After thinking for months, you finally get braces done. You love how you can make your teeth tidier but now you’re stuck with one question, braces would be hard to brush.

We’re going to teach you that. Before we start, remove any wax, elastic or removable part of your orthodontic appliances. Rinse with water to help loosen any food lodged. Now let’s start with tooth brushing. Choose a small headed toothbrush so it can reach into the back of your mouth and clean your molars properly. We know braces create all those nooks and crannies in your mouth and that can make cleaning difficult. Choose one with fine bristles as well so it can reach into those hard to reach areas and clean better. Using a toothpaste that contains fluoride can help prevent dental cavities. How to know if your toothpaste has fluoride in it? Just flip over your toothpaste and check if it contains sodium monofluorophosphate, sodium fluoride or standard fluoride, these are all types of fluoride.

Now let’s start with the first round of simple cleaning by brushing your teeth in a circular motion from one side to another. This should get rid of the large food particles stuck on your brackets and arch wire. Then, let’s divide your braces into three parts: the top, the bottom and the front surfaces. Let’s start with the top. Hold your toothbrush at a 45 degree angle against the top part of your braces. Move your toothbrush back and forth to ensure that you brush all teeth surfaces, arch wire and brackets properly. Do this for at least 20 seconds for all surfaces. Second, repeat the same motion but from the bottom part of your braces. You may do this from one side to another instead of starting from the middle to make sure you don’t miss out any tooth surfaces. Do this for at least 20 seconds as well. Lastly, brush the front surfaces of your braces with a circular motion to make sure you’ve got all surfaces covered.

Don’t forget to brush the biting surface as well as the inner surface of all teeth. Most people tend to forget the surface facing your tongue and this is where most dental stones are found. Now let’s go to the most important part: the gum line. The gum line is the part where teeth meets the gum. Angulate your toothbrush 45 degrees towards the gum line. Brush gently against the gum line. Followed by swiping it towards the biting surface to make sure there’s no remaining plague that can lead to gingivitis or gum diseases.

Sometimes there is still something stuck in between teeth, you can use a thread floss. You may insert the end in between your brackets like this. Gently floss in between your teeth. Make sure your floss properly adapts to the tooth surface and gently move the floss up and down. You may floss after you’ve brushed your teeth. Interproximal brush is also helpful in removing any plague or debris that is stuck in between the brackets. Gently move it up and down to ensure you’ve cleaned all surfaces properly.

If all of the things mentioned seems to be too troublesome for you, you can always consider getting a water flosser. It is a handheld device that shoots a stream of liquid at your teeth hard enough to clean between them. You can use it to clean around your bracket as well as hard to reach areas like the back of your mouth.