How To Get The Best Results From Your Braces Treatment

People get braces for several reasons. Some get them to realign crooked teeth, reduce gaps, fix overbites, and more, while many get them to perfect their smiles. Skilled dentists can help you get a beautiful smile. However, it is the patient’s responsibility to ensure they care for the braces and follow all the steps leading to their smile transformation. 

Patients with misaligned teeth and gaps may find it challenging to maintain good oral hygiene. If you are not vigilant with the cleaning and maintenance, you may face infections, toothaches, or worse, you could develop periodontitis (severe gum infection).

Annually, thousands of young and mature adults get braces for shiny, clean, perfectly aligned teeth. You can also get a perfect smile by following a few critical steps. 

The UK’s leading mail order dental supply company, Kent Express supplies good quality oral hygiene products to dentists. 

Let us look at how you can get the best results from your braces treatment. 

Avoid Certain Foods:

Since childhood, most of us are taught to eat healthily and avoid certain types of foods. A good, balanced diet is crucial for your overall health and well-being and your dental hygiene. Eating fruits and vegetables, calcium-rich foods, and reducing sugar and salt can help improve gum and tooth health. You should avoid fatty and oily foods and food preparations with too much sugar or salt. Eating incorrect foods may result in tooth decay, tooth loss, or gum diseases. 

Sticky or hard foods may get stuck in your braces and linger in your mouth. Hard foods getting stuck in your braces may also cause them to break, which could harm your mouth, cause bleeding, or may delay the treatment further. It is also best to avoid foods that harm the braces (including sticky foods that can loosen the orthodontic bands). While we understand that giving up your favourite foods is hard, the treatment is temporary. Once you’re done with the treatment, you can resume eating your favourite foods and start smiling with your perfect teeth. 

Regularly Practice Good Oral Hygiene:

As children, most people are taught how to practice good oral hygiene. Things like brushing twice a day, swishing the mouth with a mouthwash after meals, flossing, and so on are not brand new techniques. However, they are critical in maintaining the upkeep of the braces. Regularly practising good oral hygiene helps prevent tooth decay, gum diseases, and bad breath. People with braces should try and invest in an electric toothbrush to ensure cleaning since manual toothbrushes may not be enough to get all the food debris out.

If you have invested in braces, you should keep them clean at all times. Regularly flossing and brushing twice a day is a must. It is also necessary to swish the mouth with a good quality mouthwash after meals. Mouthwash helps remove plaque, tartar build-up, and bad breath. If you don’t have a permanent brace and have temporary removable ones, you should remove and floss and brush them carefully before re-inserting them. The whole purpose of braces is to get your teeth healthy-looking and straight. By keeping the teeth and gums clean and healthy, you will ensure the treatment takes less time. 

Regularly Visit the Dentist:

Orthodontists work with correcting overbites, straightness of teeth, gaps, and more, while dentists help deal with teeth, gums, jaw, and overall oral health. While you will visit the orthodontist, you should ensure you make time to visit the dentists minimum of twice a year. Orthodontists and dentists work together to keep your gums and teeth healthy. These specialists will also assess how the treatment is progressing. 

Keeping up with visits to the orthodontist and dentist help keep the treatment on track and allow for any changes. Excellent oral hygiene and effectiveness of the braces wholly depend on how well you take care of the braces and follow the doctors’ instructions. Orthodontists and dentists will also advise on any refitting, adjusting, or checking required for the braces. In case of any issues, they will foresee the problem and take corrective steps. 

Question Everything:

Most people blindly follow the orthodontist and dentist when they say something. It is best to question everything, get clarifications, ask which types of braces are best for your teeth, and more. The more questions you ask, the better your treatment will be for the best results. 

While asking questions, you should also ensure you know everything about after-care, what to do in case of emergencies, how to clean the braces, and how long the treatment will take. This is also an excellent time to check the costs of the braces and what repayment options are available.