Metal Mouth Message Board

Last night I was taking pictures of my teeth after being in braces for 2 weeks (I'm already seeing SOME movement!). While looking at the pictures, I noticed some slight staining (my husband thinks it's shadows, but I don't know). I'm nervous that I'm not reaching some places that I should be when cleaning. It's not noticable when I look in the mirror, but I definitely don't want it to get to that point. I was using a manual toothbrush, but now I'm switching back to my Sonicare.

I know over Christmas I ate ALOT of sugar (and some pop) and didn't brush as much as I should have. My nightly routine has been very thorough, or at least I thought it was. I usually brush for 3 minutes, floss, and mouthwash. I just got a Waterpik for Christmas and started using that too. Is there anything else I should be doing? I read some threads on here that people have been using a proxy brush.. what is that and has it been making a difference? Also, for those of you that use a Waterpik, do you floss manually too?

I've always been very meticulous about my teeth looking and feeling clean, but now with braces it's alot harder to tell. I have a dentist appointment in a couple weeks, so I plan on talking to them about it too, but any and all advice is appreciated!!

A proxy brush is essentially a really small brush that can go in between your gums (kind of like floss). I've been using it for a while and mostly for places where the brackets are really close to my gums (in case my electric tooth brush miss a spot). Its really just an add on. I still find flossing much more effective. I also use it to clean areas in between my brackets (mostly for my overlapping teeth). From your description, I'd say your doing a pretty good job keeping your teeth clean. Another thing that I do that is not on your list is that I brush RIGHT after I eat every meal. If I can't brush right away, I usually rinse my mouth. And I avoid drinking/eating sweets if there isn't a bathroom nearby. Maybe I'm just weird but I feel more at ease when I know there aren't any food particles or sugar molecules around my teeth that could aid in plaque or cavity formation.

Hope it helps!