Good oral health is not complicated, and it is not about doing everything perfectly. It comes down to a handful of habits repeated daily, a bit of care with what you drink, and knowing when something is worth getting looked at. Here is the advice we give patients most often, in plain language.
Written for our Midland patients and their families. Reviewed by the practice, and sourced from the Australian Dental Association, Orthodontics Australia and the World Health Organization. Last reviewed July 2026.
The Australian Dental Association's advice for keeping teeth and gums healthy is genuinely short. Four habits carry almost all of the benefit.
Morning and before bed, with a soft brush and a fluoride toothpaste. Two minutes is longer than it feels, so time it for a week until your hand learns the pace. Angle the bristles slightly towards the gum line, where plaque actually collects, and go gently. Scrubbing hard wears enamel and irritates gums without cleaning better.
A brush cannot reach the surfaces where teeth touch, and that is where decay and gum problems often start. Floss, interdental brushes or a water flosser all count. Use whichever one you will actually pick up each day, because the best tool is the one that gets used.
After brushing, spit the toothpaste out and stop there. Rinsing with water washes away the fluoride that was about to do the work, and it matters most at night when saliva flow drops. Same idea with mouthwash: if you use it, use it at a different time of day rather than straight after brushing.
Regular check-ups and professional cleans catch small problems while they are still small. Your dentist will tell you what interval suits your mouth, since it is not the same for everyone. We look after where your teeth sit; your dentist looks after how healthy they are, and you want both.
The single most useful thing to understand about diet and teeth is that frequency matters more than quantity. Every sugary or acidic mouthful starts an acid attack on enamel that lasts a while after you finish. One slice of cake with dinner is a single attack. Sipping soft drink across an afternoon is a dozen. The World Health Organization recommends keeping free sugars under ten per cent of your daily energy, and says lower again is better still for teeth.
Enamel gets the rest of the day to recover.
Enamel never gets a break long enough to recover.
None of this means never again. It means keeping the sweet and acidic things to fewer, shorter moments in the day rather than spreading them across it.
What matters changes as a mouth grows. These are the milestones worth knowing, drawn from Australian Dental Association and Orthodontics Australia guidance.
Clean your baby's teeth and gums with a soft brush or a damp cloth, using water only. Toothpaste is not recommended before 18 months.
Move to a pea-sized amount of children's low-fluoride toothpaste, twice a day, and teach your child to spit it out rather than swallow or rinse.
From six, children can use a standard family fluoride toothpaste. This is also the window where a bite is worth a look, because enough adult teeth are through to see how things are developing.
Most orthodontic treatment happens here, alongside sport, school and a fairly relaxed attitude to flossing. Hygiene is the thing to stay on top of, because braces give plaque more places to hide.
Adults make up a growing share of orthodontic patients, and the same treatments work at any age. What matters more than age is that the gums and teeth are healthy before anything starts moving.
Once there is something in your mouth doing a job, looking after it becomes part of the routine. Here is what each one asks of you.
Brackets and wires trap food, so the risk during treatment is not the braces themselves. It is what builds up around them.
Aligners only move teeth while they are in your mouth. Wear time is the whole game, and it is the one thing we cannot do for you.
Teeth drift throughout life, treated or not. A retainer is what holds the result, which is why retention is a long-term habit rather than a short phase.
Something broken, poking or lost right now? Our emergency page walks you through settling it and tells you whether it needs a visit.
Emergency helpYou do not need a referral to see us, and an assessment is not a commitment to treatment. These are the things that are worth a look rather than a wait.
Toothache, bleeding gums, sensitivity or a chip belongs with your general dentist first. Those need treating before teeth are moved, and your dentist can refer on to us if orthodontics is the next step.
The questions we field most often at the chair. If yours is not here, bring it to your next appointment or call us.
Yes, and it matters more than usual. Braces make plaque harder to shift, so keeping up regular check-ups and cleans during treatment protects the teeth we are moving. We look after tooth position, your dentist looks after tooth health, and treatment goes best when both are happening.
Either can clean well. Technique and time matter more than the handle, so the honest answer is to use whichever one gets you brushing gently for a full two minutes twice a day. Many patients with braces find an electric brush easier to be thorough with, and a soft head is worth choosing either way.
It is an optional extra rather than a basic. Brushing and cleaning between the teeth do the heavy lifting. If you do use a fluoride rinse, use it at a different time of day, because rinsing straight after brushing washes away the fluoride from your toothpaste.
Ask your dentist, because the right interval depends on your own risk of decay and gum disease rather than a single rule for everyone. Some people are fine on a longer cycle and others need to be seen more often.
Orthodontics Australia recommends a first assessment around age seven, when enough adult teeth are through to see how the jaws and bite are developing. Most children who come in at that age need nothing at all, and the visit is mainly to know whether and when anything would help.
No. You are welcome to book an assessment directly, whether or not your dentist has suggested it. If you are partway through treatment with another orthodontist, contact them first, since they hold your treatment plan and records.
Wait until treatment is finished. With brackets bonded to the front of the teeth, whitening cannot reach the enamel underneath them, so the result can be patchy once they come off. Raise it with us near the end of treatment and we will talk you through the timing.
Yes, and it is more important with braces than without. The Australian Dental Association recommends a custom-fitted mouthguard for anyone playing contact sport, rather than a boil-and-bite one from the chemist. Tell us and your dentist that braces are on, so the guard is made to suit and refitted as teeth move.
We have kept to published Australian guidance wherever it exists, and named the source so you can read it yourself.
This guide is general information, not personal advice. Every mouth is different, so please check anything specific with us or with your dentist before acting on it. Last reviewed July 2026.
General guidance only goes so far. Book an assessment and we will look at your bite and answer the questions that actually apply to you.
