Close your eyes for a moment and imagine having a perfectly aligned smile. Also, can you picture yourself in twenty or forty years keeping that beautiful smile? Is that possible without having a bridge, a denture, or even implants?   

The answer is patients might extend the functionality and health of their teeth by following their dentist’s recommendations and, in many cases, addressing orthodontic issues, also known as malocclusion, preferably the earliest possible with Sacramento Early Orthodontics Treatment.

Furthermore, solving malocclusion problems on time is critical to perpetuating teeth up to the elderly days. In some measure, good dental hygiene goes hand-by-hand with a functional occlusion. Furthermore, orthodontists recommend patients keep an eye on excellent and enhanced oral hygiene during treatment.

But why are orthodontists concerned about patients intensifying oral hygiene during orthodontic treatment? Brackets and wires, nooks and crannies, and the challenges of flossing create favorable conditions for food accumulation and bacteria proliferation o teeth and gums.

As dental plaque starts to build up around the teeth, brackets, and wires, oral health might be at risk as well as the teeth’ capability to move and displace in a safe manner. So, as a preventive measure, Dr. David Markham will show you the oral hygiene techniques you need to master for a successful treatment result. 

This article discusses one of the most effective mechanisms to make your oral hygiene a success. We are talking about the interdental brush (IDB). Braces Brush is a complex endeavor that requires a lot of minuteness. Check this interesting article in which we discuss the details of Interdental Brushes For Braces and their advantages for proper oral hygiene as well as the problems derived from poor oral hygiene, tooth decay, cavities, and periodontal disease with braces.

What Is an Interdental Brush?

An interdental brush is a tiny utensil that looks like a brush with a handle, and the opposite extreme has bristles that extend all over the top and to the sides of the head. An Interdental brush’s main advantage is its small size allowing it to enter quite small and inaccessible spaces like in between teeth as floss threaders.  

How to Use an Interdental Brush With Braces?

Using an interdental brush for braces is quite simple, and if you are a clean-mouth freak, this might be the best utensil to free your mouth of those pesky food particles trapped between teeth and between braces and wires. Here we explain the hows of using interdental brush braces in Sacramento:

• First, Dr. Markham will evaluate your interdental space and recommend perfect-fit braces brushes.
• Once you are ready, grab the shaft part of the utensil with the index and thumb fingers of your most dextrous hand.
• Insert the head of the floss brush in all possible interdental spaces. These are the spaces between any pair of adjacent teeth and make back-and-forth movements to allow the bristles to mechanically remove any traces of stagnant food debris.
• Now that you’ve familiarized yourself with interdental proper brushing try doing the same maneuvers, inserting the head in between the wires end teeth and making an approximation to the brackets to use the head as a brush and also inserting it in every entrenched space possible. 
• After you’re done with the interdental brush (IDB), rinse your mouth with tap water or mouthwash and spit the residues that have been mechanically unclogged.

Tooth Decay and Cavities With Braces

Patient compliance with Dr. Markham’s recommendations is essential to maximize the results of orthodontic treatment. Studies on the matter include the use of a scale Orthodontic Patient Cooperation Scale – OCPS helps assess the level of patient compliance with treatment, indicating the extent of compliance as a factor of success.

We know this might read overwhelmingly, but in more easy-to-grasp words, it means patient compliance is critical in getting the planned results. Specifically, orthodontists’ main recommendation refers to enhancing and maintaining exceptional oral hygiene during treatment, but why is this needed?

First and foremost, bacteria are everywhere, including any person’s mouth. But patients wearing braces have a more significant chance of bacteria colonization than a person who doesn’t wear orthodontic appliances.

Specifically, food accumulates, especially in entrenched areas of the teeth. Bacteria metabolize food particles, transforming them into an acidic matter that sticks to the teeth’ outer layer named enamel.

Enamel is the hardest and most solid part of the human body. However, this acidic matter is like kryptonite for enamel. The acidic matter sticks to teeth enamel, corroding it and allowing bacteria to penetrate further layers of teeth.

Once bacteria enter the tooth, it spreads and silently deteriorate its structure from the inside. Sometimes patients might not feel any pain or discomfort at all until bacteria reaches the pulp, which has nerve ramifications.

Treatment to cure dental caries or, what is worst profound tooth decay might include a pulpectomy which is the removal of the nerves with a procedure we know as a root canal and, in the worst case, an extraction of the affected tooth.

Bacteria might also accumulate in the area where the tooth and gums converge, producing dental plaque that damages the tooth and gums. As plaque advances through the gums, it destroys the periodontal ligaments, produces gums recession, and might also weaken the alveolar bone. All of them compose the structure where the tooth sits, making the tooth unstable and prone to fall. 

