What You Should and Shouldn’t Eat When You Have Braces

Braces are a great way to gain an attractive smile, ensure your keep good oral health and have more confidence each and every day. However, the quality of the results, in many instances, is largely dependent on how well the patient cares for the braces and their oral health during treatment.

How to eat with braces

Braces require many people to alter their diet, and there are certain foods that may become off limits during treatment. It is important to have a full understanding of what foods to avoid and what foods are more recommended with braces, and the following is a complete overview of how to eat properly when living with braces.

What to eat

Ideally, it is best to stay with softer foods that do not contain a high level of carbohydrates. In order to do so, making small adjustments to your meals may be required, such as not adding nuts to your salad and limiting your intake of sugar. A few examples of foods that are good to eat with braces include dairy products such as eggs and yogurt, bananas and cooked vegetables. It is also important to keep in mind that eating is likely to be the most challenging after the wires are adjusted since there is likely to be more pain during this time. Subsequently, foods such as mashed potatoes, peas and soup might make for great options until the pain goes away.

What not to eat

Perhaps the more important question is what you should not eat when wearing braces. Whereas eating soft foods is encouraged, avoiding harder foods or foods high in sugar is strongly encouraged. The reason for this change is because harder foods can damage brackets and the wire and result in the need for more frequent trips to the orthodontist for treatment. Common foods to avoid when wearing braces may include but not be limited to hard candy, chewy foods, popcorn, ice and hard fruits and vegetables. Making the necessary accommodations to your diet may require cooking foods to soften them, switching out apples and other hard fruits for bananas and cutting out as much sugar as possible.

How to care for braces

Of course, one of the best ways to ensure braces are well-cared for is to make the necessary changes to your diet, but there are other important things that should be done to ensure the braces remain in good condition and the teeth are healthy. In addition to dietary changes, be sure to practice good oral hygiene by brushing, flossing and using mouthwash consistently, frequently check for any signs of oral health complications or issues with your braces and visit the orthodontist for all scheduled check-ups and treatments.

Talk to an orthodontist today

If you want to learn more about braces and determine whether they are right for you, get in touch with us today and schedule a time to come in to see us. We can guide you through the entire braces process and help you maintain good oral health throughout treatment.

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