Keeping my teeth clean

[cara041083]

Well I have had braces for about a month now. I am worried that I am not keeping my teeth as clean as they should be. Can anyone give me advise on if a Sonicare tooth brush might be better then a regular toothbrush? So far I brush my teeth, then I use a water flosser, then I rinse with mouth wash. I then use that pip cleaner pick thing to brush under the wire. But my breath always stinks, and my teeth just feel gross. Any advise?

[Featheryy1221]

Do you brush them how you're supposed to? Watch a YouTube video to see if you're getting all the spots.
You may actually want to use floss in addition to the water flosser.
Mouthwash can actually make your breath smell because it doesn't do anything. You have to use an antiseptic one like listerine because it actually kills bacteria.

I use an Oral-B professional toothbrush. I used mine before getting braces and I love it. I personally think its better than the Sonicare because it has a lot smaller of brush heads. It doesn't hurt to try any electric toothbrush though. I'd never go back to manual tooth brushes. It's worth every penny.

[BraceFace2115]

I felt exactly like you and I've been braced 5 weeks! Sooooo I booked myself a clean with the hygentist, went this morning and now they look 100 times better. We also discussed cleaning and I was advised to use the pink brushes between the teeth instead of flossing, don't mouth wash straight after brushing as this prevents fluoride in toothpaste doing it's job, brush 3/5 times a day in a circular action on each tooth for 5 seconds, brush the tooth and the gum line and use the brushes to clean the brackets! x

[Melusine]

Well I have had braces for about a month now. I am worried that I am not keeping my teeth as clean as they should be. Can anyone give me advise on if a Sonicare tooth brush might be better then a regular toothbrush? So far I brush my teeth, then I use a water flosser, then I rinse with mouth wash. I then use that pip cleaner pick thing to brush under the wire. But my breath always stinks, and my teeth just feel gross. Any advise?

I use(d) a Diamondclean Sonicare Toothbrush. That being said, I had to stop using it because the vibration increase the Trigeminal Neuralgial symptoms I had developed after jaw surgery. It seemed good for cleaning. It is a really fancy toothbrush. If I hadn't developed TN, I would think it was a great purchase. http://www.sonicare.com/professional/en ... Clean.aspx

I now have an extra soft, super easy Sensodyne brand toothbrush.
http://www.drugstore.com/sensodyne-extr ... tid=183830

I use that, then I use:
Interdental brushes between brackets: http://www.tepeusa.com/products/tepe-in ... entle-care
Waterpik: http://www.target.com/p/waterpik-ultra- ... m=waterpik
Superfloss: http://www.cvs.com/shop/personal-care/o ... uid-794651

And a mouthwash. I use regular old Listerine.
http://www.cvs.com/shop/personal-care/o ... uid-212209

I floss once a day, but I brush, rinse, Waterpik, and use the interdental brushes around the brackets after every meal.

[ljms]

I switched to a power brush after about six months in braces and found it does a much better job than a regular toothbrush. A sonic action toothbrush (Sonicare or Oral B, it doesn't matter) is also easier on the enamel of your teeth.

The downside is the expensive brushheads. I go through one a month. Braces hardware wears them out quickly.

[Snowglobe32]

When I was braced my process was to brush after every meal...if I was at work, I used a manual tooth brush, floss and mouthwash.

If I was at home, my night routine was to use my waterpik, floss, waterpik again, brush with my Sonic Care and then use the waterpik one last time before mouthwash. I used ACT Total Care (the blue one) and Colgate Total toothpaste. These have always been my favorite products, you may want to try these out. I believe ACT makes a mouthwash for braces, but I am sure if you check the label for ingredients, they are probably the same as one of their other formulas so don't spend more money if you don't have to.

You may have food caught somewhere so using actual floss would benefit you. I would just take a bit more time when brushing and see if it makes a difference. If you don't have a waterpik, get one of those...I still use mine and I have been out of braces for almost a year and a half.

When I had my Costco membership, the Sonic Care brush replacement heads would go on sale...6 for $40...It was a steal! Since I do not have a membership, I am not sure if they still have those on sale at times.

[adamelk]

I was pretty obsessed with brushing at first. But Sonicare electric brush does the work. Oral-B super floss worked very well too.

[BraceFace2115]

I think braces make your teeth look like you haven't cleaned properly! Since having mine I swear my teeth look yellow although people tell me they aren't. I think the bonding glue used to fix the brackets stains easily!! Looking forward to the day I can brush my teeth with no metal in the way!!

Remember plaque will build up near the gum line leading to gum disease so make sure this area is brushed well although that's hard because the brackets sit quite near the gum line ;-(

All you can do is your best!!!