Metal Mouth Message Board

I want to buy a waterpick since it's so hard to floss with my braces...

Are waterpicks good for removing plaque? I tried flossing yesterday and my gums were bleeding, which isn't a good sign...


how do i floss with my braces?!? it wouuld take around 1 hour to do since i have expanders on both upper and bottom...

will a waterpick help remove plaque?

I had a lot of trouble flossing initially, but it did get better. Many others have also reported problems. I haven't tried a WaterPik so I can't comment on how well it works. I found that the BridgeAid floss threaders and Oral-B satin floss worked the best for me.

On a lighter note, I'm sure that I could floss much better if I was more ambidextrous (boy, is there a difference between what I can do with my right hand and my leftt hand), had better eyesight (I have to wear my reading glasses while I'm flossing), and if I could just grow a third hand!

Didn't your ortho give you a floss threader? That helps a lot. At first it does take a long time, but it does get better!

I get my braces on in a couple weeks and I found out today from my sister in law (who got hers off last month, and I am using the same ortho) that our ortho gives out a water pik, and a sonic care, plus all of the other little stuff. And I can go get all the wax I need. If ortho's give it out it must work pretty good I would think, i'll find out.

Give it 2 weeks and you WILL manage it in a tiny fraction of the time you need now! Flossing with braces is a specific skill you have to learn. It learning takes time.

The technique I found useful is the following: Bend the floss threader into a U shape und hook it under the archwire going from the gums side to the teeth side! This is even faster than superfloss.

Could someone explain exactly how a waterpik works and why it is special/different?

I visited the waterpik site, but it didn't really seem to explain.