Foods to Avoid with Braces
Braces are an investment, both in time and money. Once you've accepted to enter in this investment, you want your orthodontic treatment to go as smoothly as possible. If, during your treatment, you take care of your dental braces you'll be sure to 1) Finish your treatment as soon as possible 2) Be less likely to visit your Niagra Peninsula orthodontist more often than necessary and 3) Save money in preventable emergency dental visits. But how exactly can you accomplish this? Maintaining good oral hygiene for one! Another important pillar of dental braces care is knowing which foods are okay to eat and which foods are essential to avoid!
Foods That Are Detrimental To Your Braces
When selecting foods for your drinks, snacks, and meals always be mindful of the way that the foods will affect the state of your teeth as well as your dental brackets and wires:
- Hard Foods - Hard foods can cause the dental adhesive used to glue the brackets to your teeth either to shift or dislodge completely! Additionally, hard foods have been known to bend or pop wires as well. Avoid these painful occurrences by saying "no" to foods such as:
- Apples
- Carrots
- Corn on the cob
- Ice
- Nuts
- Sticky, Chewy, And Sugary Foods - Ultimately, stay away from candy. Not all candy—we're not monsters! We know that it's human nature to want sweets once in a while, but we need to emphasize that not only is the sugar bad for your overall diet, these items are definitely not good for your braces. Examples of these treats that you should avoid are
- Licorice
- Gum
- Caramels
- Taffy
- Toffee
- Foods You Bite Into - This may seem like a repeat of foods that are hard, but it's so much more than that! Whenever you bite into a certain food, the pressure from the food push on your brackets and wire. This may not cause a pop the first time, but it will ultimately cause a component of your braces to be displaced and dislocated. This includes but is not limited to:
- Tacos
- Sandwiches
- Bagels
- Bread rolls
- Pizza
- Cookies
- Foods That Stain Your Teeth - Think about your future teeth's color in this category. You don't want to spend plus/minus two years continuing to drink or eat certain foods that can darken your teeth only to reveal, the minute you have your braces removed, different-colored areas on your teeth. Foods and drinks such as:
- Coffee
- Sodas (dark)
- Tea (dark)
- Kool-Aid
- Blueberries
- Raspberries