Protecting Your Braces
Wilsonville, OR
 If you have been in to see Senestraro Family Orthodontics lately, you might have been fitted with braces. If you have, we congratulate you, because you are on your way to a better smile. Your smile will be healthier, straighter, and more beautiful. Since you got braces a little while ago, you will need information to make sure that your braces stay safe. This is important, because if you don’t take care of your braces, you will have to come and see us more often, and you may have to wait longer to get your braces off. Do you need to know more? We have some facts about how you can protect your braces.
Brushing and Flossing
The first thing you need to do to protect your braces is to brush and floss them each time that you eat. Daily oral care while you have braces is one of the best ways you can protect your teeth. If you can brush or floss each day, plaque will not be able to form on your teeth. Plaque is the sticky goop that can get on your teeth and eventually cause both cavities and gum disease. If plaque sits on your braces, it can cause all kinds of trouble. If you don’t clean your braces of plaque, over time, that plaque can turn into cavities underneath your braces. If that happens, you won’t find out about your cavities until your braces come off, which can cause real problems once the braces are removed.
Read more about braces and dental hygiene.
Avoiding Foods
Second, you need to avoid certain foods if you want your braces to remain unbroken. Avoid hard foods that could break your brackets or wires. Your brackets are those pieces of metal or plastic glued to the front of your teeth by dental cement. Examples of hard foods you need to stay away from because they could damage your braces are popcorn, ice, and hard candies. You also need to be careful with some fruits such as apples and veggies like carrots. Cut these fruits and veggies before you eat them, so you don’t damage your braces.
Also, avoid sticky or sweet foods, because they can cause trouble for your braces as well. Caramels, gum, and other soft candies can stick to your braces or even break those braces. Not only can they break your braces, soft candies can also cause cavities underneath your braces, because those areas are hard to clean.
Mouthguards
Another way that you can damage your mouth is through sports. If you love to play a sport, and you wear braces, they need protection. You need to wear a mouthguard over your braces to cover them and guard against damage. Nearly every sport can damage your teeth if you get hit in the mouth. Whether that is football, soccer, golf or tennis, you need to wear a mouthguard with your braces. If you don’t, you may be leaving the practice field in order to get the brackets on your braces fixed.
Do you need more information about caring for and protecting your braces? We can help! Call Senestraro Family Orthodontics at (503) 582-8212. Let us talk to you about the best way to protect your mouth while you have braces. |
