The time has come when you have finally decided to go ahead with the idea of getting a better smile for yourself or your child. As we all know there is no better modality than braces that will do the job for you. Non-invasive treatments involving the natural movement of teeth are their advantages.

As we are all excited to start the orthodontic treatment we also need to be aware how to take care of your braces. This is broadly divided into two categories:
1) Hygiene with braces
2) Prevention of dislodgement/ breakages of braces
 
I) Hygiene with braces
a) Toothbrush: A Medium bristled brush is recommended. It should have a simple bristle design. The brush with a small head is desirable for children to enable to clean the last teeth at the back of the mouth well.

b) Interdental brush: An interdental brush/ proxa brush is required to dislodge the food particles in between the braces where the regular toothbrush finds it difficult to clean with the wires in the mouth. Just wet the interdental brush with water and very gently clean the teeth.

c) Mouthwash: Using an antiseptic mouthwash gives added protection to the teeth and gums.

d) Flossing: Adult patients can floss their teeth interdentally. Waxed floss is recommended.

 Brushing twice daily using toothpaste is very important and each time you have an orthodontic appointment brush your teeth and then go for your visit to the orthodontist.
 
II) Prevention of dislodgement/ breakages of braces
a) Food consistency: Soft and easy to chew food items are essential to be a part of the diet of braces patients. Consumption of hard, sticky and crunchy items exert very high chewing forces on the braces which tends to dislodge the brackets or sometimes deform them.

Eg. Chikki, chakli, popcorn, wafers, peanuts, almonds, farsan items, seeded fruits like guava, pomegranate, caramel based chocolates like éclairs and five star, filled chocolates with dry fruits.

Soft chocolates, dry fruits which are ground to powder can be consumed. Raw food items including grilled sandwiches should be sliced fine and non vegetarians need to eat boneless meat.

Avoid cutting, biting or scrapping food items using the front teeth. Every food item which needs to be broken into small pieces and consumed should be cut with a knife or broken with the fingers and loaded over the back teeth and chewed.

b) Sports: Children engaged in contact sports like boxing, karate, football, rugby are either instructed to avoid these sports during treatment or wear a mouthguard while playing.

c) Habits: Nail biting, pencil biting, objects inserted in the mouth frequently out of habits tend to dislodge braces.