Dr Patel could you please help me with my braces. I really dont want to get gum disease whilst my braces are on, I have lingual braces and cleaning them is a nighmare it takes about an evening to do. I do clean them all the time but its hard and sometimes I feel myself that i do not do them properly even though i try to. I looked at causes of gum disease the other day and apparently its largely due to plaque build up that doesnt get removed. I would assume that lingual braces are perfect hosts for this as they are behind the teeth and bacteria can easily hide? I sometimes think that a bit of knowledge can be dangerous and now I am really worried and have noticed that my gums are not as pink ad they used to be. I have got about seven months left with them on according to my dentist and would not want to have them removed whilst it goes only for my teeth to revert back to where they were. please could you advise on what I could potentially do in this situation I am really bothered by the whole thing. kindly appreciate you taking the time to read this. thank you
Thank you for your question.
This is an issue that all patient’s face and simply because you have flagged it up, shows that you are probably not doing to bad.
There are lots of aids to help and I have listed a few below.
1. You should have 3 monthly hygienie visits….. and I mean hygienist, not dentist doing hygiene as the hygienist will get them cleaned up better (in my experience) in the areas you find difficult to get to. They will also advise what else you can use to help keep them clean in the areas you are missing.
2. Interdental brushes can get into those hard to reach areas.
3. If gums are particularly inflamed then a corsodyl mouthwash will help reduce the inflammation in that region, only use for a short period as can cause staining with long-term use!
4. A simple task would be to just rinse your mouth out a few times with water after each meal, and this helps get rid of the bulk of the debris, so that you can concentrate on the hard to reach areas.
Hope some of these things help and keep going, it’s not for long now!
