Flossing with Linguals

[Wallflower]

Hi there,

I'm getting Clarity ceramics on my lower row in two weeks and Linguals on my uppers in 6 months time.

I was wondering how I can floss with Linguals? I've seen the threader that you can thread dental floss through when you have regular braces.

Do you use the same threader with Linguals?
Anyone have problems with flossing?

As they're on the inside I imagine it being 10 times more difficult, but any advice would be appreciated!

[Sunny]

Hi and welcome to this forum Wallflower!

Where I work, we recommend our patients with linguals use oral be superfloss and to thread it between the teeth at the gum line. It has one stiffened end, that is thin and is usually easy to move between teeth.

Flossing with braces is slower than with naked teeth, but you will become faster, the more you practise. I've not had linguals, so I can't compare between the different types, but the most important thing, is to floss!

When you have your brackets bonded to your teeth, you should be shown how to floss and brush correctly. If this doesn't appear to be going to happen ... make sure you ask!

Good luck!

[Wallflower]

Hi Sunny,

Thanks for the reply. Flossing is going to be so important when I get the braces on, I'm a bit of a clean freak!

But I'm not sure I'll have enough hands to see the back of my upper teeth and also thread and floss at the same time!

[Zoso]

If you can't get the self-threading floss between your teeth at the gumline, which of course you'd do fromt he front (and some of us cannot, as our gums still have good papillae that come well down into the embrasure - the little triangle between teh teeth at the gumline) then the other option is floss threaders. There are a few brands on the market and some are stiffer than others. I'd recommend some that are more flexible and finer. The instructions on the packet will usually tell youi to thread them through from the front of your teeth, at the gumline, just as when using superfloss (or Glide Self-threading floss) but you can also use them to pass the floss under the wire rather than going through at the gumline. It does take some doing with a wire bonded behind the teeth, but if you bend the end of the threader, with some practice you can do it by feel alone, or with the aid of just the bathroom mirror. Of course, you could also do this with the floss,. bending the stiffened end in the same way you'd bend the theader.

[coconut]

An easy way to floss with linguals is to insert the stiff end of an Oral B Superfloss thread or equivalent between the wire and your teeth, pull it up and give the floss a little tug to ensure it's engaged behind the wire, then start flossing at the gum margin. When you're done, hold one end of the thread against your palate and pull the other end on the labial side downwards to free it (this prevents any pulling on the lingual wire), pull the thread clear of those teeth and repeat until you're done.

[ibracescee]

With the help of a mirror Oral B superfloss is great for me flossing the bottom half of my teeth. How do you floss the top half of the teeth with superfloss? I end up just using regular floss for my upper teeth because I don't have a good way to see what's going on behind my front teeth, where my ibraces at situated?

[srachel]

floss through your braces,

Hi and welcome to this forum Wallflower!

Where I work, we recommend our patients with linguals use oral be superfloss and to thread it between the teeth at the gum line. It has one stiffened end, that is thin and is usually easy to move between teeth.

Flossing with braces is slower than with naked teeth, but you will become faster, the more you practise. I've not had linguals, so I can't compare between the different types, but the most important thing, is to floss!

When you have your brackets bonded to your teeth, you should be shown how to floss and brush correctly. If this doesn't appear to be going to happen ... make sure you ask!

Good luck!

[ibracescee]

I have been using oral B superfloss and finally bought a pack of glide threader floss to compare which of these braces friendly floss is better for ibraces.
I am give each of the following category a ranking: 1 is worst, 5 is best.

Price
oral B superfloss (A): < $3.00 per pack (50) ---- 5
glide threader floss (B): >$5.00 per pack (30) ---- 1

Guide:
A: flexible plastic guide ---- 4 (easy to pass through ibraces (lower rack))
B: metal guide wrapped with plastic ---- 3 (there is 1 cm of soft segment in front of the metal part, making it hard to glide through my ibraces which is behind the teeth.

neither of the two are any better than regular floss for the upper bracket.

food debris removal:
A: has a spongy section that effectively remove large food pieces between bracket and teeth, before working on the plaque with the floss. the spongy part sticks to the food pieces much better than the floss part. --- 5
B: no spongy section. not very good at picking up food. --- 2

removal of plaque in between teeth:
A: good. --- 5
B: good. --- 5

Package:
A: not individually packed. fine by me. more environmentally friendly and cheaper because of less packaging. --- 4
B: each piece of floss is individually packed. may appeal to some people. --- 4.

Strength of floss:
A: I have to say even though I love the spongy part, the floss is somewhat thin and get caught with my ibraces bracket if I am not carefull. Once the floss is caught in the bracket it is a pain to get it off the bracket. I often use two pieces of floss --- 2
B: floss is slightly thicker than A. --- 3

Overall impression:
A: 4
B: 2.5

[tsodessa@gmail.com]

Hi,

I have had lingual braces for 2 years now and will hopefully get them off in 3 months. There are certainly pros and cons to them. I do not floss with the traditional floss or with the feeder it was too difficult and the floss would always get caught in the braces. I have been using "Brushpicks" and both my periodontist and my dentist have been very pleased with my gums and teeth. I am able to clean the food out of the braces and floss my gums after each meal and snack. I wasn't much of a flosser before but these are really great. I have purchased them at Target and CVS. Good luck

[Sunny]

You're very lucky, as I didn't floss properly with real floss for many years and developed minor gum disease as a result. I guess I was lucky it was minor, but it was still expensive and it took quite a few painful treatments to sort. As a result I know how important it is to use floss that you can control as it moves just below the gumline.

I still like products like brushpicks, as they do help remove food and some bacteria from around the teeth and gums, but they don't do the job that floss does.

Hopefully your teeth get naked in a few months and you're delighted with the results!