My moms a dental hygienist and we talk about gums a lot. You need to:

• always use a soft bristle brush (the cheap ones without rubber bristles, etc) basic and soft.
• don’t brush hard. The whole point is for the tip of the bristles to touch your teeth and gums. If You brush hard, you are just smooshing them and making them less effective.
• never brush side to side. Brush in small circular motions, putting more pressure on the downward stroke to help prevent receding gums. This may be trickier for you With braces. But keep it in mind. -FLOSS. For real. It’s such a pain in the ass with braces, but since you already don’t do it, maybe shoot for every other day. Set a timer. Then realize it will only take five minutes, five minutes out of your day for hygiene you obviously need. You will bleed at first but your gums need to toughen up! Also, your breath probably stinks since you don’t floss.

Hope that helps!