Deciding to get braces tends to be somewhat daunting, particularly for adults and teens. Fortunately, dental innovations today are far more advanced than many years ago. Techniques in this field have also improved, allowing practitioners to provide dental solutions and treatments in a way that minimally impacts your life quality.
Apart from a few key things, your life quality doesn’t change significantly when you wear braces. However, apart from giving you a better smile, getting braces drives you to give more attention to your nutrition. You become more intentional about things like what you are eating and drinking. If you still don’t understand the implications of getting braces, asking about braces is easier than you think, mainly from a professional.
Eating with braces
When you get new braces, you need to make significant changes to your regular diet. In the first few days after having them put in, your teeth tend to be sore, and you’ll also be changing your bite. Because of this, you will typically have difficulty eating the foods you are used to eating.
As you become more used to the braces, you’ll have a relatively easier time eating different food. You’ll probably be able to go back to eating normally about two weeks after your treatment. Although it is possible to eat normally again, you must remember that all foods aren’t created equal where braces are concerned.
Reasons to avoid eating certain foods
People with braces have to pay more attention to their diet because certain foods are safe to eat with braces, and others aren’t. You have to be more intentional about identifying and avoiding all foods that could damage, break or bend your new braces. Such damages derail your braces treatments.
Your orthodontic appliances break because your bite is too strong to handle. Bracket breakages occur more at the back molars than around the incisors.
How to eat correctly with braces
Although there are some foods that you want to avoid, it is still possible to enjoy most of your favourite foods even with braces on. With the following tips, you’ll be able to eat safely with the braces.
- Eat softer foods in smaller bites. Ensure that you always chop up big chunks of food into smaller ones so that you don’t have to exert more force when biting your food.
- Train yourself to bite into your food using the side of your mouth. Focus on using your bicuspids and canines.
- Simultaneously chew your food slowly and thoroughly. It will prevent you from biting your cheeks, lips or tongue with every bite changes.
Top braces-friendly foods
- Dairy: Ice cream, yoghurt, soft cheese, pudding, cottage cheese
- Bread: Waffles, soft pretzels, pancakes, cupcakes, muffins
- Grains: Noodles, rice, oatmeal, oats, pasta, hot and cold cereal
- Meat: boneless fried chicken, sausage, ground beef, seafood, tender meat, meatballs
- Vegetables: mashed potatoes, salads, cooked vegetables, sweet potatoes
- Fruits: apples, pears, bananas, blueberries, oranges, grapes, grapefruits
You can also have some pizzas, hamburgers and sweet treats such as chocolates and brownies.
Foods to avoid
You want to avoid some of the following foods as much as possible to complete your treatment successfully.
- Sugary foods such as sodas
- Sticky and chewy candy like caramels, taffy and gummies
- Any jerky such as beef jerky
- Suckers and hard candy
- Chips, nuts, pretzels and popcorn
- Ribs, wings and other meats that are still on the
- Ice
Conclusion
If you consider getting braces for your teeth, you can shop online and around your city, as most general dentists offer a wide range of orthodontic treatments. Once you settle on a practitioner, ensure that you follow their recommendations as it is sound advice coming from a professional.
