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If you are new to braces, you may experience what nearly everyone who gets braces finds difficult: flossing. Flossing is one of the most important things you can do for your dental health and the life of your teeth on a daily basis. Flossing will definitely help you keep your teeth in tip-top shape for years to come. Ironically, it's also one of the things that people neglect most in their daily oral care routines. If you're a person who is currently in braces, you know the pain that flossing can be, right? Braces add that complicating barrier to regular flossing. It's another obstacle in the way of getting that little piece of string between your teeth and your gums.
Flossing is really important. Very important. Can we keep stressing that? We want to help you figure out a way to add that extra step of flossing to your daily routine whether you're currently wearing braces or not. We encourage this because we want to help you keep not only your teeth and gums healthy, but also help in the tooth-moving process of braces. Keeping your braces clean and free of food particles and debris is one of the most important things you can do to not only care for your appliances, but also your future smile. So, if you're not into using regular old string-like waxed dental floss, we have a few alternatives for you.
Alternative number one is very similar to regular string floss. It's called tape floss. You can find it in the same place that you find regular floss. It's a flat piece of material that you operate the same way you would use floss, though it's not on string. Tape floss is flattened wide as opposed to the thin string of regular floss it's easier to pass between your teeth and into the gum line. And many people enjoy using this in their daily oral care routine.
Another floss like option is the floss threader which is a piece of plastic with floss on the end of it. These are designed to wiggle simply between the teeth which helps avoid the wires of your braces. You move the floss between the teeth the same way you would with regular floss. It's just that you have a guided plastic piece to help you overcome the difficulties of trying to slide just a plain piece of dental floss in between your teeth. It's genius.
Moving on to the non-floss category, you'll find a great alternative to flossing is something called an oral irrigator. Some people know this under the brand name Waterpik, though it's far from the only oral irrigator out there. It's a high velocity water expresser that blasts away the food particles that are caught along the gums or in between the teeth. This is a solution favored by many people and it's quite efficient at going after the stuff that can really bother your teeth whether you're in braces or not. Another alternative is something called an interdental brush. The handle looks like a toothbrush but at the end is a little brush that looks like a tiny white artificial Christmas tree which you can move around and get those unwanted particles out.
Some people go the old-fashioned route and use a good old toothpick. It may not be the elegant solution, but there's a reason it's endured all these years. It works! You do have to be careful, though, not to pop any brackets or wires out while using one. In a similar vein, there's the floss pick which is a plastic pick on one end, and on the other a piece of floss stretched between two posts. You can use the pick end like you would a toothpick or, if a piece of food or debris is particularly ornery, you can get the floss in there to get that thing out.
If you’d like to learn more about the incredible things Invisalign can do for you and your smile, get in touch with us today to schedule your initial consultation with Dr. Larry Majznerski, West Michigan’s first Invisalign Elite Preferred Provider! We can help you achieve the beautiful, healthy smile you deserve.
