Taking care of braces. Good oral hygiene is essential to ensure that gum disease or tooth decay does not happen while orthodontic treatment is going on.

• Brushing twice a day for 2-3 min.
• Using a soft round-bristle toothbrush to clear teeth and gums.
• Flossing daily or interproximal brush to remove plaque and food debris.
• Using an oral irrigation device like water pik to help clean the mouth and flush out food debris sticking to the mouth.
• Rinsing with a mouthwash containing fluoride to strengthen the teeth. Tooth Mousse plus is an excellent paste to create an alkaline ph in the mouth and remineralization of teeth. It prevents tooth decay and ugly white patches which happen in patients with poor oral hygiene.
• Cut down on sugary and starchy food like cakes, pastries, ice-cream, desserts. These foods produce more plaque and result in decay and white spots on teeth.
• Avoid hard foods that can break your braces -example pop-corns, hard candies (lolly pops, peppermint-sticks), chewing on bones, ice. POPCORN! Even though it is not hard, the kernels can get caught and pop off a bracket Avoid biting directly into hard foods such as apples, carrot sticks, hard bread/bagels. Instead, cut them up and chew them with your back teeth!
• Avoid sticky foods that can break parts of your braces-like chewing gums (esp bubble gum), chewy candies, indian sweets (sohan- halwa), caramels, licorice. Please do not chew on pens, pencils, fingernails. The list is endless, anything HARD and STICKY should be avoided. Remember that broken brackets and appliances slow down your treatment.