As a young mother, I was reasonably ignorant when raising my firstborn. My biggest regret is that I didn't help her take better care of her teeth. Like many people, I didn't realise the importance of baby teeth, resulting in long-term dental problems. Recently, my daughter got married and some of my tears were for the beautiful, glistening smile she presented to the cameras. Ever since I realised the dental damage I had caused, I had been saving for my daughter to have cosmetic dentistry. The results are remarkable. During the course of this journey, I have learnt a lot about caring for children's teeth and corrective procedures that can be undertaken when issues arise. I am sure many of you would be interested in the latest knowledge and techniques that are available to prevent and repair dental complications. I'm Margret Devlin - thanks for visiting.
Those new braces in your mouth aren't going to stain your teeth. So why do many people with braces experience tooth discolouration? It's actually fairly easy to prevent your teeth from becoming stained during your orthodontic treatment.
Inside Or Outside
Teeth are subject to intrinsic and extrinsic staining. Intrinsic staining is when the discolouration starts inside the tooth, such as if its nerve experiences damage and starts to bleed. Most types of staining are extrinsic, meaning they start from the outside of the tooth. This staining is mostly dietary and comes from the foods and drinks you consume. Its effects are offset by simple at-home dental hygiene, like brushing your teeth. So how does this relate to your new braces?
Brackets
Your orthodontist bonded brackets onto your teeth. The wire that keeps your braces tight was then threaded through those brackets. The brackets cover small areas of the tooth's surface enamel, meaning you can't clean these parts of the tooth's outward-facing surface. But this isn't actually a problem, since the brackets protect these patches of enamel from compounds that can cause staining and decay.
Food And Drink
Although the brackets aren't bulky, they create small ridges on teeth where fragments of food may accumulate, as well as residues from anything you drink. If left in direct contact with your dental enamel for extended periods of time before being brushed away, the microscopic food fragments and drink residues may be absorbed by your porous dental enamel, leading to extrinsic staining of your teeth around your brackets. But it's not necessarily so easy to brush these fragments and residues away.
Manual
It's trickier than you might expect to clean around your brackets. But it's really just a matter of learning the best method. A standard manual toothbrush can't provide comprehensive results. If using a manual toothbrush, clean your teeth as usual. Then, use a small interdental brush (a thin, tiny brush designed for cleaning between your teeth) to clean around the outline of each bracket in your mouth. This is effective but takes quite a bit of time.
Automatic
You could also just upgrade to an electric ultrasonic toothbrush. The ultrasonic capabilities of the brush help to break up plaque and any residue left on the tooth (and its bracket), and this automatic method requires far less effort than the manual option.
Cleaning around your brackets is essential for making sure your teeth don't discolour during your orthodontic treatment. Teeth whitening can also be performed once your braces have been removed.
Share10 January 2023
