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What are the 3 Feels of a Healthy Mouth? The Fixed Brace Edit
WE’RE HERE TO SUPPORT YOU GETTING THE FEELS!
What are the 3 feels of a healthy mouth that we should check for?
Under normal circumstances (that is, without the additional teeth straightening scaffolding we’re currently em‘bracing’), we’d ask: do teeth feel consistently clean, comfortable and strong. But, during teeth straightening, these feedback loops just aren’t reliable.
Yikes!
Consistently Clean?
In braces, it’s not as easy as asking, are my teeth fuzz free?
Running our tongue over the scaffolding of brackets and arch wires is no accurate measure. Plaque could be lurking in nooks and your tongue would never know! #sadface
Consistently Comfortable?
In braces, are you kidding? Our periodontal ligaments are stretched to capacity and there's the perfect imprint of a bracket on our inner cheek where we slept hard last night.
Our pockets are teeming with Orthodontic Wax and thank goodness for Gengigel has become our mantra!
Consistently Strong?
These days, things seem to wobble more (find out why that happens during treatment in our resource Moving Teeth? Why Do My Teeth Waggle More in my Fixed Brace?). And, did we already mention the ouch that our periodontal ligament’s giving us?
How can we tell what’s strong and what’s wrong?
HERE COMES THE ‘BRACE BRAIN’ BONUS
In braces, we’re grateful for our adaptive brains
When it comes to braces, what’s a snag for those whose teeth are naked is a bonus for those of us in brackets!
Brains adapt to sensation, discomfort and can even down regulate pain. That’s a real plus when we’ve so much metal work guiding our teeth into new places. It allows us to get on with our day without having to be aware of how our mouth feels.
Of course, there’s a downside – if there is something going on signalling all is not well, we might miss it.
It’s one of the reasons we see both the orthodontist and our regular dentist: we have a double-bubble team checking our oral health.
THERE’S ONLY ONE WAY TO KEEP THE HEALTHY MOUTH FEELS IN BRACES ...
Subscribe to brush, rinse, mind the gaps! 2. Do it 3x a day!
In braces, we have one job (or that’s what we tell anyone who dares ask us to load a dishwasher, do homework, feed the cat*): we knuckle down and trust the three times a day routine.
Using uniquely formulated products developed to care for your whole mouth in braces means when you do your all-important brace brushing drill, you’re looking after everything with optimum, clinical grade care.
*Btw – brace or no brace, you must still feed the cat!
Brush at least three times a day for no less than 2 minutes
Why?
Plaque removal is the foundation of all oral care. Both tooth health and gum health rely on plaque being brushed away.
A Fixed Brace Complete Kit subscription is built around a core function toothpaste for your oral health.
The kit contains VITIS Orthodontic Toothpaste. Its semi-liquid squeezes into gaps and overcrowding and coats teeth and brackets ensuring its clinically active ingredients get to work in even the tightest of spaces remineralising vulnerable enamel.
With a V-shaped contour, the VITIS Orthodontic Access Toothbrush straddles arch wires while its compact head means better cleaning of your brace – there are some tight spaces in there, right?
Spit, don’t rinse at brushing time
Why?
You’re allowing fluoride to flex its protective effects for as long as 90 minutes beyond brushing.
Fluoride
- Inhibits enamel demineralisation
- Enhances remineralisation
- Can affect the reproductive activity of bacteria
Given that, if we’re not careful, bacteria tend to have the edge during teeth straightening. Not spitting out those helpful ingredients helps keep you protected until rinse time. May the odds be ever in your favour!
Make one of those 3 brushing sessions before bed
Why?
Saliva production, which helps protect teeth during the day, drops during sleep.
Further protect during those power downs with XyliMelts to inhibit the dry mouth that can come with braces and zeds! Xylitol, the main ingredient in XyliMelts, is the foe of streptococcus mutans – the main cavity causing culprit. Xylitol increases salivary flow and raises pH levels, reducing demineralisation.
When it comes to your teeth, looking after them in braces overnight could help in the battle that means there’s no white stain spots on you!
Brush interdental spaces. Spaces too tight? Floss!
Why?
Make this a before bed thing – and add in interdental brushing to your other two brushing sessions if you can. Chances are if there was anything leafy in your lunch, you’ll be reaching for the Interdental Brushes pronto, anyway!
The Use of Interdental Brushes Along with Toothbrushing Removes Most Plaque. We love Interprox Interdental Brushes for the gold standard in minding those gaps! Their durability when up against, dare we say, ‘metal gate’, aka your brace, is second to none.
Stiff ended floss is essential for flossing snug contacts. ProxySoft 3 in 1 Floss is an experienced ally when it comes to flossing with a brace. You never know, post brace, you might never look back!
Rinse in between brushing with alcohol free mouthwash
Why?
Alcohol free mouthwash is kinder to oral health as it doesn’t dry the mouth and so avoids leaving tissues more vulnerable. With the risk of your brace rubbing and irritating tissues, a mouthwash formulated for rapid healing and soothing of tissues is our Orthodontic Mouthwash of choice.
And because we get that subscribing to the absolute best in brace care can sometimes evade us all when it comes to fulfilling our orthodontic mouthwash obligations, we’ve assembled the Fixed Brace Essentials Kit with one less bottle of mouthwash.
Bonus: VITIS Orthodontic Mouthwash contains allantoin and aloe vera. Both ingredients help soothe and heal brace irritation.
Double bubble bonus: Being alcohol free, this rinse step won’t sting so no embarrassing ooh-ahh dance for you!
KEEP CONSISTENT ON THE MOVE
Because there’s more to life than the bathroom sink ...
We know that life doesn’t unfold at the bathroom sink. Adventure is out there! Need your brace kit on the move?
Try the Fixed Brace Travel Kit-mini toothpaste and mouthwash plus a toothbrush, interdental brushes and wax (ooh, that’s better).
A COMMITMENT TO YOUR FUTURE SMILE
Straighter teeth can be easier to keep clean
Before too long, you’ll have that smile to celebrate. Straighter teeth can be simpler to keep clean. Then The Three Feels of a Healthy Mouth non-brace wearers enjoy will be yours.
Until then, with a Healthy Smile Pharmacy Subscription to clinical grade orthodontic products, you have a bathroom shelf ready to support an effective routine to help maintain consistency.
Someone delivering the tools for that consistent routine to your door at intervals to suit you? It’s practically a concierge for fixed brace routine!
Kick back with doorstep delivery and clinical grade? Yes – it really is that simple!
No high street hunt, no superstore scramble, no middle aisle dupes (they simply don’t exist).
We support you building consistent routines for your oral health because, in fixed braces, you’ve got the right kit to hand.
NOW YOU KNOW THE EASE AND SENSE
The 3 feels of a healthy mouth start with a clinical grade bathroom shelf!
Brush away the doubt and subscribe to feeling clean.
Think of us as the clinical grade bridge between orthodontic appointments: helping you keep teeth clean, maintain oral health confidence and keep your mouth feeling strong.
Keep brushing!