When bacteria advance to the gums, it might produce a leveled condition named periodontal disease. In its moderate and advanced stages, periodontitis might require gums and bone grafts implants to compensate for the support structure loss.

Gums Disease On Teeth With Braces

Periodontal disease is a silent and quite harmful problem that might lead, in its most severe stages, to losing several teeth. Also, a vast part of the literature on the topic insists on poor oral hygiene as the main cause that produces it.

But what is poor oral hygiene?  Dental specialists recommend patients brush and floss daily and after meals. Indeed this might lower the propensity of bacteria growth. However, several factors can trigger periodontal disease. For instance, crooked teeth might influence the development of dental plaque in the gums, even when the patient brushes and flosses daily.

Therefore, orthodontic treatment is essential for aligning teeth, which in turn leverages improving oral hygiene after its conclusion. However, during orthodontic treatment, oral hygiene becomes challenging.

Consequently, in addition to knowing the causes, it is quite important to understand periodontal disease’s early symptoms to act on time and avoid passing from a controllable stage to irreversible teeth loss. Here we will list the causes and symptoms for a better understanding to assess the potentiality of a problem.

Gums Disease Causes 

• Poor Oral Hygiene
• Crooked teeth
• Defective dental fillings

Yet, there are other causes that don’t directly relate to dental problems, like heredity and genetics, smoking, diabetes, and immunodeficiency syndrome AIDS.

Gums Disease Symptoms

Gum disease symptoms and their specific characteristics vary depending on the level of damage to the oral structure. Accordingly, we characterize them in relation to their deterioration levels.

Gingivitis

It is a mild and controllable periodontal affection. Patients with gingivitis experience red and puffy gums. Also, patients might present mild bleeding brushing their teeth. In most cases, gingivitis recedes after resuming good oral hygiene.

Dr. Markham recommends patients wearing orthodontic braces immediately report these symptoms to evaluate the case and provide directions with techniques to enhance oral hygiene.   

Patients tend to ignore gingivitis because it is painless. However, mild bleeding is a cautioning flag that requires observation. 

Periodontal Disease Stage One – Initial

Gingivitis is the only reversible stage of periodontal disease. From here, any type of periodontal disease can produce a deterioration of the supporting dental structure. Stage one periodontal disease is a prolonged inflammation that deteriorates the periodontal ligament permanently.

The periodontal ligament is a soft tissue membrane that connects the tooth with the tooth socket in the alveolar bone. It is essential for a tooth’s survival and serves to cushion the tooth at bitting.

Stage one symptoms don’t differ from those of gingivitis, making it difficult to identify. For this reason, it is essential for braces-wearing patients to act immediately after observing alerting symptoms.

Moreover, treatment of stage one periodontal disease requires the practice of a technique named debridement that consists of removing bacteria and plaque calculus from the roots of the teeth and an intensive clean up.

Periodontal Disease Stage Two – Moderate

Damage to the periodontal ligament is evident, and the patient might experience discomfort. The tooth structure becomes weak and vulnerable and allows visual recognition of the destruction of the ligaments and tooth roots.

Periodontal Disease Stage Three – Severe

Severe periodontal disease puts the tooth at risk of falling. At this stage, the patient might observe their teeth looking longer as the gums covering the lower part of them receded. Also, the infection is evident, causes bad breath, and foods taste bitter. 

Stage three periodontal disease weakens the tooth structure leaving the tooth wiggling, and patients might also note it doesn’t fit as it used to at bitting. Another characteristic of this stage is the appearance of pus and soreness.

Treatment in this stage includes a debridement, surgery to implant gums, and bone grafts, and in some cases, there is no possibility of saving the tooth, and a periodontal specialist might recommend a dental implant.

Periodontal Disease Stage Fourth – Severe

The main difference with the previous stage is the potential of losing several teeth and, in some cases, all of them. In short, there is a profound destruction of the teeth-supporting structure. Stage four is a major salubrity problem that might cause diabetes and a heart attack.

Contact the Best Orthodontist Sacramento Community Can Trust

Whether you are keystroking for the best orthodontist near me online, want to have a first evaluation to understand your orthodontics overall status, or are definitely concerned about evident teeth misalignments causing you problems, Markham Orthodontics is the best orthodontic specialty option in Sacramento. 

Contact us and schedule a first evaluation appointment to start devising healthy teeth lasting for years and years to come and that also enhance your confidence with a healthy smile that is also beautiful.