Ortho Hygiene

Brushing & Flossing

You will notice that it is much harder to keep your teeth clean with braces. Food becomes caught in the brackets and between your teeth and can only be removed by brushing and flossing. If plaque remains on the teeth for any length of time, it can leave a permanent white scar on the surface. Brushing after meals should become part of your daily schedule. Use a soft toothbrush and brush at a 45-degree angle to the tooth in small circles above and below the brackets. Your toothbrush will wear out faster because of your appliances, so be sure to replace it whenever the bristles start to fray.

A waterpik can be a useful addition, but it cannot remove the sticky plaque that adheres to the teeth. A Sonicare ultrasonic toothbrush can be used to help remove plaque. Flossing is important with braces and is accomplished using reusable floss threaders.

Eating Habits

Please do not eat hard foods including nuts, ice, crisp taco shells, whole apples and carrots (cut them into pieces first), hard French bread crust and rolls, spare ribs, corn on the cob (cut the corn off the cob before eating) and popcorn! These foods can cause breakage of the brackets and wires. Also beware of nail biting and pen or pencil chewing habits, since these can damage your braces. Do not eat sticky foods like taffy, caramels, bubble gum or sticky candy of any sort. Use common sense about most foods. Excessive broken appliances due to careless eating habits may result in additional charges for repair.

Foods to Avoid

Minimize sugar intake and eat less candy, ice cream, cake, cookies, pie, foods with sugar and drink less sodas or drinks with sugar

Sticky Foods	Hard Foods
Caramel	Nuts
Sugar Daddies	Popcorn
Starbursts	Bagels
Caramel Apples	Apples
Sugar Babies	Corn on the Cob
Licorice	Pizza Crusts
Toffee	Carrots (uncooked)
Tootsie Rolls	Doritos