Orthodontic care for your braces

Buffalo & West Seneca Orthodontist

Orthodontist Kathryn E. Rand, DDS, takes great pride in providing patients in the Buffalo and West Seneca, NY, area with premier orthodontic services. For best results with your orthodontic treatment, taking care of your dental braces and good oral hygiene should be your top priority. It's important for you to know how to properly take care of your braces to help prevent decay, gum disease and the staining of your teeth.

Oral Hygiene:

Brush within 5 minutes after every meal using fluoride toothpaste to remove food from braces.
Floss at least once-a-day using a floss threader and floss or a type of water flosser to clean behind the wire and between the teeth.
Rinse every night with a fluoride mouthwash to strengthen your teeth against decay and gingivitis.

Watching what you eat during treatment is also important. If part of your braces breaks, it can slow down your treatment time. We recommend that you be conscious of what you eat. Avoid foods that are hard or sticky that can break brackets or bend wires. Also, we suggest passing up foods with high sugar content or that are acidic to avoid staining or damaging your teeth.

Hard and sticky foods to avoid include:

Ice
Nuts
Corn on the cob
Popcorn
Hard candy
Bagels
Caramels
Any sticky candy in general
Fresh apples
Fresh carrots
Gum

When you first get your braces:

When you first get your braces, you may notice that your teeth and mouth feel a little sore or tender. This is perfectly normal for patients who have just had their braces placed. Soreness or tenderness in most cases is temporary. To relieve the pain, we recommend dissolving one teaspoon of salt in eight ounces of lukewarm water. Swish and gargle this solution in your mouth for just a couple of minutes, but do not swallow.

It is also not uncommon for your lips, cheeks and tongue to become irritated as they get used to the braces. We would be happy to provide you with wax that you can put over the braces to help relieve the irritation. Please feel free to contact us or ask for wax at your next appointment.

Your teeth feel loose:

If your teeth feel a little loose, don't worry this is a normal part of treatment and indicates your braces are working. Your braces must first loosen your teeth in order to move them into the right position. Once your teeth have been repositioned, they will no longer be loose.

Loose wires and/or bands:

The wires and bands on your braces occasionally may come loose. If this happens, please contact us as soon as possible so that we can check and repair your appliance. If any piece of your appliance comes off, be sure to save it and bring it to the office with you. If the loose wire is causing irritation to your lips or cheeks, put wax or a wet cotton ball over the broken wire to relieve the pain.

Taking care of your braces:

Damaged wires, bands or brackets can increase the length of your treatment process, so be sure to take good care of all your appliances. Your teeth and jaw can only move into their correct positions if you consistently wear the rubber bands, headgear, retainer, or other appliances prescribed by Dr. Kathryn Rand.