Your simple daily guide to keeping your braces, DesignerTies™, and smile clean between orthodontic appointments.
DesignerTies™ are orthodontic ligatures and should remain in place unless removed or changed by the orthodontic professional. Clean around the DesignerTies™ rather than attempting to remove, pull, twist, or reposition it.
DesignerTies™ attach to the orthodontic bracket and include connectors at the 12-o’clock and 6-o’clock positions. These additional areas should receive particular attention during daily cleaning because food and plaque can collect.
The goal is not to clean the DesignerTies™ as a separate object. The goal is to remove plaque and food from the surfaces surrounding it.
Brush with fluoride toothpaste at least twice each day. Brushing after meals is preferred when practical. Use a soft-bristled toothbrush or powered toothbrush.
Brush in three directions:
Angle the brush toward the area between the bracket/DesignerTie and the gumline.
Use gentle, short strokes to clean around the tie without pulling on it.
Angle the brush toward the area between the bracket/DesignerTie and the biting edge of the tooth.
Don’t forget the gumline. Plaque remaining along the gumline can contribute to gingival inflammation
The interdental brush is the key additional cleaning tool for DesignerTies™. Use it once or more each day to clean areas the toothbrush cannot easily reach.
Use gentle back-and-forth movements.
The brush should fit comfortably. Do not force a brush into a tight space.
The purpose is to remove plaque and food—not to push against or deform the DesignerTies™
After brushing, place the interdental brush around the area immediately above the bracket/archwire.
Gently clean around the connector from the accessible side.
Repeat the same process below the bracket.
These two areas should be treated as specific cleaning targets during every interdental-brush session
Don’t scrub harder. Clean more precisely.
Clean between your teeth at least once each day. Use floss, a floss threader, interdental brush, or another interdental cleaning method recommended by your orthodontic/dental professional.
Cleaning around the DesignerTies does not replace cleaning between the teeth.
Food can become trapped around brackets, wires, and DesignerTies™. Whenever possible:
Rinse with water after eating.
Remove visible food particles.
Brush when practical
Use your interdental brush during your regular daily cleaning.
If brushing is not possible immediately, rinsing thoroughly with water is better than leaving food around the appliance.
A water irrigator may be used as an additional cleaning aid. It can be helpful for flushing food particles from around brackets, wires, and DesignerTies™.
Water irrigation should supplement—not replace—brushing and mechanical plaque removal.
If your DesignerTies™ become loose, break, or change position, contact the orthodontic office
When DesignerTies™ are placed, the clinician or orthodontic assistant should demonstrate the cleaning technique using a mirror.
Your DesignerTies™ stay on your braces until your orthodontic professional changes or removes them. You don’t need to remove or clean the ties separately. Instead, clean carefully around them every day.
Brush above, around, and below your brackets.
Use your interdental brush around the wire, bracket, and both DesignerTies™ connectors.
Look for trapped food and make sure your DesignerTies™ are still in place.
Clean around the 12-o’clock and 6-o’clock connector areas every day. If your DesignerTies™ become loose, break, or move, contact your orthodontic office.
DesignerTies™ should be considered within the broader oral-hygiene requirements of fixed orthodontic appliances. Fixed appliances create additional plaque-retentive surfaces and make mechanical plaque removal more challenging.
Evidence comparing ligation systems suggests that elastomeric ligatures may harbor greater bacterial loads than stainless-steel ligatures, but current evidence is low quality and has not established that this necessarily translates into clinically important differences in periodontal health.
This protocol should address the additional geometry of the DesignerTies™ by directing patients to mechanically clean the areas surrounding the two connectors.
For initial clinical implementation, the recommended DesignerTies™ hygiene standard is:
Water rinsing and water irrigation may be used as adjuncts.
The protocol should be reinforced at each orthodontic appointment and individualized according to the patient’s plaque accumulation, gingival condition, dexterity, appliance configuration, and clinician recommendations.
DesignerTies™ should be replaced at each orthodontic adjustment appointment, and in all cases no later than 6 weeks after placement. DesignerTies™ are intended for use in patients who demonstrate acceptable oral hygiene. Use should be deferred or discontinued in patients who are unable to maintain adequate oral hygiene, until satisfactory plaque control has been established.