Best Food For Braces
When wearing braces, it is important to avoid hard foods and sticky foods. There are 2 reasons for this:
1. When your braces are first placed, your teeth will be sore for a few days; you will want to stick to soft foods at the beginning because your teeth will be tender when chewing.
2. The brackets are the square pieces that are glued to your teeth. They act as handle bars to move the teeth around. If you bite on something hard or sticky, it can break the bond of the glue and the bracket can come loose. If this happens, you need to have it repaired. Constant breaking of brackets can cause an extended overall treatment time and in some cases extra charges if it happens repeatedly. Some foods that should be avoided are things like:
• Popcorn
• Gum
• Toffee
• Sticky candies
• Lollipops
• Corn nuts
Some foods that you need to be careful with:
• Corn on the cobb – you can still eat it, just make sure you cut it off the cobb.
• Hard vegetables – either cut them into smaller pieces or have them steamed.
• Apples – don’t bite into them, cut them up.
• Hard nuts – don’t eat them whole, try slivered almonds
• Hard crusty bread – don’t bite and pull with your teeth, instead rip a piece off and chew it
Foods that are very safe with your teeth are sore:
• Eggs
• Mashed potatoes
• Chili
• Smoothies
• Soup
• Yogurt
• Pasta
• Oatmeal
• Note – anything cold will feel good on your teeth (ie: Ice water, smoothies, ice cream)
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The good news is, your teeth are usually only sore for the first few days after the braces or wires are placed, however, it is important to be cautious around hard and sticky foods throughout your entire orthodontic treatment to avoid damaging the braces. Our patients tell us that it is pretty easy to find foods that are good to eat with braces. No one has starved yet! It is really important to us that our patients are getting the proper nutrition.
If you have any questions about some of your favorite foods, don’t hesitate to ask us! When you have your braces placed at South Surrey Smiles, we will give you a list of foods to avoid during treatment. We will also give you a kit full of new brushes and tools and instructions on how to properly care for your teeth and braces.
Dr. Williams, an orthodontist in Surrey, and the South Surrey Smiles team are dedicated to providing the South Surrey, White Rock, and surrounding communities with consistently exceptional orthodontic care, creating a fun, relaxed practice where you can feel truly at home.