How to care for your teeth when wearing braces in Leicester

Posted on: September 12th, 2014 by freshadmin No Comments

It is really important to have a good diet and good oral hygiene while you are going through an orthodontics treatment as otherwise you can cause holes in your teeth or gum infection.

You will find that lots of food will get trapped around your braces, so cleaning your teeth will take longer and you will need to clean them every time after you eat.

Brushing and flossing will be a little bit harder, but you will soon get used to it. You can use a manual or electric toothbrush and if you want you can buy special toothbrush heads that are specially designed for dental braces.

It is also important to use a fluoride mouthwash to remineralise the enamel of your teeth. Tepe brushes are also a very useful tool to clean around the brackets as shown in the photos below. You can bend them slightly and use them to brush around each bracket, in between, and above and below the bracket. Dr Sepehrara always advise her patients to have small interdental brushes in their bags with them so that they can use them after each meal.

how-take-care-for-your-teeth-when-wearing-braces-leicester-1 how-take-care-for-your-teeth-when-wearing-braces-leicester-2

Most foods can be eaten you just need to find the ones you can cope with, most things are easily managed in bite size. Taking small bites and chewing well will help your digestion and saliva production which will also help keep the acid in your mouth reduced.

Please find below a list of foods to have, avoid and buy while you are wearing dental braces:

 

Foods to Avoid
  • Fizzy drinks and high sugar fruit juices
  • Sticky food with sugar coatings
  • Toffee and hard boiled sweets
  • Chewing Gum
  • Whole nuts
  • Ice cubes
  • Corn on the cob

 

Foods that can be a problem with braces
  • Apples
  • Hard carrot sticks
  • Celery
  • Muesli and nut based cereals
  • Meat that requires chewing ie steak
  • Seeds
  • Crusty Bread
  • Crisps

 

Shopping List if you have braces
  • Dairy : Milk, Cheese, Eggs, Yoghurt
  • Fish : Tuna, Salmon, Mackerel, Sardines
  • Meat : Pork, Liver, Poultry, Lean meats
  • Vegetables : Broccoli, Green Beans, Sweet Potato, Carrots
  • Fruit : Melon, Apricot, Mango, Watermelon
  • Other : Bread, Cereals, Dried Beans, Orange Juice

If you are not sure about something just get in touch and the Straight Teeth Suite hygienist or dentist in Leicester will be there to help you.