As a person who has had braces for a long time, I have some braces essentials that I think it would be cool to put all the stuff in one post and share it with you.
1. Little mirror
The brackets or wires poke and scrape the inside of my mouth and it hurts so much. In order to find the culprit, I use this mirror and open my mouth and use the mirror to see what is sticking me in my tongue or on my jaws. This is really helpful. It was recommended to me by my orthodontist and I was wondering why would I ever need it. But as of late as my teeth have been shifting and changing I definitely have been needing it. Because the brackets are rubbing my gums and it’s the worst feeling ever. This mirror really does help me find out what is going on so that I can put wax.
2. Wax
Speaking of wax that’s another favorite of mine. This was also something I was thinking โ I will never need the waxโ. YOU NEED WAX!
They come like in things like this. I get them from Meyarn. You can pinch a piece off, roll it up to a little ball and put it on the bracket.
Wax is a lifesaver. It allows the skin inside of my mouth to heal when it’s been rubbed on too much. I put the wax on there and it allows it to heal. There’s been so many times when I put it in my mouth at a meal and then it’s gone because I ate it. But thatโs totally okay because itโs food-grade natural wax.
3. Tongue scraper
This is not really a brace essential. You need it in your life regardless if you have braces or not. I use it pretty much to scrape the gunk off my tongue. I use it every other day because when I found out that I was using this every day, it started to really hurt my tongue and my taste buds. I don’t know if I was scrapping hard but the scrapping side really did the damage. I do this every other day and then every day I use my toothbrush to scrape my tongue.
I don’t recommend using it every day because for me I don’t know if I have a sensitive mouth, it really did do some damage or maybe I was scrubbing too hard. You need this tool. Clean breath is essential. Your tongue always needs to be on point.
4. Floss
I know you probably think why don’t you get a water flosser? Honestly, I haven’t gotten around to doing it yet. I want one because flossing really gets on my nerves especially as my teeth are shifting, they’re moving and getting a little bit tighter in some areas. It’s really hard because you have to feed the string into each bracket. It’s not like a scoop and then goes to the next tooth easily. No. You have to feed it into each wire and that’s very time-consuming. I haven’t gotten around to it and flossing is so essential because like I said you get food stuck in your teeth and you need something to help you get it out along with the plaque that builds up on a day-to-day basis.
What makes flossing easier is a floss threader that helps you feed the floss string into your mouth. Itโs easy to use:
1.Feed the floss into the loop.
2.Take the end of the loop and then floss.
Try to feed the string into each bracket is so time-consuming and annoying and plus the flask is wet because of your spit and saliva.
I got mine from Meyarn for $14.99. But it comes with a hundred of them. They come in different sizes as far as spacing. Meyarn has 5 sizes to choose: 0.6mm, 0.7mm, 0.8mm, 0.9mm, 1.0mm and 1.2mm. You can get the ones that can fit into tight spaces between tight teeth. They are good for places that the regular toothbrushes cannot go. Sometimes I will put a little toothpaste on it and go in between as well.
These are a lifesaver! When you get food stuck in your brackets, try to get it out and it doesnโt work, this is where these come in handy. These are really good. They’re very flexible and do not hurt at all. Highly recommend that you can get some.
6. Disposable toothbrush
I got these from my orthodontist and it already has toothpaste on it. You just brush your teeth. I get a handful every time I go to the orthodontist’s office for my adjustments. They’re so handy and sometimes when I’m out and I really do need to brush my teeth, this comes in handy. Brush your teeth and you’re good to go.
7. Electric toothbrush
This is Meyarn Sonic Electric Toothbrush and this is a personal favorite. By all means, it’s not like you need an electric toothbrush. But personally, since having braces I feel like an electric toothbrush is able to really get into the space that a manual toothbrush cannot. Meyarn is a really great alternative to an Oral-b or a Sonicare toothbrush.
8. Mouthwash
If you are in a public space and you don’t want to like whip up your toothbrush to brush your teeth because I understand a lot of people who want to do that including me, the next thing you can bring is your mouthwash.
Thisย isย everything in my essentials braces pack. Hope you find it helpful.
