Do you all get your teeth cleaned during your braces?

[socksy]

I go to my hygienist every 4 months since having braces on. She works around the brackets and wires easily. The only thing different is I refuse to let her floss at the end - she uses a threader and it takes way too long. I floss every night anyway so it's a waste of (a lot) of time.

[jackjack]

I get cleanings every 4 months. At the beginning of treatment I held off on the cleanings and my teeth were getting too stained and build up. Getting cleanings makes such a difference! What's most important is that they clean under your gums and between teeth so brackets and wires aren't really an issue.

[equaeternal]

My ortho said every 6 months you should have your teeth cleaned and I don't think the wire has to come out...at least my otho and my dentist haven't mentioned this to me

[sapphirerose924]

My orthodontist and dentist share an office (the joys of a small town; the ortho is only in there one or two days a week), so the ortho took out the wires and the cleaning proceeded with the dentist doing her checked. Then the ortho put back in the wires and voila.

Definitely get your teeth cleaned. It would be a shame to get them straightened only to find that they are filled with cavitites.

[blindboarder2008]

when I had my braces, i was going in about every 3 to 4 months for a checkup and a cleaning just to make sure i wouldn't get cavities or anything like that. I'm still doing that now even though the braces are off and I have the wired bonded retainers cause sometimes its hard to clean under the wired retainers. Definetly get a cleaning done or 2. The last thing you will want to deal with is cavities and bacteria that secretly can get out of hand. When I had my cleanings done i had my arch wires on still, although I've heard of a few people here that they got their wires taken off and put back on the same day but it just depends on the dentist. So ask them what they perfer. Cleanings didn't take to long. I would say the first cleaning was the longest because they did a big cleaning to make sure everything was sparkly clean and they tried a few different methods.

[catgyrl]

I just have to chime in with a funny: Every time I see this thread listed on the Index page, I always (at first) think it says, "Do you get ALL your teeth cleaned..." I was tempted to write "Nah - just the dirty ones!"

[fosterp]

I schedule my ortho appts same day as cleanings. I go to the ortho first, have them take the wires out really quick, go to my dentist office and get the cleaning, then I go back to ortho later in the afternoon to get new wires in.

Only done it once so far, and the last cleaning the hygenist was pretty unhappy with the condition of my teeth. It had only been four months since braces, 6 months since last cleaning - but i had a huge brown stain line that went across all my teeth from where the archwire was. Probably a combination of my lack of brushing enough and my excessive coffee drinking. In fact the backs of my lower incisors were so stained I thought the teeth were dying.