Investing in braces is a great way to gently push your crooked, crowded, or gapped teeth into their proper positions. Unfortunately, having braces means being careful with the types of foods you eat to avoid damage to the brackets and wires on your teeth and hindrances to your progress. So, what can you not eat with braces?
Patients with metal braces by Dr. Maldonado from Maldonado Orthodontics in Louisiana often wonder about braces’ dietary restrictions. Here, we share details about the foods to avoid with braces and why they aren’t suitable for this orthodontic treatment.
Braces-Friendly Diet Tips
Braces are great for straightening teeth and getting a better bite. The orthodontic treatment can also boost your confidence and self-esteem. Still, many are surprised to learn about eating restrictions with braces.
Despite their ability to effectively realign teeth, traditional braces are more fragile than they seem. Eating the wrong items can cause the hardware inside your mouth to break or shift, causing you to need additional orthodontic appointments to resolve new problems.
Some foods aren’t damaging but can stick to the metal components on your teeth. Keeping your teeth clean will become harder, increasing the risk of tooth decay and cavities.
What can you not eat with braces? Here are several common foods not recommended for braces.
Sugary, Starchy Foods
Maintaining healthy dental hygiene practices can be challenging since you must learn how to clean around the brackets and wires bonded to your teeth. Though you shouldn’t stop brushing and flossing your teeth, eating sticky, sweet, and starchy foods can make your daily dental care routine more challenging.
Foods like toffee, cookies, chips, and caramel can increase the amount of plaque acid your mouth produces. The extra acid will eat away at your tooth enamel, increasing the risk of tooth decay, cavities, and gum disease.
The texture of some sweet, starchy food can also loosen your brackets or damage the wire. It’s best to avoid or minimize your consumption of candies, cookies, and other junk snack foods until your braces come off.
Crunchy Snacks
Generally, most crunchy foods can be problematic for people with metal braces. Examples include:
- Popcorn
- Nuts
- Taco shells
- Crunchy fruits and vegetables like raw carrots and apples
- Pretzels
- Ice
The risk of these items damaging your braces is high. Even a single broken bracket can result in additional visits to the orthodontist and a longer treatment time.Â
It’s better to swap foods you avoid with braces with safer alternatives. For instance, you can eat tacos with soft tortillas instead of hard, crunchy shells.
You can also eat corn with minimal worry as long as you don’t bite the kernels straight off the cob. Otherwise, you could unintentionally damage your orthodontic wiring.
Chewy Foods
People often find it surprising that chewy food is a dietary restriction for people with braces. Eating bagels, pizza crust, and hard rolls can cause the dense material to get stuck around the brackets and wiring on teeth. When that happens, part of the braces can loosen, making the treatment less effective.
Ideally, you should avoid chewy foods. If you must eat dense or doughy items, consider breaking them into small pieces to make chewing easier and reduce the risk of damage.
Yet, you should not indulge in any kind of chewing gum. The sticky material can quickly get stuck around your metal braces. The sugar from bubblegum and other sweet chewing gums can also contribute to increased plaque acid production if you’re not careful.
Contact a Qualified Dentist for Your Orthodontic Treatment Today
We at Maldonado Orthodontics know the answer to “What can you not eat with braces?” We’ll gladly explain orthodontic diet limitations when you’re ready to get braces to address orthodontic problems like overcrowding teeth and dental gaps.Whether you need a regular brace adjustment or want to explore other orthodontic treatments to achieve the perfect smile, our board-certified orthodontist is ready to help. Contact us today at (504) 455-5581 to schedule an appointment at our Metairie, Lutcher, or Hammond, Louisiana dental office.
