Foods To Avoid With Braces!
Braces are fantastic for aligning or straightening your teeth, however unfortunately, there are certain foods to avoid with braces. There are certain foods that can get stuck between your braces, causing damage to either the braces or your teeth, so we’re here to give you some guidance of what to avoid! Although it might be frustrating, avoiding these foods for a few months will certainly be worth it in the long run. We’re going to break this down into 3 main categories to keep things simple!
Foods That Are Chewy or Sticky
The first type of foods that you should avoid is anything that is chewy or sticky, like sweets, bagels, caramels, chewing gum or fibrous meats. When you consume foods that require lots of chewing, it can damage your braces by loosening the wires. These foods are also more likely to get trapped in your braces and then are also harder to remove. This can both potentially cause problems with the braces itself or cause food to remain in the teeth for a long time, which can result in bad breath as well as bacteria developing, which can eventually result in tooth decay. So, all in all, one of the most important foods to avoid with braces are those that are chewy or sticky!
Foods That Are Crunchy
Another group of foods to avoid with braces would be crunchy foods! Anything like popcorn, crisps, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, raw crunchy vegetables or fruit, breadsticks and granola bars should be avoided when you have braces, because again, these foods have a tendency to put stress on the braces and get lodged between wires, brackets and your teeth. They could even dislodge the brackets in some cases! So, make sure one of the foods to avoid with braces is anything with crunch to it, as it is very likely to save you an unnecessary trip to your dentist.
Foods That Are Hard To Bite Into
Another category of foods to avoid with braces is definitely any that are hard to bite into. Foods including corn on the cob, ice, hard sweets or lollipops can not only be difficult to chew when you have braces, but foods that are hard to bite into are also very likely to damage the braces in some way. When you regularly eat hard foods with braces, or even just once, you are likely to be planning a trip to see your dentist. So, before you eat something, just assess whether or not it is easy to bite into and make the smart decision, even if it is your favourite food!
Final Thoughts
The main foods to avoid with braces are anything chewy, sticky, crunchy or hard to bite into, as not only will these foods be more likely to get stuck between your braces and hard to remove, but are more likely to damage the braces themselves, which will result in inconvenient trips to the dentist as well as unnecessary cost! A few years of avoiding these foods will be worth it to help you achieve a healthy smile that you are proud of.
