Become the Boss of Your Brain and Brace Brackets

‘Routine’s boring!’  

Routine? It doesn’t motivate all of us – it's low-reward stuff. Some of us need more dopamine – our reward hormone – when it comes to brushing teeth in braces. Patting ourselves on the back for keeping our braces brushed? Nope, it's just not enough!  

I can't see the finish line!  

You’ve no idea what you’re brushing for! Straightening teeth with braces takes time. Imagining the end’s like standing in one goal net while trying to watch a viral video on your friend’s phone in the opposite goal – impossible, never mind invisible.  

We’re wonderfully inconsistent: Some of us like to switch things up. At times, we get busy brushing our braces, rinsing in between, no food particle is left un-swept by our interdental brushes.  Then there’s the other days, ... Random!  

Maybe we have some neuro-spiciness?  

Neurodiversity means we might experience ‘task defiance’. We’re not naughty rebels; it’s just that brushing our teeth in braces can feel emotionally weighty. Frustration, overwhelm, boredom? We’d rather avoid the drama, thanks. 

Fear of losing something you have helps us to develop positive behaviours. It’s time to educate ourselves about what we can lose if we don’t pay attention to our oral health in braces.  

But we need fear in tiny doses. We don’t want fright night in a House of Horrors! Images of decayed teeth may seem a great motivator, but our brains struggle to think that could be me. And we don’t want nightmares! 

Let’s start at the beginning with a very real problem. Your lovely gnashers? What if they developed white spots? No one wants their brackets taking off only to find ‘bracket ghosts’ haunting them once the brace is gone, right? Those spots are called decalcification spots. 

Imagine your teeth with white decalcification spots. It’s not a big leap of the imagination, right – a second tone of white on your teeth? White spots are areas of weakened tooth enamel. They develop when plaque and its acids build on our teeth and around brackets. That acid sucks some natural calcium out of our teeth. 

Now you've developed some concern about what might happen if you don’t follow your daily oral care routine for fixed brace patients, you’ll need to know: 

If you’re using VITIS Fixed Brace Daily Care Kit, those medical grade orthodontic products are brilliant at breaking up the bust up between plaque, your brackets and your teeth. They help remineralise tooth enamel, too. The toothpaste, because it’s semi-liquid, oozes into those awkward brace spaces like a shapeshifting ninja! 

Between brushing, the mouthwash swooshes in, so you’re fluoride flush. Bonus: your mouthwash is alcohol free so it doesn’t dry your mouth. Did you know your saliva helps fight against white spots, too? What a partnership! No one around here’s losing their uniformly white tooth colour!  

You don’t like routine, but you always manage to binge a good hour of TV (or YouTube – you do you) before bed. Hmmm! Let’s use that habit with temptation bundling.   

Your viewing habit’s the temptation, so let’s bundle it up with that final brush up of the day. Brush your teeth before you settle down for that cosy viewing hour. Interdental while the credits roll. It’s an hour from bedtime, so you’re not too tired.  

Bonus: no one told you do it, so that task defiance doesn’t kick in. By the time the ‘rents are asking whether you’ve done your teeth, your smile’s as permanent as SpongeBob SquarePants’ cheery grin. What, no arguments? Hurrah! 

But, while we’re thinking SpongeBob yellow, let’s tackle the yellow teeth stain risk with fixed braces. Some yellow stains are caused by the foods we eat – take some advice from How to Beat Staining Food and Drink at Their Own Game. But, plaque can harden around brackets, if it’s not brushed away, and tartar can form. Your orthodontic team or hygienist can help you make a fresh start. But, a fresh start isn’t always available, if your enamel has been damaged by the acid.  

Interdental brushes get up close and right in there when you’re wearing fixed braces. Spend that first few minutes of your late-night TV minding your gaps with your interdental brushes? Aim for perfect performance with those brushes by reading our article Learn How to Interdental Brush Like a Pro!  

By the time those final credits roll, you can slide into sleep, the only risks being those weird nightmares of your teeth falling out!