid Some Foods
Unfortunately people learn the foods to keep away from the hard way. Foods with tomatoes and tomato paste should be kept away from people with ceramic braces. The red color is very strong for the ceramic brackets and last longer than expected. Mustard is also a no-no as the yellow instantly stains the brackets. It is also advisable to keep off of food with food color as this is obviously a recipe for disaster. Coffee and dark colored drinks like soda are also to be avoided.
Keep Off Whitening Toothpastes
Most people assume whitening tooth pastes are best prevent ceramic braces from staining, but this is actually a bad idea. Your teeth will of course be whitened and so will your brackets. However, the truth of the matter will be revealed when the brackets get removed. You can say good bye to smiling as you will have spots on your teeth where the brackets used to be. These are the areas that the tooth paste didn’t reach. Simply use ordinary tooth paste frequently after meals to keep your brackets stain free.
Get Your Ligatures Changed Frequently
These are the rubber bands around your brackets. In most cases, the ligatures of the ceramic braces are clear. They easily stained so it is advisable to only have them long enough. Have them removed and replaced to keep them from staining and giving you a tainted look. These come in a variety of colors. You should definitely go for colors such as blue and gray. This is because these colors blend in better and resist staining more than white ligatures. However, you can choose multiple braces colors if desired for a stylish effect.
Keep Your Doctor’s Appointment
Always honor your dentists’ appointment when need be. During these appointments, your ligatures will be replaced which happens after every four to six weeks. This gives you a fresh look as the previous stained ones get replaced with new ones. The dentist will also take this opportunity to adjust your braces and look at the condition of the ceramic brackets. Skipping these appointments will definitely set you back in progress.
Taking care of your ceramic braces will keep them stain free and good looking for longer. Instead of an ordinary tooth brush, choose to go for an electric tooth brush as it cleans much better in a systematic manner. Chances of leaving out some places are reduced.
Looking for an orthodontist in Beaverton, Oregon? Biermann Orthodontics is a cutting-edge orthodontic practice that serves Beaverton and Molalla, OR, and focuses on providing world-class customer service and efficient treatment. We strive to create stunning smiles in the shortest amount of time without ever sacrificing quality.
Visit our Locations page to find a clinic near you, or schedule an initial consultation.
Biermann Orthodontics
503-690-0722
17885 NW Evergreen Parkway, Suite 200
Beaverton, OR 97006
