Tips for Oral Appliance Care: Cleaning all Those Nooks and Crannies!

Braces, permanent retainers, dentures – depending on your oral health needs, there’s a variety of oral appliances out there to help you maintain a happy, healthy smile.  From devices intended to straighten your teeth, to those designed to help you sleep better, oral appliances play a significant role in many patients’ daily lives.  They might feel a little funny at first, but it’s not long until they become comfortable and normal.  The only lingering issue for most people is brushing and flossing around them!

To get the most of your oral appliance, you need to make sure they’re not impeding your oral care regimen.  It can be a struggle!

A mouth full of obstacles

There’s a lot going on in your mouth.  From your teeth to your tongue to your palette, you have multiple muscles, bones and joints in your mouth that allow you to speak, chew, swallow and breathe.  Your mouth is already pretty full – the last thing you need is another obstacle to worry about!

When it comes to smile correction or enhanced sleep quality, there’s a range of oral appliances on the market, including permanent retainers, braces and sleep apnea mouthpieces.  If you wear a dental appliance, you know how crowded your mouth already is and the struggle to keep everything fresh and clean.

The trouble with oral appliance care

An oral appliance takes up quite a bit of prime real estate in your mouth – a part of your body with already limited space.  That doesn’t excuse you from maintaining a complete dental hygiene routine every day.  It does mean you need to take extra steps to ensure your smile remains dazzling.

When you’re wearing an oral appliance, it’s challenging to clean along your gum line or behind your teeth.  For appliances that you remove, such as an apnea mouthguard, you don’t have to worry about cleaning around the device; however, you have to keep the device itself clean and free of bacteria, mold or other unwelcome contaminants.

Here’s how to make oral care simpler

To ensure your teeth remain healthy and white, incorporate the following recommendations into your oral hygiene regimen:

• Use an interdental brush: In addition to brushing with your standard toothbrush, use an interdental brush. This allows you to deep clean between your teeth and around your gums when an oral appliance makes these spaces harder to reach.
• Rinse and irrigate thoroughly: If you can remove your oral appliance, rinse it off with fresh water after each use and follow the care instructions of the dentist that made the appliance for you.  There may be special care instructions based on the material the appliance is made of.   Those with permanent appliances should invest in a water pick or similar dental irrigation system to remove debris from between your teeth.
• Super Floss and guides are an option: While irrigation helps considerably, there’s no substitute for flossing.  Look for products like Super Floss or floss guides and use with care, so you don’t bend or break your oral appliance.
• Brush often and with intent: Dentists recommend brushing your teeth twice a day for a minimum of two minutes per session.  If possible – especially with a permanent dental appliance – brush your teeth after every time you eat.

Oral care doesn’t need to be difficult

Brushing around braces or flossing between permanent retainers can be a real pain, but it’s still an essential part of daily oral care.  The struggle is worth it – not only for a beautiful smile, but for healthy teeth and gums!

Taking care of your teeth with regular cleanings fights off gingivitis and minimizes the occurrence of cavities.  If you need some extra help cleaning your teeth due to an oral appliance or understanding how to clean around your permanent appliance, make an appointment with your general dentist or at Levenson Periodontal Associates today.

Finally, our furry friends love to eat our removable oral appliances.  So be sure to put them up and away after you clean them.