Oral Health

Plaque is not food stuck on your teeth. It is a structured, living bacterial biofilm that glues itself to your enamel and builds a matrix shielding it from rinses and antiseptics. That one fact explains why mouthwash cannot replace a toothbrush, why brushing must be mechanical and daily, and why gum disease always starts in the gaps a brush cannot reach.

Swollen, bleeding gums are not the price of straight teeth. Brackets and wires are plaque traps, and clear aligners bring their own hidden risks. Here is exactly how to clean around both, and why gum overgrowth and white spot lesions are avoidable.

For gaps big enough to take one, interdental brushes have a stronger evidence base than floss for reducing plaque and gum bleeding. Floss is the right tool for tight contacts where a brush cannot fit — and doing neither is the only genuinely wrong answer.

The Cochrane evidence does favour powered toothbrushes: they reduce plaque and gingivitis more than manual brushes, and oscillating-rotating designs have the strongest data behind them. But the effect is modest, and a manual brush used properly beats an expensive electric brush used badly - because pressure, time, coverage and interdental cleaning decide whether your gums bleed, not the motor.