It’s very important to know what you should be able to do and let’s also observe what you mustn’t do during your braces treatment.
For the first few days after the appliances are placed consume soft foods.
Avoid hard food and raw vegetables. Slowly and steadily you will be able to achieve your normal biting habit. But, for as long as you wear braces, you’ll have to safeguard your braces.
Foods to Avoid
*Chewy, sticky candies are completely OFF LIMITS! They may not immediately cause damage, but they definitely will over time.
*Biting an Ice cube, Hard chips, or Indian chips which are hard in consistency.
*Food should be cut into small pieces, and chewing should be done with your back teeth.
*NEVER bite into anything with your front teeth (such as apples, carrots, guava).
*Pizza slice and burgers should be broken into bite-sized pieces.
*Keep things that are not food out of your mouth, and DO NOT chew on things like pens, pencils, and fingernails as they’re going to injury your brace.
General Soreness and tenderness
When you get your braces on, you’ll feel general soreness and tenderness in your mouth and teeth could also be tender to biting pressures for 3 to 5 days after an adjustment.
*Rinsing your mouth with Warm Salt Water Rinse will relieve this soreness and tenderness.
*If the tenderness is severe, take the medication that you would ordinarily use for a headache or similar pain.
*The lips, cheeks, and tongue may become irritated for one to 2 weeks. Place an orthodontic wax on the braces to minimize this discomfort.
Loosening of Teeth
Teeth may feel slightly loose during treatment – DON’T WORRY, this is normal and is expected throughout the treatment, as they must loosen to move, and will become rigid and fixed again after treatment is completed.
Oral hygiene instructions
Brushing
It’s even more important than ever to brush and floss frequently once you have braces, therefore your teeth and gums are healthy throughout the treatment.
Patients WHO don’t keep their teeth clean could need a lot of frequent visits to the dentist for various other treatments.
3 Tooth Surfaces
Every tooth has 3 surfaces that needs to be brushed.
*The ideal way to brush near lip and cheek areas is to make a 45°ANGLE with the toothbrush towards the gum line and the tooth. Once you are through with this area then move to the surfaces which are within the mouth. Attempt to brush three teeth at a time.
*When brushing the within surfaces of your teeth, attempt to maintain the 45° ANGLE towards the gum line as you probably did for the earlier surfaces. Again, attempt to brush three teeth at a time and confirm that they’re clean before moving on.
*Cleaning the chewing surfaces of your teeth is easy. keep in mind to brush three teeth at a time before moving on to subsequent areas.
Flossing
Patients are usually prescribed orthodontic inter-dental toothbrush along with dental floss. These are often used every morning and evening after brushing your teeth.
When you are sporting braces it is very crucial to floss and brush while standing in front of a mirror so that extreme brushing and flossing forces or pressure might dislodge the bracket
Flossing with braces might take a few minutes initially but if you continue the habit then it might take a week to master it even without a mirror.
The first step to flossing is obtaining the floss below the wire that connects the braces along. Once the floss is below the wire push the floss up towards the gum line and then down towards the wire. Then wrap the floss around the neighboring tooth. Once booth teeth surfaces are done, the floss is force out.
Repeat the process 4 to 5 times to make sure all the plaque is removed. use caution to not place an excessive amount of pressure on the wire as you pull down.
What if I have an Emergency?
If you have got an emergency, like a broken bracket, loose wire or if the wire is poking to the gums and cheeks, loose bands or anything else that’s causing you discomfort, please call us immediately so that we can fix an appointment with the concerned orthodontist.
we in Realtooth hospital have a tendency to care concerning our patients and their comfort throughout the Orthodontic treatment and can attempt to correct any drawback you may have as quickly as possible.
Call us immediately if you have any questions or concerns about Orthodontic before your next scheduled appointment.
Article by – Dr Minhaj Mahamadi.
