What Should we Eat and Avoid with Braces?

This article has been written by Dr. Sushma Sharma who is a medical practitioner. We would like to thank her for joining us and sharing her thoughts with the world.

You need to change eating habits after you have put on braces. Selected diet may not only lessen your discomfort with braces but decreases breakages and the complications post braces.

Diet change and a change in how food is eaten are critical in preventing breakage. Here, I am providing you with the list of food you can have or not while wearing braces. The best food to have after braces is the one lower in sugar content and soft.

7 Types of Food to avoid with Braces

1.Eat Soft food, Avoid hard food

It is very frustrating for an Orthodontist to repair damages and breakages. The bond strength is always compromised repair of breakage, braces have increased chances to get dislodged again.

Moreover, breakages may be painful and prolong your treatment duration too as the tooth with loosened bracket is no more available to take Orthodontic forces. Avoid any hard food stuff such as nuts or hard candy, popcorn, pizza crusts.

Biting into hard food can snap the wires or dislodge the brackets. Also avoid chewing hard and inedible things – pens or pencils.

Bony meats

Opt for boneless meat, don’t eat hard portions such as chicken wings and ribs. However, you can still eat chicken wings and ribs if the meat is cut away from the bone.Remove the meat and cut into small pieces instead of eating it off the bone.

Examples of bad meat choices include beef jerky, pot roast, and other tough, fibrous meats. .

Fruits and vegetables

Avoid fruits and vegetables that are hard, chewy. Like Apple, Guava . If you eat crunchy foods, cut them into small, bite-size pieces. Apples and Carrots – Biting into a whole apple or raw carrot can damage your braces significantly. You can steam vegetable to make soft.

2. Avoid Sticky food

When you have braces in teeth, brackets, wires may compromise your Oral hygiene. Eating sticky food like as toffee, chocolates, caramel can pull on the braces and loosen or break them and may further deteriorate all your efforts to keep up oral hygiene.

Avoid foods which has potential to get stuck in your braces and be extremely difficult to remove. Sticky or Gluey food can harbour bacteria and cause cavities. Special reference to Bubble gum, which is the enemy of braces. It gets stuck inside all the grooves of the brackets and wire.

3. Avoid extreme Cold or hot food

Braces can make your teeth sensitive sometimes, especially after the recent appointment due to appliance adjustment. Though ice cream is recommended to curb pain after adjustment but avoid food with extreme of temperature. Consume Lukewarm food.

4. Avoid Excessive sugary foods or acidic drinks (especially soda!).

It is no secret that high sugar levels like cake, ice cream, cookies, pie, candy and highly acidic beverages like soda lead to tooth decay. You should avoid excessive sugary and highly acidic food even when not having braces.

So, it is understood not to consume them when you are wearing braces. Rather opt for either sugar-less or sugar substitutes for sweetness to milk, juice, smoothies etc.

Always remember to remove retainers or any other removable appliance before drinking beverages. The sugary liquid can become trapped between the device and teeth, which expedites the decay process.

All soft drinks—including regular and diet soda, sports drinks, fruit drinks, and energy drinks—contain high levels of sugar and highly acidic.

5. Drink sufficient amount of water

Braces may sometimes make your oral tissues dry which may be painful sometimes. Drink ample amount of water to avoid dryness and to keep food from being trapped between the braces. It’s also important to rinse the mouth frequently with water to keep bacteria from forming between the teeth.

6. Avoid highly staining foods and smoking

If you are wearing clear (white) porcelain brackets, or any elastics, they can stain from red wine, tomato sauce, barbecue sauce, and cigarette smoke.

Coffee and Tea are two drinks that are highly pigmented. They can stain not only the brackets of your braces, but your teeth as well. The stains can demineralize your teeth, which can lead to decay.

7. Acidic foods

Acidic foods can damage you tooth enamel. Lemons and limes are highly acidic and you should avoid them. Avoid sour pickles too.

What can you Eat with Braces?

Soft Fruits – Grapefruits, nectarines, banana, mud apple ,kiwi, and tangerines, Bananas, Peaches, Blueberries, Mangoes, Pineapple chunks

Try to make smoothie which is a good source of fruit. You can toss anything in the blender and create a drink that’s loaded with vitamins and antioxidants.

Vegetables – Cook or Steam them so that they come out soft. Some delicious soft vegetables include: Broccoli, Peas, Carrots (when boiled or steamed), Potatoes.

Dairy Products – Yogurt and cheese are good alternatives to tough meat.

Soft Meats – Tender chicken, turkey, meat loaf, lunch meat, seafood

Deserts – Pudding, applesauce, smoothies

Cereals – Cooked pasta, cooked rice, substitute crunchy breakfast cereals with oatmeal for those crunchy cereals and granola bars. You can freely have khichdi, daal and rice. Avoid roti, since it is very hard. If you eat corn on the cob, you have to cut the corn off of the cob and Hull-less popcorn.

Soft Breads – Tortillas, biscuits, muffins, pancakes

Eggs – Another good alternative to tough meats. Scrambled eggs are good to eat.

Omilights Youtube video on Food to avoid with braces

Please connect with Dr. Sushma Sharma on Linkedin for any queries:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-sushma-dhiman-4a64b0101/