Daily cleaning routine, what is your order?

[psily]

I've been obsessed with oral hygiene more than ever now that I have braces. I want to know if there is a proper order of cleaning your teeth? Or does it really matter as long as you thoroughly clean?

Here is what I do:
1. Floss
2. Brush with Sonicare Flexcare brush & Sensodyne Pronamel toothpaste
3. Rinse with mouthwash, not water (ACT Total Care Sensitive Formula)

I am also going to be purchasing a Waterpik, where does this go in the order? After flossing?

[djspeece]

Nightime: I first use the waterpik to directly blast the hardware, then refill to attend to gumlines. Then an interdental / Christmas tree brush dipped in purple Listerine for each space, then rinse with the rest of the Listerine, then tongue-brushing with a device made by OralB, then gag a few times, rinse out the Listerine and curse under my breath at how nasty it is, brush teeth with an OralB with flossing attachment, rinse and then some Crest peroxide mix to rinse around for a minute, rinse, then flouride rinse. Rest and congratulate myself on a job well done. Morning is just brushing. Then brush several more times after meals.

[safetysquirrel]

I'm a brush, waterpick, floss, and then mouthwash or fluoride rinse.

[kathydell]

In the morning and after lunch I'm a brush, mouthwash and interproximal brush person and I use the GUM picks during the day and swish with water if I have a quick snack. I love those GUM rubber picks, especially when I'm traveling for work and can't always brush in an airport as quickly as I like. After dinner I brush and use the picks and then I LOVE the Waterpick. I can't live without mine. I mix 1/2 mouthwash and 1/2 water and fill it to the top. Sometimes I use the regular attachment and sometimes I use the orthodontic attachment. I haven't really developed a preference.

[kathydell]

Forgot to mention ..... I've found the blue mouthwashes to leave discoloration but not the purple.

[Winkos]

When I wake up quick brush with Sonicare. After morning coffee I brush three minutes. After any food item I brush, sometimes a quick brush, or 2 minutes depending on what I eat. Before bed another three minute brush with flossing. Three times a week after my nightly brush I brush again with RX flouride toothpaste that my ortho gives all his patients. I am supposed to use this everyday but still am not convinced that all that extra flouride will not result in brittle bones.

[debinator]

I use my waterpick first to pressurewash away any left behind stuff, then I brush with sonicare, floss, waterpik gumline, then rinse with flouride mouthwash. I do the sonicare in the morning and before bed. During the day anytime I eat I brush with manual tooth brush, use interdental picks for the spaces and rinse with mouthwash.

[Leebie3]

MORNING: toothbrush designed for orthodontic and normal toothpaste, brush teeth taking extra care around brackets and back teeth, brush tongue.

NIGHT: floss, mouthwash (non alcohol based otherwise it hurts like a b***)

[LyraM45]

I just posted on my blog the other day about this stuff. I swear, I feel like I do a better job keeping up with the maintenance and cleaning more than I did without braces. I really hate the feeling of crud all over my teeth, and after every meal with braces.... well, you feel like you have a ton of crud in your teeth, and forced to go clean them. Generally, my routine is:

Morning: Use a waterpik type device that is installed in my shower. Brush with my sonicare.

Afternoon/eve after a meal: Floss, brush with a regular tooth brush, and take a little proxy brush to clean around the brackets and in between teeth.

Eve/night: Use airfloss, brush with sonicare.


I have been fanatical about keeping everything tidy. I've had bad gum problems with deep pockets in the past, and I do not want any reason for things to go south with the braces on-- especially if it means it may threaten getting my jaw surgery done.

[NeilH]

I clean my teeth with a regular toothbrush in the morning, and after all food and snacks throughout the day. Then in the evening, retire to the bathroom for a long and thorough cleaning which involves regular brushing to get started, using a variety of different sized inter-dental brushes to get in and around the brackets, electric toothbrush for a thorough clean then finally mouthwash.

[TheCarDoctor]

At night: brush, interdental brush, floss, mouthwash,

Morning and after eating I just regular brush.

[BraceFace2o1o]

Brush then floss. Used to use mouthwash after flossing but haven't used any for ages.

[Godnosc]

Lots of good ideas in this thread, I'll be stealing some of them to improve my own routine :). I brush twice a day (I also only eat twice a day) with a Colgate Ortho brush, followed by cleaning between and around the brackets with the interdental brush, and then (night time only) I floss. At night I use a fluoride rinse my ortho gave me.

My orthodontist also gave me the Sonicare AirFloss by SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM to use, but I'm paranoid about the force of the water knocking a bracket off. Am I just being silly?

[asag]

This may be a dumb question but do I need to use an interdental brush if I use a sonicare toothbrush with an ortho head. When I brush, I brush (1) angled toward the gums to the extent I can, (2) angled toward away from the gums and toward the brackets on one side, and (3) angled toward the brackets on the opposite side. Is interdental brushing on top of that necessary? I want to be thorough and do whatever it takes to avoid gum disease or white spots, but I also don't want to go overboard...

[agrace90]

Water pik, floss,waterpik tooth brush(crest 3D white), 3D white mouthwash(some nights). I only brush in the morning, then brush with manual brush after meals. Works really well for me and whenever I go in they say they look great.