Keeping molar bands clean

[chinadoll]

Hi there,

Is anyone else paranoid about keeping the teeth surrounded by those molar bands clean? Are those molars really covered in the bands for the whole duration of the treatment? It seems strange that the tooth surface could actually stay clean when it's covered in the metal. Couldn't food could get caught in there? I remember reading a post from someone who got food caught in the bands and his/her treatment got delayed...

Any special tips or tricks for making sure those teeth are well cared for, besides brushing and flossing back there as with any other tooth?

[afrederick]

Well, I've not gotten my molar bands on yet, but my ortho told me that a waterpik is a good way to get lodged food particles out of the band. I'm going to get one on my way home from there Wed. when I get my molar bands on. Hope that helps a little.

[chinadoll]

Great idea, afredrick...thanks.

[dena]

it is possible to get food caught under the molar band, which is bad news. but good cleanings and regular trips to the dentist should help with catching or preventing that.

i had the same concern--i have a surface filling under one of my molar bands...that filling always freaks me out regardless, but the idea of the molar band made me think my tooth would rot away during this process. i asked my ortho about htis and he told me the cement that keeps the molar band on the tooth actually absorbs flouride from your toothpaste for your tooth inside the band...he said that tooth, with the flouride cement and the band, was probably safer than exposed teeth.

My first cleaning is less than 2 weeks away, though, and i'll definitely be talking to my dentist about all of this just to check.

[NotBob1]

I have one of those "Oral Breeze" water pick type of instruments. I have it attached to my shower head. I always floss and brush, then get in the shower. The last thing I do is use the "pressure washer" in the shower as I call it. Whenever (and I mean EVERY time) I get to my back molar bands on the upper arch, well......some really nasty stuff comes out. I can smell it. Ohhhh mannnnn does it stink, too. (Several of you are grossed out at this point, I am certain.) It seems there is a pocket up there around those two molar bands on each side that holds debris even through brushing and flossing with superfloss. I am going to get one of these for my bathroom faucet so i can pressure wash at night as well.

I would get one of these. They are inexpensive, and the first time you get some debris out AFTER going through your usual cleaning routine, you'll be sold.

[mia_cro]

I know what you are talking about....
No matter how good I think I have brushed and flossed,
debris comes out with the oral irrigator..
I don't like the idea of having the bands for 1,5 or 2 years without changing them,dispite the cement that is supposed to help.
I'll ask my orto what's the cost of taking them off and replacing with new ones.

[dena]

Notbob: where did you get your pressurized water pick? did you buy it locally or order it online. I like the idea of getting one that is pressurized!

[Scalawaggirl]

Thanks for the info on Oral Breeze. I just ordered the Smart Pak (includes one for shower, one for sink) as well as the Travel Pak, because, well, I travel a lot!

One of the things that have been bothering me since braces is that I can't seem to get my teeth really clean! This should help loads. Thanks!

BTW, I ordered it directly from the manufacturer's site: www.oralbreeze.com

[Scalawaggirl]

Thanks for the info on Oral Breeze. I just ordered the Smart Pak (includes one for shower, one for sink) as well as the Travel Pak, because, well, I travel a lot!

One of the things that have been bothering me since braces is that I can't seem to get my teeth really clean! This should help loads. Thanks!

BTW, I ordered it directly from the manufacturer's site: www.oralbreeze.com

[Leslie022]

I have a WaterPik and it is great...when I actually use it. I had an area around my molar band that was a little sore. When the waterpik hit it, it did bleed pretty bad but it cleared up after that. I wonder if I had some sort of infection. Who knows...

Thanks for the website, Scalawaggirl. I like the idea of being able to use it in the shower!

[NotBob1]

I got it right from the website that Scalawaggirl provided.

[chinadoll]

Hmm, I tried to post this message earlier but I guess it never got through. Dena, it's comforting to know about the flouride. NotBob1, that is horrifying, but thank you so much for telling me about Oral Breeze! It sounds like once you've used it, you can't imagine what it's like NOT to use it.

Like Scalawaggirl, I will be ordering one ASAP.

[kypsis]

Wow, I am glad I found this old post - I think one of my molar-banded teeth does not pass Meryaten's "sniff test", and the gum has been sore lately and bleeding a LOT when I floss... My braces have only been on for three weeks, and I think it was the spacers before the molar bands that caused the problem - I couldn't floss that tooth with spacers, and when the ortho assistant replaced the spacers with molar bands, she didn't let me floss nor clean herself, and I'm sure something tht was still stuckunderneath the spacers is now under my molar band. YUK!

Does anyone know whether the orthos have some sure-fire method of figuring out whether there really is something stuck underneath there without taking the molar band off? Can they even take the band off in the middle of treatment, to clean the tooth, and then replace the band?

As far as waterpicks go for cleaning places between molar bands and gums - I thought you're not supposed to aim the waterpick at the gum line. But then how do you get into that space? Aiming just at the molar band wouldn't do much good, I presume, since any potential stuck food particles are between the band and the gum...