Most patients used to feel conscious about wearing braces. That’s because of the negative impression that others used to have with it. Some would even call them names like Jaws or Ugly Betty which can have an effect on a patient’s confidence. However, the stigma surrounding dental braces is lesser than it was a couple of years ago. Now, patients can finally have their crooked teeth treated without any hesitation with the help of ceramic braces.

What are ceramic braces?

These are dental appliances that effectively align a patient’s crooked teeth without the need for metal brackets. Unlike traditional braces, it has a special design that helps it to blend well with a patient’s natural teeth. Thus, making it barely unnoticeable.

Although having one on your teeth sounds great, this type of dental braces easily stain. But how do you prevent it from happening? Here are a few practical ways to protect your invisible braces from any stains.

Ways to shield your ceramic braces from getting stains

Practice excellent oral hygiene

It’s always best to brush your teeth after every meal. Doing so will protect your teeth from food debris stuck on your teeth enamel. So, ensure that you brush your teeth after having a meal to get rid of any food color and flavors from your mouth.

You should also floss and rinse your mouth with mouthwash to penetrate all the hard to reach places in your mouth. Failure to maintain proper dental hygiene may leave food color in your teeth, eventually causing it to stain.

Quit smoking

Aside from the damages that smoking does to a patient’s lungs, it also ruins your oral health. Smoking tends to stain your teeth as well as your ceramic braces. The nicotine produced when smoking gives the ligatures a yellow appearance which makes your smile look unpretty. Aside from this, cigarette smoking also leaves deep stains in your teeth that are very difficult to remove.

Avoid foods that stain

Fortunately, you don’t have to change your diet to avoid staining your braces completely. There are only a few foods that you should stay away from especially if you are wearing braces. Red colored foods such as fresh tomatoes, beets, and tomato pastes may leave color on your clear ceramic braces. You should also veer away from mustard as this tends to yellow the brackets. It’s also advisable to avoid dark colored drinks like coffee and soda to prevent staining.

Stay away from whitening toothpaste

Although white toothpaste help brightens your smile, it ultimately does the opposite when it comes to your braces. Whitening toothpaste will surely whiten your teeth, but it’ll also discolor your brackets. Although you won’t notice it immediately, you’ll eventually see the effects once you get the brackets removed. You’ll see spots on your teeth where the brackets of the ceramic braces used to be. These spots are the areas of your teeth that the toothpaste failed to reach. That’s why it’s best to use an ordinary toothpaste every after a meal to keep your brackets free from stains.

Change your ligatures frequently

Unlike self-ligating ceramic braces, regular ceramic braces have ligatures to keep your braces in place. Ligatures are the elastic ties found around your brackets that help direct your teeth in the right direction. Although ligatures of your clear ceramic braces are clear, they get easily stained as time goes by. So, it’s highly advisable to replace them frequently to avoid giving your teeth a tainted appearance. Meanwhile, if you want to achieve a stylish effect, you may choose elastic bonds in various colors. Choosing darker color tend to blend in better with your teeth and is highly resistant to stains compared to other colors.

Taking care of your ceramic braces helps keep them stain-free far longer than you might expect. That’s why it’s best to visit a clinic that specializes in ceramic braces in London, Ontario to have your dental braces checked. Doing so will help monitor the progress of your teeth alignment to help you achieve a gorgeous smile.