Flossing Braces
November 4th, 2009 by Mark Mutschler
Keeping braces clean is so important to moving teeth that it bears repeating. Keeping braces clean is so important to moving teeth.
Why is it important you ask? To completely correct a badly positioned tooth, the tooth must slide the brace along the wire in the brace only a few millimeters.
That is NOT very far! Two years to move something the thickness of a pencil!
When the brace or bracket and the wire is coated with sticky plaque, it takes much longer to get them to slide and align the teeth. Every little bit of cleaning helps move faster.
Flossing between teeth that have braces on them is especially difficult.
There are three possible techniques to clean between teeth with braces:
- Use a floss threader (a stiff plastic loop) to stick the floss under the wire and then pull the floss through. Repeat this for each tooth.
- Use a toothpick or similar device to rub under the wire and between teeth.
- Get a flossing aid that can fit one side under the wire and the other side across the tooth and floss normally.
This last option is made possible with a Platypus tool that we give samples of to each orthodontic patient.
A floss popper tool used to be available but is no longer made.
See this link for general brushing & flossing instructions.
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