Getting straight teeth with braces comes with its fair share of challenges. One problem you’ll likely find yourself wanting to solve after you start orthodontic treatment is the issue of foul breath. Luckily, there are some simple steps you can take to avoid bad breath with braces, allowing you to keep your breath fresh while you work on your new smile.
Hydrate Throughout the Day
One of the simplest ways you can prevent bad breath during orthodontic treatment is by staying hydrated. This helps prevent bad breath in a couple of ways.
For one, when your body gets an adequate supply of water, it can produce enough saliva to rinse off food residue. Dry mouth is fairly common for patients with braces, which means you’ll want to be sure your body is equipped with the hydration it needs to maintain healthy saliva levels. This also helps you avoid tooth decay and keeps your teeth strong.
The act of drinking water also helps rinse out your mouth of food particles and bacteria, which are the main causes of bad breath. But of course, drinking water alone won’t fully fix the issue.
Keep Up with Daily Cleaning to Keep Your Breath Fresh
The most important thing you can do to maintain fresh breath while you have braces is to keep your mouth clean. This means brushing after every meal and flossing every day. By keeping up with this habit, you’ll reduce the chances of food particles staying on your braces while getting rid of the bacteria buildup that causes bad breath in the first place.
Don’t Forget About Your Tongue
One thing people may not even think about during their cleaning routine is the fact that a lot of bacteria hangs out on the tongue. Cleaning off your tongue will go a long way in keeping your breath fresh while also improving your overall oral health. While you can use your brush to clean off your tongue, using a tongue scraper designed specifically for this purpose can be even more effective.
Add Supplemental Cleaning to Your Daily Routine
Brushing, flossing and cleaning off your tongue, are great ways to combat plaque and bacteria buildup, but you can go even further to keep your breath fresher with braces. Consider using a Waterpik or an air-flosser to get rid of food particles or plaque buildup hanging out around your gum line.
Rinsing with an antibacterial mouthwash is another highly effective way to keep bad breath at bay.
Avoid Foods that Cause Bad Breath
During the time you have braces, you should do your best to avoid strong-smelling foods if you want to keep foul breath away. Even though your teeth-cleaning routine should help, sticking to foods with subtler smells will make it less likely for you to develop bad breath. And while you should already be avoiding sticky foods when you have braces to prevent any damage, eating the right foods also helps prevent bad breath.
Schedule your free consultation with Smith Orthodontics today to learn more about how to make the most of your time with braces.
