Pieces of dental work like a crown or bridge are designed to replicate or replace missing or compromised teeth. They are typically created from materials like gold, base metals, and durable dental-grade porcelain. These give your dental work the strength to handle the daily rigors of chewing food while also being impervious tooth decay.
Unfortunately, bacterial complications from untreated gum disease and general poor oral hygiene can still pose a threat to the abutment that anchors your crown or bridge in place. Paying extra focus to your dental work during your daily oral hygiene regimen will nonetheless help maximize its longevity.
If you find that you’re struggling to effectively clean around a bridge or crown, you might want to try using an interdental brush or a floss threader.
A floss threader is a simple loop-shaped tool that can insert a strand dental floss into tightly fit spaces between teeth. It’s especially helpful for flossing the gum line beneath wires. Using waxed dental floss will further held the strand slide into place, while reducing the chances of snapping the floss into your gums.
An interdental brush has a small angled head to help clean food material and plaque from hard to reach places. This makes them especially handy for cleaning some of the tight spaces around bridgework.
You might want to also consider using a water flosser or a dental water jet. The concentrated stream of water they create can help clean food debris from hard to reach places near the gum line. Just keep in mind that it cannot replace the effectiveness of dental floss for completely cleaning away food material and plaque buildup.
If you have concerns about how to clean and maintain your dental work, you can always call 602-492-9003 to schedule a consultation at Dr. Sheldon Sullivan’s Gilbert, Arizona clinic.