Cleaning Routine

One of the things that you can look forward to when wearing braces is the joy of getting anything and everything possible stuck on your braces, indeed most brace wearers become obsessive with cleaning and brushing in order to prevent decay

Here on this page I outline my cleaning routine that happens 4 times a day, the picture below shows my arsenal of weapons cleaning equipment used

 

And of course the holy grail of brushing my Panasonic Sonic toothbrush

 

Step 1: Waterflosser

I start by running the waterflosser on the front,back and in between each of my tooth, in my time in braces so far this has been a lifesaver in getting gunk out especially from the braces at the very back which are metal and anchors the entire archwire, I have included a picture here, as you can see it also helps you get the gunk from between your gums and teeth making the job of your toothbrush a lot easier

 

The travel version you see in the picture above is useful when I go out for dinners/meals or when I'm going overnight traveling somewhere, it fits in nicely in a small case with my toothbrush and other brace cleaning equipment, its also 2x AA battery operated so you don't have to bring the charger with you

Step 2: Orthodontic Brush

After getting all the main gunk out I use the orthodontic brush to clean between and under the braces

Step 3: Sonic toothbrush

Brushing the teeth while in braces requires some more maneuvering than usual, please remember to brush up middle and downwards

I switched over from my rotational oral B toothbrush to sonic as i felt the rotational action could harm the braces, that said its a personal choice and so far I've read that both are just as good

Step 4:  Oral B Superfloss

The waterflosser does a very respectable job but I added this step just as a additional precaution as I am paranoid about tooth decay. I only do this step once a day and that is before bed just to make sure the waterflosser has done its job. Oral B has done an amazing job at inventing this contraption that has a waxed edge to easily string through in between your teeth and over your braces.

Step 5: Gargle with Mouth wash

Self explanatory, I would finish up by running the waterflosser again if I've had something chewy like rice or with high color like curry just in case

And thats it! I'm generally done in 10 minutes or less

Note that my toothpaste of choice has been sensodyne as the I wanted to protect my enamel from the frequent brushing

Let me know if you have any questions in the comments section below and I will try my best to answer them

UPDATE 11th Jan 2016

As my teeth are straightening out I also have little gaps in between some of my teeth as well as "black triangles" forming much like the picture below: -

For this I have found interdental brushes to be a real life saver, they really get into these narrow gaps and clean them out good, picking up whatever has been left off by my water flosser or manual flossing