Getting braces from an orthodontist in Franklin, TN, is exciting and means your child or teenager is on their way to a straighter, healthier smile. When you have straight teeth, they will harbor fewer bacteria because they're easier to clean. But if you need braces to achieve alignment, metal brackets and wires add more trouble to the equation.

Oral hygiene with kids can be challenging, and braces simply add up to the surfaces and creaks where food particles can get stuck, leading to bacteria and plaque buildup. However, proper cleaning is crucial for your kid to enjoy their new smile fully. To help you easily handle this task, we created this guide.  

Teaching Kids to Practice Good Oral Hygiene with Braces

While having poor oral hygiene at any time can lead to cavities, having bad hygiene with braces can have more serious consequences. Braces can trap food, bacteria, and plaque, increasing the risk of tooth decay and gingivitis.

Besides being harmful to your kid’s oral health, these issues can seriously hamper their treatment, impacting the results you’d be expecting. The good news is you’re not alone in this circumstance.

Before you, many parents with mental smiles have dealt with their kids' oral hygiene with ease. Here are some of the things they’ve done to keep their teeth healthy during their orthodontic treatment.

1. Teach Them How to Brush Teeth with Braces

Your child will want to brush their teeth before going to bed, in the morning, and after meals and snacks if they have braces on—yes, that is a few more brushings than usual.

Use a soft-bristled toothbrush or an electric toothbrush and their preferred toothpaste. Whitening toothpaste can exacerbate sensitivity and produce inconsistent results, so try to avoid those.

To properly brush their teeth, they’ll need to raise the toothbrush to a 45-degree position and run a light brush along the gum line. Next, they should brush each bracket, paying particular attention to the top and bottom of each one.

Tell them to try wriggling the bristles a little bit back and forth to get in between the wires. It’s important to pay close attention to every tooth and clean every surface of the teeth, including the area surrounding the back molars.

This overall process should last at least two full minutes.

2. Floss Once Daily

Although often overlooked, flossing is a key step in your child’s oral hygiene. Certain spaces, like the in-between of teeth, can be harder to clean with a toothbrush, making it necessary to find a thinner tool to reach those spaces. Add braces to the mix, and daily flossing becomes an absolute must!

Nevertheless, since children must reach under the wires to brush their teeth, flossing can be challenging when wearing braces. Moreover, they must act gently to avoid harming the bracket and wire’s structure—a task that may be hard to achieve for some kids.

Once they get the hang of it, your children will likely become pros at flossing. To make the process much easier, here are some tools designed to aid you.

Flossing with a Floss Threader

To use a floss threader, break off a piece of dental floss between 18 and 24 inches long. Braces will rip unwaxed dental floss, so we advise using waxed floss instead. Then, pull a portion of the floss through the floss threader's eye.

Continue to pull the floss through until it can be grasped with both hands, pinching it to prevent it from sliding out. Then, place the floss threader's pointed end under the braces wire in between any two teeth.  

After flossing under the gum line and up and down the side of one tooth, remove the floss slowly and move on to the other. Then, continue with the next set of spaces; repeat this until the entire mouth has been flossed.

Floss With Braces Using an Orthodontic Flosser

An orthodontic flosser is a specialized floss pick for people wearing braces. While it costs a little more, it works much faster.

When using an orthodontic flosser, place the floss between two teeth by slipping the rounded end of the flosser under the braces wire. After flossing just under the gum line along the side of one tooth, move on to the other tooth's side and repeat the process.  

Continue so until you’ve flossed all of the teeth.  

3. Get an Interdental Brush to Clean Tight Spaces

An interproximal brush, also known as a proxy or interdental brush, is a tiny brush designed to fit into small areas. Children can use it to clean the area around their braces brackets and get rid of any dirt or plaque that their toothbrush is unable to get rid of. It is also very helpful for getting food particles out of braces.

4. Flossing with a Water Flosser for Braces

When using a Waterpik® or water flosser, you spray water between teeth, around gums, and around braces brackets. While it won’t replace regular flossing, this product can become an effective additional step and a great tool for removing any remaining plaque, getting the gums incredibly clean, and loosening stubborn food.

Cool water can also help soothe your kid’s mouth if they’re uncomfortable with the brace’s structure, and it may be a more entertaining option for them.

5. Put Together a Braces Hygiene Kit

Kids and teenagers with braces will probably need to brush at school, at a friend's house, or elsewhere because brushing after meals and snacks is advised. Because of that, they must have a travel kit they can take with them wherever they go.

The kit should include:  

• A portable toothbrush

• Toothpaste

• Interdental brushes

• Orthodontic flossers

• Braces wax. Although wax does not directly relate to hygiene, it can be useful in cases of irritation or emergency braces situations.

Moreover, this can be a great opportunity to involve them more in their own oral hygiene. Let them choose their go-to bag and the color of their toothbrush. They could even decorate their orthodontic tools with stickers and glitter.

6. Keep Up with Regular Dental Visits

When a child receives braces, routine dental examinations and cleanings are more crucial than ever.  

During professional cleanings, a pediatric dentist uses special tools to remove hardened plaque (tartar) that can’t be eliminated at home with a regular toothbrush and floss.

Additionally, we will guarantee your child has healthy, cavity-free teeth. If we identify a problem, we can get involved right away and guarantee your child's braces treatment continues as planned.

Need to Find an Orthodontist in Franklin, TN?

Teeth move best in a healthy oral environment, so maintaining good hygiene is crucial. Furthermore, developing cavities while wearing braces may require removing your kid's orthodontic appliances to treat the decay in severe situations.

While some new skills are needed to floss and brush their teeth while wearing braces, it will come naturally to them once children get used to it. Schedule an appointment with Happy Harpeth Pediatric Dentistry & Orthodontics to find out more about braces for children and teenagers!