How to Keep Your Teeth White with Braces

Keeping your teeth white with braces is no easy task! Here are a couple of tricks to keeping your teeth sparkling white even with braces!

5 Expert Tips for Whitening Teeth with Braces

Want to know how about teeth whitening with braces to keep your smile looking its whitest, brightest best during treatment? You’ve come to the right place! Thankfully, there are some simple steps you can take — some of which you’re hopefully already doing every day. Teeth whitening with braces can take a little bit more effort than it does before and after treatments, so read on to learn some expert advice from Dr. Nowlin himself.

1. Brushing

No surprises here, right? Brushing helps remove stain-causing foods and beverages from your tooth enamel. It also removes plaque, which can cause staining, cavities, gingivitis (gum disease), and more. Brush after every meal so the food doesn’t just sit under your braces.  

2. Flossing

This goes hand in hand with brushing. Flossing just takes a few minutes daily, morning and night, and helps to remove the plaque between teeth. Plaque causes staining, and worse (tooth decay). 

Oral-B Superfloss makes flossing much easier for people with braces and other dental appliances. It’s made up of three different parts: a stiffened-end threader (for flossing between wires), soft, spongey floss (for cleaning around appliances), and regular floss (for removing plaque normally between your teeth)

3. Use s Straw

If your drink can stain a clean, white t-shirt, it can stain your teeth, so the less it touches your teeth, the better. Drinking with a straw, say in the case of iced coffee, can limit the possibility of staining by keeping the coffee and other smile-staining drinks off your smile. 

4. Sip Water Between Cups of Coffee

Here’s a good one: drinking water between sips of coffee or tea can help to wash the staining chances away, and as you know … you’re supposed to be drinking more water anyway. 

5. Minimize Sugar as Much as You Can

Sugar causes plaque to build up a lot more quickly and that’s the last thing you want if you have braces. 

Can You Whiten Teeth with Braces? 

Here’s a bonus tip from Dr. Nowlin on whitening teeth while in treatment: While it’s possible to whiten your teeth with braces, it’s generally not recommended.  

Whitening products can only reach the exposed parts of your teeth, which means the areas under the brackets will remain your natural tooth color. This can lead to an uneven appearance once your braces are removed. Instead, focus on keeping your teeth clean and healthy during treatment, and consider whitening after your braces come off for the best results.  

In fact, we even have a professional teeth-whitening treatment that delivers results up to 12 shades whiter! Ask about it during your initial consult or your next appointment!