Avoid eating these when you have braces

It’s a hard life with braces. Initially you might experience difficulty while talking or even to keep your lips shut. Your mouth can also get a little sore with the brackets rubbing against them. But as your mouth gets used to braces, things get a lot easier. Keep your braces super clean to get used to them faster. It’s hard to achieve this result, as, trust me, food gets stuck everywhere. The choice of food is important as certain foods can cause loose or broken braces. In addition to this, food particles stuck in the braces can cause plaque formation and tooth decalcification (loss of calcium from tooth makes them brittle).

Following are a few food items to be avoided when wearing braces:

• Chewy or crunchy food – Chewy toffees, hard crust breads, pizza crusts, popcorn, etc. should be avoided as these foods tend to get stuck in the braces. These can bend or break the wires or can damage your teeth. Caramels and gummy candies can make you spend more time cleaning the  braces. Eating corn on the cob is as bad as biting into a whole apple. Instead, take the kernels off the cob and slice that apple into bite size pieces. 
• Sweet and sugary food/drinks –  Sugary food when stuck in between your teeth can cause tooth decay. That soda won’t do you any good either.
• Heavily pigmented food – Soups and curries with pigmented spices such as cumin, cayenne and turmeric and excessive coffee and tea can stain your teeth or the clear rubbers around the brackets.

To know more about braces and orthodontic treatment, contact Green Meadow Dental at 3579 B Berlin Turnpike, Newington, CT 06111 (860)-865-0056. Many people from West Hartford come to our office because we are conveniently located next to Target. Our flexible hours and family dental practice makes it easy for busy families to schedule visits for both parents and children. We also service patients from surrounding areas including Weathersfield, Rocky Hill and Berlin.