Foods and Drinks to Avoid with Braces

Braces are usually fitted unto someone’s teeth to fix their crooked teeth if they already have them disarranged. There are certain foods and drinks to avoid with braces. This is due to the fact that some of the drinks and foods can corrode the braces and destroy their structure which in turn weakens them. This will not solve the problem the braces were fixed to. Thus, there is a big need to be concerned about the foods and drinks to avoid with braces.

Drinks To Avoid With Braces

Drinks to avoid with braces are mainly the ones that have sugar as one of their components. They include any carbonated or fizzy drinks such as sodas, pops, Coca-cola, Pepsi, on top of all natural juices made from fruits. It is a proven fact that these drinks contain a high content of sugar and acid.

Sugary and Acidic Characteristic Drinks

Such drinks include a wide range of sodas, natural juices, and carbonated drinks should be avoided completely. The sugary and acidic characteristics of these drinks may lead to having the tooth decay and being eroded. The fizzy and carbonated drinks too tend to stain the brackets of the braces fitted to correct the crooked teeth.

Tip To Drink - If there is a need to still take the fizzy and carbonated drinks, a person should take these fizzy drinks which are to be avoided if with braces using a straw. This ensures that they do not come into contact with the teeth staining them which then hasten the erosion and decay of them.

Tea and Coffee

Other drinks to avoid with braces include coffee especially black coffee which obviously will lead to staining of the braced teeth, and tea as it has the same staining effects as coffee and it will not cease the staining of the teeth with braces even if a person switches from coffee to tea with this thought in their mind. All types of sodas due to the fact that they contain sugar as an ingredient; they are carbonated, and classified as fizzy drinks too. They also tend to cause staining of the teeth.

For Ceramic Braces

The drinks to avoid with these braces are the ones that are known to lead to staining of the ligatures. It is highly recommended by many orthodontists to keep away from such drinks when with braces. If they cannot be avoided totally they should be just limited to the right amount which will prevent staining. Drink to avoid with braces, especially the ceramic braces, are such as curry, cola, tea, coffee, red wine, fruit drinks, balsamic vinegar, and tomato sauce.

Foods to Avoid with Braces

What can you eat with braces? Let us elaborate on what a person should avoid when fitted with braces. Some of these foods should be avoided for they have the capability to damage the parts of the braces which include the rubber bands, wires, or even the brackets. Foods to avoid with braces include tough meats, hard loaves of bread, and raw vegetables. A person should only stick to eating only the soft foods for the early days of being fixed with the braces.

Tough Foods

Being keen to check what a person eats is important in protecting the braces thus the need to list the foods to avoid with these braces. Tough foods should be avoided since they can lead to hurting of the teeth. If the food is tough it should be chopped into tiny pieces for easy chewing using the back teeth for this.

Foods Which Chewed Heavily

The foods to avoid with braces include foods that need to be chewed heavily such as bagels, hard rolls, and licorice. Foods that are crunchy in nature such as popcorns and ice. Foods that tend to get stuck onto the teeth and braces whenever eaten such as caramels and gum.

Foods Have Hard Nature and Sugar

Foods that are naturally hard such as nuts and hard pretzels. Foods that have sugar as their component such as the hard candy. Foods that require someone to dig their teeth into as they bite them such as maize on the cobs, raw vegetables, croutons, French/Italian bread, fruits, hard rolls, thin crust pizza, meat, burgers, sub sandwiches, apples, and carrot.

Chocolates

Eating chocolate with braces, for someone already fitted with braces, they can only eat chocolate which is soft but any chocolate which is hard should be completely avoided. The list of foods to avoid with braces will include any foods that are sticky in nature for they can destroy the braces.

A person fitted with the braces should stay away from them. An individual can still go ahead and get themselves a bit of chocolate but they have to keep in their mind that they cannot chew it. All those types of chocolate that contain caramel in them or fillings that need to be chewed should be avoided for they often get stuck between the braces. This is the same as not to chewing gum.

Conclusion

Apart from foods and drinks when with braces, chewing on hard things such as pens, pencils, and fingernails are known to destroy the braces. When a brace is damaged by these foods and drinks, it tends to become loose and it can be detached from the tooth itself. This means the tooth stops moving and can even start moving back to where originally it was.

Damaged or not tight braces will lead to the treatment of the crooked teeth taking a long time to achieve. When the braces become damaged and lose the results achieved are not as per the expected but turn out to have poor results. If you have a plan of having brace enquire drinks and foods to avoid with braces from your orthodontists to avoid poor results.