Keeping Your Braces Clean

A few important tips about keeping your braces clean:

Brush 2-3 times per day: Maintaining healthy brushing habits will help to keep your teeth clean and will also keep them from staining. Imagine if you didn't brush while having braces. Your teeth would get dirty while the spots under your braces stay white. It's kind of like a tan line. It's very important to keep your teeth clean to ensure this doesn't happen. As long as you continue to brush the normal amount, you won't have a problem.

Floss: Yup, floss. I know that it sounds hard to floss with wires there, but it's not that hard. If you're having trouble flossing still, contact your local orthodontist and they can get you some helpful tools to make flossing easier.

Yes these sound simple, but I have had patients who disregard simple oral health during their treatment. It's important to stick with good habits throughout your life when it comes to your dental health, and especially during your orthodontic treatment.

Invisalign and You

Some Invisalign questions to ask yourself:

1.) Am I eating with my aligners on? - These aligners are removable and should be taken out when you eat.
2.) Am I drinking anything other than water with my aligners on? - Though it's not a necessity for you to take out your aligners while you drink, think about how sticky a soda is. If you take out your aligners when drinking a soda, you have a better chance of keeping your aligners clean.
3.) Am I brushing before putting the trays on? - The aligners have both an inside and outside. Keeping the outside clean is easy. Keeping the inside clean is also easy: just make sure you've brushed your teeth before putting the trays on.

Many people know that Invisalign is a great solution to braces if you don't want to experience the look and feel of traditional metal braces. What few people know, though, is that just like traditional braces, Invisalign requires proper care to work effectively. Good oral hygiene is highly important, even when you are wearing something in your mouth that you can take out to eat with. It's still likely that your aligners can build up plaque if not treated properly. Think about what you can do to keep your aligners up to shape and you'll also keep your oral health top notch.

80-year-old woman with braces!

It's inspiring to see how much braces can change a life, but I'm mainly used to seeing it change someone's life early on. Even as an orthodontist, I was a little surprised to hear about Cherie Colburn, an 80-year-old Denver woman who decided that life was too short, it was time to get her smile perfect! Her story is pretty inspirational. You'll see on our orthodontic website that braces are for all ages, adults, teens, and children. Treatments vary based on age, but the overall theme remains the same: Regardless of your age, braces will help you smile in a way you never thought possible. Having that perfect smile instills confidence in us all, and I encourage you to call your local orthodontist today if you feel that it's now your time. And, if you're in the Washington DC area, call us up at Orchin Orthodontics!

Getting Invisalign in Washington, DC? Check This Out

Have you been thinking about getting Invisalign in Washington, DC? As top Invisalign providers in the area, we understand the need for our patients to research the product and make sure that it's right for them. Take a moment to check out this video we found to help keep you informed: