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I was a religious flosser prior to getting braces - when I got my braces the ortho did show me the proper way to floss... so with that being said, yesterday (2 days after being braced) I figured I'll give it a try.
OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was going to cry
it hurt so bad - my teeth are very sore and I definitely cant chew anything, so I am guessing I shouldnt be flossing until I can go back to eating normal food?
but at the same time, religious flosser? any advice on how to make the pain go away when trying to floss please let me know.
ALSO
If I am scared that if I brush too hard the brackets will fall off.
Did anyone brush too hard and had one of their brackets fall off?
or if the bracket fell off, was it due to eating something you were not supposed to?
Thank you!
maggie
Spacers: 8 - 4 top, 4 bottom on 04.04.09
Braced on: 04.09.09
Sentence: 18-24 Months
As long as you don't go absolutely crazy with the toothbrush, you won't brush the brackets off of your teeth. You'd probably rip your gums to shreds before having any effect on the bracket adhesive.
When you eventually have the brackets removed, you'll understand that it would take a lot more than a toothbrush to get those things off.
Don't worry about a bracket coming off from brushing. If brackets came off that easily, they wouldn't advise us to brush our teeth so frequently. As for the flossing, you just got your braces so of course your teeth and gums are sore! If it hurts too much to floss at this point, I would say it's fine to skip a day or two flossing until your gums feel a bit less sore. Brush thoroughly and gently and then use a mouthwash. Add in the flossing as the soreness starts to subside. You will get used to it!
brushing too hard will not bother your bracket. I brush a little vigourously on occasion. Im having the worst time flossing the very last molar. That is a trek and a half. I finally just got up between the molar next to my banded tooth. That was wild.
When i first got my braces, i had a really hard time flossing my teeth, to the point that I nearly broke down the first night in the bathroom crying cause I just couldn't floss right. I to was an avid flosser before hand, flossed at least 2 a day sometimes more. If you want you can try the little interproxial brushes (otherwise known sometimes as x mas tree brushes), there kinda do the same thing as floss, except i find that they massage the area between my teeth which rally make them feel good and really help to get trapped food out. You can try returning to floss when your mouth pain dies down a bit, but if you want for the time being you can use the x mas tree brushes. there nice and tiny and not very expensive at all.
best of luck with your braces and congratz on getting braces! your on your way to a new smile:)
Braced: March 19th 2008
Impacted wisdom teeth extraction surgery: June 20th 2008 1pm (13 hours of fasting)
Jaw surgery (upper and lower)Lefort 1 with Madable Advancement: June 2nd 2009 @8am!!!! 1 surgery down 2 surgeries to go!!
debrace day: jan 18th 2010!!!! *has 2 fixed retainers and an essix retainer for night time now!
I never had a bracket fall off. And I was always scared in the beginning that brushing would do that but nope, never happened!
And I was quite the opposite. Before braces I flossed maybe once a week! When I got braces I was bound and determined to take really good care of my teeth. Once I got the flossing thing down I did it every night. The only time I didn't was on adjustment days when my teeth were sore. So I'd floss but if a spot hurt I let it go. But I did push down on sensitive areas but it only hurt for a few seconds and the pain subsided.
Sentenced: 20-24 months
Braced May 11, 2007
Debraced Feb. 23, 2009
21 months in braces, 17 months in elastic, NO regrets!! Now in Hawley retainers!!
I had all my brackets and my upper arch wired last Wednesday, plus an extraction on the lower so they waited to put the lower wire on until today. I tried flossing between my last upper molar and the banded tooth and the floss broke! Then I decided I would try something else (real smart) and used a plackers flosser back there and I got it through but it got stuck! I had to get a pair of scissor and cut the floss out, but to make a long story short now I can get my floss in there. There must have been some adhesive stuck in there. It will get better. My upper arch is already feeling a lot better.
All hail Glide Floss! My arches are so tight, I simply cannot floss without a lot of strain if I use anything except Glide. If you are having issues getting the floss in and out, give it a try. It's thinner, smoother, and wider than other floss, making the whole task a lot easier.
We definitely have to learn new ways to floss with braces! I was lucky and didn't have tight spaces to contend with. But flossing was very tedious and time consuming at first. Now I use the Oral–B SuperFloss and it goes much faster. The stiff end of the floss makes it really easy to thread under the archwire.
Click on WWW to see my braces story.
August 16, 2007 - Braced on top
January 3, 2008 - Braced on bottom
Yesterday I went and bought the Crest (anti breakage) WAXED floss and when I opened it, it turns out it was a lot thicker and a lot smoother than the one I was using.
Spacers: 8 - 4 top, 4 bottom on 04.04.09
Braced on: 04.09.09
Sentence: 18-24 Months
You just have to be careful when you floss with braces. At first, you may notice a little bleeding. That just means that you should floss and brush more. After about 1-2 weeks, you should notice a decrease in bleeding. You should brush about 3-5 times a day with braces. Here are some videos on flossing with braces and brushing with braces to help you out. You have to brush pretty hard to break a bracket, but it can happen. Most likely you probably broke it eating something, then noticed it move when you started brushing your teeth. =D
To JJRP and one additional question to others at the bottom!
I am a little confused with the last part of your message when you said "you probably broke it eating something" i think thats what it said at least.. i did break anything? lol i was just wondering if its possible that if I brush too hard it will fall off.
Also, no bleeding for me - prior to braces I used to brush 2x a day and floss 2x a day so I think my teeth/gums are pretty used to it.
But I do have one more question
Mouthwash - so evertime I use it now I make sure I rinse my mouth completely after but each time I get this "blue" residue? not sure what I would call it from the mouthwash and it gets stuck on the wires??? (blue because the mouthwash is blue)
then i use the dent pick or whatever that is called and get it out that, is this normal? or did my ortho use some cheep wires? lol
Spacers: 8 - 4 top, 4 bottom on 04.04.09
Braced on: 04.09.09
Sentence: 18-24 Months
Is it the Crest ProHealth? I read on other threads that this is a big problem with this mouthwash. Some people had switched to using the mouthwash first then flossing, etc.
