Food to Avoid with Braces (and Why)

Food to Avoid with Braces (and Why)

By admin August 4th

If you or your child have just had some shiny new braces installed, you probably got the usual rundown from your orthodontist. How to care for them, how to brush and floss properly, and as always you’ve probably received the dreaded list of foods you shouldn’t eat during your treatment. We hope your orthodontist took the time to really break it down for you, but if not then you may have some questions as to why certain foods are included on that list while they may not seem to pose a risk to your dental hygiene. The truth is, this list includes different foods for more reasons than just helping keep your teeth clean, such as protecting your braces from damage and helping to speed up your treatment. Check out this list of the major foods you shouldn’t eat with braces and the reasons you may not have realized we recommend this.

1. Sugary or Acidic Drinks

Sugary or acidic drinks such as soda or fruit juices, coffee, and sports drinks can do more than just damaging your teeth. If drank often and in combination with poor hygiene habits, they can actually begin to degrade your wires and the dental concrete which holds your brackets to your teeth. This can lead to the pressures which are pulling your teeth into place to change, which can slow down or even reverse your treatment progress.

2. Hard and Crunchy Foods

Foods like popcorn (specifically the kernels), nuts, seeds, and raw vegetables, and habits like chewing on ice can bend wires and chip or break brackets, leading to extra appointments and fees for repair.

3. Hard, Crusty Breads

Breads with hard crusts can also bend wires or damage brackets. This includes, but is not limited to, baguettes, bagels, and pizza crust, along with hard breakfast carbs like scones and coffee cakes if not softened first.

4. Hard Candy

Hard candies like jolly ranchers, mints, suckers and the like are not only a hazard for bending or breaking wires and brackets, the high amount of sugar can degrade these components just like sugary or acidic drinks.

5. Chewy and Sticky Candy

Chewy and sticky candies like gummies and soft caramels may not be as big a risk for damage to your braces themselves as other items on this list, but they sure are hard to clean out of your hardware and shifting teeth. If you absolutely must satisfy a craving for candy these are probably your best bet, but make sure to immediately and thoroughly clean your teeth and braces afterwards to prevent decay. Chewing gum should be avoided altogether due to its excessively stringy and hard to clean nature.

6. Big Bite Foods

Biting deep into an apple or corn on the cob can force brackets to break off from the surface of your tooth, leading to an immediate need for repair. Make sure to cut apples into bite-sized pieces and cut your corn off the cob before eating these foods.

By following these restrictions on food throughout your treatment, you can help protect yourself from unexpected setbacks in your own treatment as well as helping to speed up the process in general. If you are considering braces, or are already a patient with more questions, please contact us at Elko Dental Specialists. We’d love to help in any way we can.

Previous Next

Events

CONTACT US