Foods to Avoid With Braces

With the New Year right around the corner, you would probably want to eat anything you can when it comes to the sweets and treats! Start 2019 on track and begin that New Year’s resolution by avoiding all the tricky foods for your braces. Braces are an extraordinary tool that can correct serious alignment issues but must be treated with care. Eating hard, sticky, or tacky food can do serious damage to your braces and may require an additional Orthodontic visit to repair broken or damaged brackets and wires. If you’re planning a trip to the orthodontist in the near future, or already have braces, you might want to consider some changes to your eating habits before you get braces.

What Are Some Foods to Avoid with Braces?

• Hard foods (Besides Candy) – This includes everything from harder types of bread like pizza crust, to nuts, to vegetables like raw carrots. Since a lot of these food items require more force to bite down, they can damage your wires and brackets for your braces. Here is a helpful tip: Cook the raw vegetables so they become soft. If you have to eat a hard bread consider dipping it in broth or your favorite sauce to soften it.
• Tough Meats – Snacks like beef jerky can loosen the wires and brackets for your braces, which will need to be addressed with another visit to the orthodontist. The same can happen with poorly cooked beef or chicken, so be careful when eating these types of meats during your meal.
• Ice – Ice in your drink is okay, but do not chew ice cubes as this can also break your wires and brackets.
• Hard Candy and Sticky Foods

Remember it only takes one bad bite to damage your braces!

Always remember you can have a great time with your family and friends to welcome 2019, but be careful with the foods you choose because an unexpected extra visit to the orthodontist is probably not in your New Year’s plans!

Why certain foods need to be avoided with braces

There are 2 reasons to avoid certain foods while wearing braces.

• Certain food types such as popcorn, jellies, candies, caramel and gums stick to your teeth and braces and make the cleaning difficult opening up to cavities and other serious consequences.
• Some foods such as hard nuts, candies can cause damage to the braces and wires resulting in injury to your mouth.

Great Alternative Foods to Eat with Braces

Fortunately you do not need to give up on all of your favorite foods while wearing braces there are great and smart alternatives available to your food choices such as:

• Semi-prepared foods like sliced apples or canned corns
• Slow-cooked soft meals
• Soups, broths and other liquid food
• Soft desserts, cookies and muffins
• Mashed potatoes, and fully cooked veggies
• Soft and citrus fruits

Why You Should Follow These Guidelines For Eating with Braces

Following guidelines while eating with braces is necessary because if the braces get damaged, your orthodontic treatment might take longer than required time as well it may result in injuries to your mouth requiring other surgical treatments.