Getting orthodontic braces requires you to pay better attention to your dental hygiene routine. This is because the braces make brushing and flossing challenging, leaving you vulnerable to developing cavities. However, cavities can occur despite diligent dental cleaning. Therefore it helps if you inquire with your orthodontist about what actions to take if you develop a hole in your tooth when undergoing orthodontic treatment.
When you accept the orthodontist’s proposal to wear braces over your teeth to straighten them, you try to overcome the challenges you confront with your misaligned, gapped, or crooked teeth that make it challenging for you to maintain proper dental hygiene. They also would have made you prone to infections in your mouth, needing treatments from dentists frequently. Therefore when getting therapy to straighten your teeth, if you are concerned about confronting similar challenges, you must discuss your situation with the dentist near to ascertain what challenges you will likely face after getting braces on your teeth.
Cavities on Teeth Impact Your Oral Health
The most familiar threat to the longevity of your smile is a cavity in your teeth. If left untreated, the hole in the tooth can expand, and the bacteria can infect the gums and your entire body. Cavities are merely spots of tooth decay where the bacteria has eroded tooth enamel to create an opening. The opening exposes the sensitive tissues within the tooth and often creates temperature sensitivity and severe pain when chewing. In addition, tooth decay opens your teeth to oral bacteria to cause infections and additional discomfort.
Formation of Cavities Explained
Your teeth have nerves and soft tissues protected by a tough outer layer, the tooth enamel. Your mouth bacteria feeds on food particles remaining on the teeth to produce acids that weaken the enamel. When the enamel has eroded, the bacteria penetrate it to form holes in teeth. Occasionally cavities can also form between your teeth, making them challenging to detect unless the dentist x-rays the tooth and suggests a procedure to fill and clean the tooth to restore it.
Can You Get Cavities with Braces?
Unfortunately, the bacteria in your mouth can form cavities in your teeth even when undergoing orthodontic treatment with braces. It is because the braces make brushing and flossing challenging, allowing your mouth bacteria plenty of freedom to deposit acids on the teeth to erode your tooth enamel. The dentist in Brentwood suggests diligent brushing and flossing when placing braces on your teeth and getting six monthly exams and cleanings to ensure you don’t have dental plaque accumulating on your teeth and around the braces to invite a severe complication in your mouth.
How to Deal with Cavities with Braces?
If you develop minor cavities on your teeth with braces, dentist 90049 treats them with fillers by removing the decayed tooth structure before filling the hollow space with durable material to seal the tooth. The filler is bonded with ultraviolet light and resembles the color of your natural teeth.
When dealing with cavities with braces, you must prepare to allow the dentist to shift the wires of the orthodontic appliance or remove it before reattaching it after completing the filling procedure.
You may require more time when restoring a tooth with braces. However, the additional time you spend at the dentist’s office enables you to inquire how to prevent cavities on your teeth with braces to ensure you don’t have to endure similar circumstances again because orthodontic treatment generally lasts for two years or more, depending on your situation’s complexity. Therefore it helps if you gather as much information as needed to prevent cavities while your treatment progresses.
The dentist will likely suggest you brush your teeth twice daily and floss at least once to make them essential parts of your dental hygiene routine. However, your home care matters more than what happens at the dentist’s office during dental exams and cleanings. Diligent flossing helps ensure dental plaque removal to prevent it from hardening into tartar to make you a victim of gum disease.
Dental visits after every six months are also essential because removing all dental plaque on and between your teeth is practically impossible, and the leftover plaque hardens into tartar within 48 hours. Hardened tartar is impossible to remove without help from dentists. Therefore if you want to prevent cavities with braces on your teeth, you must follow your dentist’s instructions diligently and adhere to every word they say during and after completing your orthodontic treatment.
If you are undergoing orthodontic treatment with braces on your teeth from Brentwood Dental Art, expect to receive comprehensive instructions on caring for your teeth during your treatment to prevent tooth decay and gum disease. Consult them for any further information you need because cavities can and do happen with braces and need appropriate treatment soon after detection by dentists.
