White Spots on Teeth During Orthodontic Treatment
Article Featured on Dear Doctor
Dear Doctor,
I just had my braces removed, and I noticed several white spots on my teeth near where the brackets were. What are they — and how can I get rid of them?
10 Tips for Keeping Your Braces Clean
Keeping your braces clean can be time-consuming. We found this article that outlines 10 tips for keeping your braces clean. Following these easy suggestions can make taking care of your braces much easier!
Article Featured on DocBraces.com
If you just got your braces or are planning on getting them soon, you’re probably already looking forward to the healthier mouth and great smile that will result.
Like most things that benefit us, however, some effort is required on our part. This includes taking care of your mouth and braces by keeping them clean. When you have braces, brushing your teeth and taking care of your gums is more important than ever. To help you keep your investment in tip top shape, we’ve assembled the top 10 tips for caring for your braces:
Got Braces? It’s Easier to Clean & Floss with a Water Flosser
Cleaning Dental Braces
Dental braces can create oral health problems such as gingivitis and decalcification (white marks), which lead to more serious issues.
- Gingivitis is the earliest sign of gum disease. It appears as red, swollen, and shiny gums that bleed easily. It is caused by plaque that irritates the gum tissue and causes an infection.
- Decalcification affects your tooth enamel, causing white spots or lesions on your teeth. It is caused by a combination of plaque and acid production after you eat and drink. Decalcification is impossible to correct, so prevention is critical.
You can minimize or prevent oral health problems caused by dental braces with good dental and orthodontic care.
Best Mouthwash For Braces 2015
Those who wear braces have a higher risk of getting plaque formed around the brackets. As a result it can cause tooth decay. Some of the patients when they take off the braces are left with white squares on their teeth. To cover them they need to get white fillings, which costs money and time. That’s why along with brushing your teeth and flossing an important part of your oral care routine should be oral rinsing. For orthodontics a good mouthwash should contain fluoride. Below we have reviewed the best mouthwash for braces.
What’s the best Electric Toothbrush for Braces?
Living with braces can be a challenging experience for most people. According to some studies, more than 4 million people wear braces in United States alone and about a quarter of them are adults. Wearing them can take up to 3 years and keeping a proper oral hygiene during that time is even more important than without them.
Tiny spaces between teeth, braces and wires are like a magnet for foods and plaque. Poor oral hygiene can attract numerous issues like gum diseases, periodontitis and delcalcifications, leaving permanent stains and discolorations on our teeth.
“Can I use electric toothbrush on braces?”
Of course you can! Superior cleaning and plaque removal are the top two features of electric toothbrushes. They are recommended by dentists from all over the world and their customized cleaning modes make them a perfect choice for people with braces.
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.
Help! Did I Stain My Braces?
One of the most common questions we get on ArchWire’s Metal Mouth Forum involves ceramic brackets stained from foods, particularly curry. Well relax, your brackets are NOT stained. The brackets themselves are still white, but the elastic ligatures have become stained. The ligatures are those little rubber bands on each bracket that hold the arch wire in place.
Yes I know, the brackets look stained. But believe me, in most cases, it’s only the elastic ligatures. Really! And those get changed by your orthodontist every 4-6 weeks. So the next time you have an adjustment, the stained ligatures will be replaced with fresh new ones and your braces will look white and perfect again.
Does Smoking Cause Stains on Teeth with Braces
We all know that smoking cigarettes and tobacco can be extremely harmful to our health in a variety of different ways. Many people associate smoking with conditions that affect our lungs but they do not consider oral health is one of the major health concerns associated with smoking is well.
When people receive braces it’s very important that they continue to maintain their oral health as well as regularly attend dental visits for checkups in cleaning. If a person has braces and continues to smoke they also work to detriment their oral health even further and can risk severely staining their teeth and having them not recover their original clean and white exterior when orthodontic appliances have been removed.
Best Foods to Eat With New Braces
With new braces, you may notice that your mouth feels a little different after they’re first put on. To make your transition a little smoother, you may want to change your eating habits for the first few days while you get used to your new braces. Here are our top 5 suggestions for the best kinds of foods to eat when you first get braces:
Oral Hygiene for the Orthodontic Patient
By: Columbia University College of Dental Medicine
If you thought brushing and flossing were important before you got braces…well, you were right. But people undergoing orthodontic treatment need to be even more dedicated to good oral hygiene. Read more about how to properly care for your braces, including brushing & flossing techniques, eating right, and caring for your retainer.