Brush after every meal, rinse with lots of water and swoosh it around your mouth. Floss every night and also use a mouth wash nightly. Alcohol-free mouthwashes are good. Alcohol dries out the mouth, which isn't good, so look for a mouthwash with no alcohol, but one that still helps in preventing cavities and gum problems. Check out Listerine, it's the one I use and it's great. With listerine, you use it twice daily, in the morning and at night. I would also get an electric toothbrush. This has also helped me a lot. They brush the teeth really well. I use one by Sonic and like it. I'm sure they gave you a list of foods to stay away from, like anything chewy, gummy, granola bars. They tell you to stay away from those because they can get stuck in your teeth, making it harder to clean. Also make sure to be visiting your dentist every 4 months and get a proper cleaning done from them. Of course, you're to be doing your own cleaning, but dentists helps a lot because they will clean it thoroughly. Even without braces, it's good to be going to cleanings, so when you have braces it's even more important because now you've brackets wires and other stuff in your teeth and a dentist will be able to properly clean around it better than you. Good luck.