What can’t you eat with braces? Recommended Foods

Orthodontic treatment often has its pros and cons. And one of the biggest challenges is knowing what foods to eat. This is a very recurring theme, related to the patient’s lifestyle.

But, the truth is that it is not always necessary to eliminate certain foods from the daily diet. Although it is important to know how to cook and eat daily meals.

Factors that can affect the diet when we have braces

Once you begin orthodontic treatment, an initial period of adaptation is necessary. This includes rigorous oral hygiene. Therefore, it is important to consider the recommended foods to avoid future problems.

This applies to patients with metal brackets, sapphire brackets or lingual braces. On the other hand, patients with invisible braces (invisalign), can eat their food normally due to the type of orthodontics. Which in this particular case would be removable braces.

Prohibited foods with braces

• Sticky foods: candy, chewing gum, sweets, etc.
• Crunchy foods: Toasted bread, crackers, nuts, etc.

It is also important to avoid biting your nails, just as it is important to avoid biting objects.

Not recommended foods

• Hard foods: Whole fruits, raw vegetables, crunchy snacks or dried meat.
• Foods with strong colouring: Sweets, mainly.
• Substances: Tobacco as a regular recreational product.

Eating ice cream or ice is not a problem, as long as you avoid biting into them at all costs.

Recommended foods

• Purees: To avoid using the muscles involved in chewing.
• Hot or cold soups: Essential in the first weeks with braces for the contribution of vitamins and minerals.
• White meat: The texture of white meat is much softer than red meat. Therefore, they do not entail efforts during chewing, resulting in a food that is easy to ingest.
• Salads: Specifically salads of cooked foods to avoid debris in the brackets.
• Fruits: Eat ripe or stewed fruit, avoiding chunks so as not to tire the chewing muscles.

In case of sores

Since we are talking about a foreign structure in the mouth, it is common to suffer sores or irritation for a while. To counteract the discomfort, it is possible to resort to the use of orthodontic protective waxes.

Also, if this happens, it is important to remember to avoid consuming foods such as:

• Citrus fruits: Lemon, pineapple and even vinegar.
• Spicy: Its abrasive sensation can cause intense pain in case of sores and irritation.
• Foods with a rough texture: The crust of bread, for example, can cause discomfort.

Dental hygiene

Since braces make daily oral hygiene difficult, it is important to follow the orthodontic specialist’s recommendations to remove food debris, avoid or eliminate common complications of wearing braces.

Generally speaking, they are recommended:

• Interproximal brushes
• Dental floss
• Oral irrigators.

In this way it is possible to control the accumulated bacterial plaque that derives from the tartar accumulated between the framework material. For more information about our orthodontic specialty, please contact us.

At SOFDental we have a definitive solution for each patient.