Patient Resources

Navigating Your Orthodontic Journey

Maintaining Oral
Health with Braces

The journey with braces involves more than just straightening your teeth; it’s also about ensuring your oral health is at its best throughout the process. braces, wires, bands, and retainers can trap food particles and make it challenging to remove plaque, but with the right techniques, you can effectively prevent plaque buildup, tooth decay, and gum disease.

This page offers detailed instructions on proper brushing and flossing methods tailored for orthodontic care. You’ll learn step-by-step techniques for brushing and flossing with braces, ensuring that every part of your mouth remains clean and healthy. Additionally, we provide information related to Rapid Palatal Expanders, elastic use, and retainer care.

Be sure to review our section on foods to avoid, minimizing the risk of damaging your braces and ensuring a smoother treatment process. Last, we address common orthodontic emergencies and provide helpful tips on managing them at home, ensuring you’re prepared for any situation. For any concerns or scenarios you cannot resolve on your own, our office is always ready to assist.

Click on the various topic buttons to explore each section in detail and empower yourself with the knowledge to maintain excellent oral health during your orthodontic journey.

Brushing

Using an interdental toothbrush (proxabrush) can help keep your teeth, braces, and gums clean and healthy. Use this device slowly and carefully to clean under orthodontic wires and around braces, taking care not to damage your braces.

Step 01

Start with the outside of the teeth, with the brush flat against the surface of the teeth. Use circular, vibrating motions.

Step 02

When brushing your top teeth, clean the area between the gums and braces by angling the brush downward. Keep moving in small, circular motions.

Step 03

When brushing the lower teeth, angle the brush upward.

Step 04

Carefully brush the chewing surfaces of both the upper and lower jaw.

Step 05

Finish by brushing the inside of the teeth.

Flossing

When you’re finished brushing and flossing, rinse your mouth thoroughly with water or an antiseptic dental rinse. An antiseptic rinse can help minor gum inflammations and irritations from orthodontic appliances, as well as cleanse canker sores and other minor wounds. It can also remove debris or irritants from the mouth, speeding up your body’s natural healing process.

Step 01

Floss at least once a day. You need to pull the floss under the archwire with a floss threader. Start by pulling floss through the threader.

Step 02

Push the end of the floss threader under the archwire and pull the floss through.

Step 03

Pull the floss up between the teeth and gently move it up and down the side of both teeth. Remember to move it up all the way under the gums.

Step 04

Pull the floss out and use a different section of it for the next tooth.

Elastics

Your teeth and jaws may be tender the first few days of wearing the elastics. This is normal and should begin to disappear within a week. If it persists longer, please call our office. It may seem hard for you to put on the elastics at first, however, it will become easier with practice.

Elastic wear must be constant to be effective… 24 hours a day… 7 days a week. You may remove the elastics only when eating your meals or brushing your teeth. Leave them in during snacking. Be sure to replace the elastics with new ones immediately following mealtime and brushing. Part-time wear does NOT move teeth, but it does cause them to constantly be sore.

Change the elastics routinely even if they are not broken. After a while, elastics lose their strength. Change them at least every morning and before bedtime. If one elastic breaks, replace both sides.

Carry extra elastics with you at all times. If you don’t have enough elastics to last until your next appointment, please stop by our office and get more, or call us and we can send more to you.

Retainer Care

Since retainers can accumulate food particles and plaque, brush your retainer every time you brush your teeth. This will help prevent plaque build-up and oral infections and keep it tasting better. DO NOT use hot water, which can distort the appliance.

When not being worn, keep your retainers in your case to keep them safe! Pets love to use them as a chew toy. Avoid wrapping retainers in a napkin or placing them in your pocket as this may result in breakage or being thrown in the trash. (We really do not want our patients diving into the school cafeteria dumpster looking for their retainers!)

Rapid Palatal Expander Care

The Rapid Palatal Expander (RPE) is a vital component of your orthodontic treatment. Designed to widen your upper arch and correct crossbites, it paves the way for straightening all your teeth effectively. Understanding how to care for and use this appliance correctly is crucial for achieving the best results.

Our doctors will provide specific instructions for activating your expander. It’s important to follow these instructions precisely to ensure the appliance works effectively. To activate the expander, insert the key into the hole and gently, yet steadily, push it from the front towards the back of the mouth. Pushing the key as far back as possible brings a new keyhole into position, readying it for the next activation.

Regular appointments with our doctors are necessary for monitoring the progress and making any necessary adjustments. You will be informed about the frequency of these check-ups and when to stop activating the expander.

Food Guidelines

During your first week in braces, stick to a soft food diet until any discomfort subsides. Afterward, you can eat just about anything while wearing braces, with a few exceptions.

You should avoid hard foods like ice and pizza crust, as well as sticky foods such as caramels and chewing gum since they can damage wires and brackets. Also, minimize sugary foods like ice cream and cookies, and reduce sugary drinks like soda or sports drinks to once a day.

While you are wearing braces, please avoid eating hard foods, sticky foods, and foods high in sugar. Hard foods can break or damage the wires and brackets, and sticky foods can get caught between the wires and brackets. Minimize the amount of sugary foods you eat; the sugar can cause tooth decay and other related problems.

In addition, we encourage patients to quit bad habits, such as fingernail biting, pencil and pen chewing, and chewing on foreign objects. All of these activities can break or damage your braces.

Examples of Sticky Foods to Avoid

N

Gum

(sugar-free or regular)

N

Licorice

N

Sugar Daddies

N

Toffee

N

Tootsie Rolls

N

Caramels

N

Starburst

Examples of Hard Foods to Avoid

N

Ice

N

Hard taco shells

N

Corn on the cob

N

Bagels

N

Jolly Ranchers

N

Uncooked carrots

(unless cut)

N

Nuts

N

French bread crust/rolls

N

Apples & carrots

(unless cut into small pieces)

N

Chips

N

Pizza crust

Minimize Sugary Foods Like

N

Cake

N

Cookies

N

Candy

N

Ice Cream

N

Pie

Only Once a Day

N

Soda

N

Sweetened tea

N

Drinks with sugar

N

Gatorade

N

Kool-Aid

Orthodontic Emergencies

Orthodontic emergencies are, thankfully, very rare. The following topics can help you address most orthodontic problems at home. However, for any situation you cannot resolve on your own, contact our office as soon as possible so we can schedule an appointment for you.

It’s important to regularly check your braces for bent or loose wires and brackets. If you have a loose/broken wire or bracket, please call our office immediately to arrange a repair appointment.

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Paducah Location

105 Kiana Ct.
Paducah, KY 42001

Phone: (270) 534-8776

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Murray Location

1302 Johnson Blvd.
Murray, KY 42071

Phone: (270) 753-1430

Lost Separator

Contact our office to see if it needs to be replaced. Many patients naturally lose separators during treatment, and it is rarely a cause for concern.

Wire Irritation

Try moving the wire away from the irritated area with a cotton swab or eraser. If the wire will not move, try covering the end of it with a small piece of cotton or a small amount of wax. If the wire is painful, you can cut it with nail clippers or scissors that have been properly washed and sterilized.

Loose Bracket

Contact our office to schedule a refitting or repair. In situations where you must cut the wire or slide a bracket off the wire, you may use fingernail clippers that have been properly washed and sterilized.

Sore Teeth

You may take acetaminophen or other non-aspirin pain relievers to alleviate any discomfort. A warm wash cloth, heating pad or warm salt water rinse may also reduce any soreness in your jaws.

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Ready to transform your smile? Have questions? We're here to help. Reach out to Colgan & Tritle Orthodontics today and take the first step towards a lifetime of beautiful smiles.

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