After getting braces, it’s crucial to be mindful of your diet, as certain foods and drinks can negatively impact the treatment process. Especially, hard foods can damage the braces or brackets and prolong the treatment duration. Sticky foods can get trapped between the braces and be hard to clean, potentially leading to dental health issues. Moreover, acidic and sugary drinks can erode tooth enamel, leading to cavities and gum problems. Therefore, avoiding such foods and drinks is critical for a smooth and successful orthodontic treatment. This article will thoroughly discuss the dietary considerations for those with braces.
Hard Foods
Avoiding hard foods is essential after getting braces to prevent damage to the braces and brackets. Hard foods can cause brackets to detach from the teeth, braces to break, or deform, potentially extending the treatment period, causing additional treatment costs, and leading to pain. Here are some hard foods to avoid and their potential consequences:
- Hard Fruits like Apples and Carrots: Direct biting into these can pressure the brackets and cause them to dislodge. It’s safer to consume these fruits in small pieces.
- Chips and Crackers: Their crisp and hard texture can displace brackets or damage the braces.
- Nuts: Their hard texture can dislodge brackets or bend the braces, negatively affecting the treatment process.
- Hard Candies and Lollipops: These can damage the brackets when biting down hard.
- Corn on the Cob: Its hard and fibrous texture can damage the brackets. It’s safer to remove the kernels from the cob before eating.
- Hard Bread Crusts and Pizza Edges: These can cause brackets to snap off or braces to get damaged.
Consuming these hard foods can lead to brace and bracket damage, extending the treatment duration, pain, and damage to the teeth or gums. Additionally, repairing or replacing the braces and brackets may require extra appointments and costs. Hence, it is recommended that individuals with braces carefully consume or entirely avoid these types of foods.
Sticky Foods
After getting braces, it’s important to avoid sticky foods like gum, Turkish delight, and soft candies, as they can stick to the braces and brackets, displace or damage them. This can prolong the treatment, incur extra costs, and cause pain.
Here are some sticky foods to avoid and their potential consequences:
- Gum: Gum can stick to the brackets and braces, exerting enough force to displace or deform them.
- Caramel and Toffees: These sticky sweets can adhere tightly to the brackets, potentially tearing off the brackets or braces when removed.
- Sticky Candies: Gummy bears, marshmallows, and similar sticky candies can damage the braces and brackets, displace them.
- Fruit Bars: Sticky fruit bars can also stick to and damage the brackets and braces.
- Turkish Delight and Soft Candies: These soft and sticky foods can get lodged between the braces and brackets, making them difficult to clean and potentially causing damage.
Consuming sticky foods can result in the detachment, displacement, or damage of brackets or braces. Moreover, sticky foods can get trapped between the teeth and around the brackets, leading to cavities and gum diseases. Therefore, individuals with braces should avoid these types of foods.
Sugary and Acidic Drinks
Limiting or avoiding sugary and acidic drinks after getting braces is crucial. These drinks can cause tooth decay and erode tooth enamel, as well as lead to staining around the braces. Here are some sugary and acidic drinks to avoid and their potential consequences:
- Cola and Sodas: Their high sugar and acid content can erode tooth enamel and cause cavities. Sodas can also cause staining around the braces.
- Fruit Juices: Even natural fruit juices can be high in acid, which can erode tooth enamel, making teeth more sensitive. Sugary fruit juices can lead to cavities.
- Energy and Sports Drinks: These can contain high levels of sugar and acid, increasing the risk of cavities and enamel erosion.
- Lemonade and Other Acidic Drinks: Their high acid content can erode tooth enamel, leading to erosion over time.
- Tea and Coffee (with Sugar Added): These drinks can be naturally acidic, and added sugar can increase the risk of cavities. They can also cause staining around the braces and braces.
Consuming sugary and acidic drinks can lead to tooth decay and enamel erosion, reducing the effectiveness of orthodontic treatment, extending treatment duration, and causing pain. Additionally, staining can occur around the braces, leading to aesthetic issues after treatment.
How Should We Eat After Getting Braces?
- Cut hard or large foods into small pieces to reduce the risk of damaging the braces and brackets.
- Chew food slowly and carefully on the sides of your mouth to decrease the chance of damaging your braces.
- Prefer soft fruits, vegetables, and foods to avoid damaging your braces.
- Instead of biting directly into hard fruits like apples or carrots, cut them into small pieces before eating.
- Be cautious with very hot or very cold foods as they can cause sensitivity or pain in your teeth.
- Avoid sticky foods like caramel and gum to prevent them from sticking to and damaging your braces.
- Limit your intake of acidic foods and drinks to protect your tooth enamel from erosion.
- Reduce the consumption of sugary foods and drinks to decrease the risk of cavities.
- Brush your teeth after meals and use dental floss. This helps prevent food particles from accumulating between the braces and brackets.
- Especially after consuming sticky or sugary foods, drinking plenty of water can help balance the acidity levels in your mouth and clean away food residues.
If you are looking for experts to make orthodontic treatment in Istanbul, Alyans Clinic, our dental clinic in Kadıköy, is at your service with its expert orthodontists.
