Excited about the long-term result of wearing braces, but not loving the experience that comes along with wearing them? Fortunately, you’re not alone. While braces can help straighten teeth to achieve a winning smile, there can certainly be difficulties that arise during the procedure. One of the greater concerns from those with braces is the yellowing of teeth while wearing them.
What Makes Your Teeth Turn Yellow With Braces? The main reason teeth turn yellow while sporting braces is due to poor oral hygiene.
It’s much harder to ensure your teeth are getting cleaned with braces making all areas of teeth hard to reach.
Best Tips To Prevent Your Teeth Turning Yellow While Wearing Braces
- Avoid eating heavily-colored foods that naturally stain, such as curry or brightly-colored ice cream. A good rule of thumb is avoid foods that would typically stain a white t-shirt. Stick to foods that have more neutral colors to lessen any chance of a stain.
- Brush, brush, brush. To ensure that teeth and gums aren’t damaged, use a soft-bristled toothbrush that will remain gentle on your mouth while guaranteeing proper cleaning. Medium or hard bristles can injure more sensitive areas in your mouth and cause bleeding of the gums.
- For even more assurance that every nook and cranny of your mouth is getting brushed, also use a proxabrush. These tiny brushes are perfect for getting to hard-to-reach areas for typical toothbrushes by getting rid of any remaining plaque or bacteria build-up around the braces. Further, removing all build-up in the mouth will also lessen the possibility of bad breath.
- Don’t forget to floss! After using a proxabrush, use some floss to get any left-over stuff left in between your teeth or around the wires of your braces. Flossing in addition to brushing is much more effective than simply brushing alone.
- If flossing isn’t working for you, try out a water flosser. If your gums are especially sensitive, a water flosser will be far more easier to tolerate than your typical string dental floss.
- Lastly, don’t forget to wrap up the process by using mouthwash. Not only will you feel refreshed, the mouthwash will help with the staining and kill any bacteria leftover on the surface of the teeth and can help with long-term concerns like gum-receding, gingivitis and dry mouth syndrome.
Can I Remove Dental Stains From My Teeth After Braces?
Those with post-braces concerns can benefit from teeth stain removal after having their braces removed. Using a combination of teeth-bleaching and re-mineralization, patients can get rid of yellowing teeth or even darker brown stains leftover from the elastic banding of braces.
Bleaching will bring whiteness back and re-mineralization allows for minerals to be deposited back into teeth, giving them strength. These procedures are often offered by dentist offices and should be discussed with your orthodontist.
Can I Use Whitening Toothpaste With My Braces?
While whitening toothpaste may seem like a good idea, dentists actually advise against it. This is because only the areas of your teeth that will be brushed by the toothpaste will get white, and the parts covered by your braces will remain a darker shade. Therefore, braces-wearers should stick with regular toothpaste to make sure the color remains the same throughout the whole surface area of the teeth.
Can I Whiten My Teeth While Wearing Braces?
As stated above, it’s generally not recommended that you do any sort of whitening treatment while wearing braces, as the shades of your teeth will end up being different. Additionally, going through a whitening process can actually be damaging to your teeth, as they are shifting around your mouth while they are going through the straightening process. Whitening can slow down or even block the process of teeth-straightening from happening altogether.
Some Final Tips
Remember, while wearing braces can seem tedious and can bring about concerns of proper teeth color, it’s important to follow certain guidelines to make certain you are getting the best out of the whole process. These last tips will give you all the reassurance you need for keeping your teeth white and healthy:
- Make sure you’re keeping up with your orthodontist. Orthodontists are not only there to track the progress of your braces, but also to check on their health and cleanliness. Orthodontists will do regular cleaning and can give some more personable tips for keeping teeth white and shiny.
- Your orthodontist may recommend some additional products to not only keep your teeth white, but to also aid with prevention of tooth decay. The most popular products include toothpastes high in fluoride, which fights against acid that typically leads to tooth decay.
- General health is also important, so avoid unhealthy foods. Not only are sugary drinks and foods bad for your overall health, they also damage teeth by risking giving you cavities as well as stains and more plaque. Even worse, hard, sugary candies can get stuck in your braces and mess up the wiring, leading to a delay in the straightening process and more costs.
- Yes, brushing has been mentioned, but it’s so imperative to do that it is worth mentioning again! Keep in mind that you should be brushing your teeth after every meal; ideally within 5 minutes of finishing your food to get the cleaning done as soon as possible. Keep a toothbrush, some floss and some mouth wash handy in your house and while out and about.
It may seem like a lot to take in, but taking care of your teeth while wearing braces is imperative for long-term health and maintaining a white, happy smile. Without proper oral care, teeth will yellow and face the possibility of cavities, disease and discomfort. Brushing with the right kinds of brushes, using floss and using mouth wash are all key steps that shouldn’t be missed while wearing braces.
Lastly, any whitening procedures should be done after the removal of braces. Any done before can led to uneven teeth color and halt the entire process of teeth straightening. Don’t be afraid to reach out to your orthodontist with any concerns, as they want to make sure you have the best smile possible!
