At Morita Orthodontics, we’re on a mission to help patients throughout Honolulu and Aiea achieve a healthy, beautiful smile through orthodontic treatment. But in addition to treatments like braces and Invisalign that we provide in our office, how you care for your teeth at home is vital to maintaining a healthy smile – especially during orthodontic treatment. So to help you take better care of your teeth and ensure successful orthodontic treatment, we’d like to take a moment to talk about how to properly brush your teeth with braces.
Brushing your teeth is crucial to dental health, especially while getting treatment with braces. But brushing with braces takes a technique that’s a little different from how you would brush normally.
To start, we recommend using a soft-bristle or bi-level toothbrush. An electric toothbrush is also a good option, but you’ll need to keep it to a moderate power level, and it’s important to make sure the back of the brush doesn’t bump up against your brackets, as this can cause damage. To brush your teeth, tilt the brush at a 45º angle towards the gums and brush normally, then switch the angle to point the other way and finish brushing. This allows you to properly clean the area around the brackets.
After cleaning the brackets, you’ll want to brush the chewing surfaces of the teeth, and finally the backsides of the teeth. The main thing to keep in mind is to make sure to be thorough when brushing, as it’s important to clean all food particles and debris from not just your teeth, but also your brackets and archwires.
We hope this blog makes it a little easier to properly clean your teeth while you’re wearing braces, and if you still have questions, we’re always here to help. Reach out to us at our contact page with any questions on proper oral hygiene during orthodontic treatment or to schedule a checkup appointment at one of our offices. We can’t wait to hear from you, and we look forward to helping you achieve your dream smile!
If you’re interested in scheduling an appointment with us, you can fill out our online appointment request form or give us a call at our Honolulu office at (808) 941-3355 or our Aiea office at (808) 486-5505. We can’t wait to hear from you!
RE: COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
To our valued patients,
In order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus), President Trump, the American Dental Association and the Hawaii Dental Association are recommending all dentists postpone nonemergency dental procedures for 2 weeks. Our practice is committed to protecting the community and avoiding using valuable resources that our first responders and frontline healthcare providers will need.
Our office will be closed effective today, Wednesday, March 18, and we plan to resume regular hours on Wednesday, April 1. If you are experiencing a true dental emergency including swelling or severe tooth pain, please call your general dentist office, and listen closely as emergency contact info will be available. For all nonemergent questions, please email us at [email protected].
We are so sorry for the burden this places on your schedules, but your continued health and safety are our number one priority. Our office is working diligently to reschedule all patients with existing appointments within the next 2 weeks. We will continue to evaluate the situation as it evolves and determine on a weekly basis when it is appropriate for us to return to normal orthodontic patient care. We ask for your compassion and understanding at this time as we all work together to keep Hawaii healthy.
Sincerely,
Your Morita Orthodontics Ohana
