Like in many other fields, patient compliance is paramount in orthodontic treatments. Procedures in orthodontics tend to last years, so starting to wear braces or clear aligners is a long-term relationship for most patients.
As an orthodontic patient, you will attend many checkups every two or three weeks, to be precise. You will have to change some of your habits to prevent accidents with your appliances. Your dental hygiene will need more attention than usual.
A treatment plan can last much longer when the patient is not committed to following the orthodontist’s indications. It can be a lot of changes at first, but you will find out that it all was pretty simple over time.
If there is something dental patients find challenging, it is avoiding certain foods and drinks. It can be hard to say ‘no’ to your favorite foods, but it does not have to be that way since the problem is in excess.
When a person eats excess sugar, whether it is in the form of food or drinks, it harms their dental health. On the other hand, if the patient is wearing orthodontic appliances such as braces, they have to be careful not to break a wire o a bracket.
What Foods Can You Eat With Braces?
If you are planning to start treatment with conventional braces, you don’t have to worry about dietary restrictions being too difficult to follow. It’s nothing like having a teeth whitening treatment where you have to be really cautious with the foods you eat.
You can eat almost all kinds of food and drinks. You can eat rice, and you can eat dessert, you can eat meat, you can drink fruit juices, cocktails, and even soda. The rule is brushing and flossing any residues left in your mouth. Hot or cold, cooked or low prep, food is good for you.
For example, some people may tell you not to eat apples because they are too hard to bite, and you could detach a bracket. Well, forget biting, but you can slice the fruit and eat it that way. And you can use the same trick for other fruits like peaches or foods like ribs.
Try using healthier sweeteners such as xylitol or monk fruit if you want to enjoy sweet drinks occasionally.
What Foods to Eat With Braces the First Week?
During your first week with braces, your teeth may be a little sensitive. It is normal to experience mild to moderate discomfort in your gums and teeth. Nothing to be worried and you can always control the situation with over-the-counter painkillers.
Almost as effective as painkillers, delicious recipes of soft foods await you.
Vegetable Puree
Sweet potato puree is a hit for most people. For those days when your gums are feeling sore, you can give your sweet potato puree a twist to forget about the pain.
You are going to need sweet potatoes (obviously). After you have mashed them, add melted butter, ginger powder, and a trickle of fresh orange juice. Puree again, and voilà. Tasty and healthy.
Homemade Chicken Avocado Nuggets
Sounds complicated, but it is not. Boil a piece of chicken breast. After cooking, dice it into little pieces, add avocado, add the spices you like, and then use a blender to puree. Make nugget-like forms with the mixture and cover them in a batter of flour and eggs. Throw them in the oven or air fryer, and you are ready.
The nuggets won’t be crusty but yummy.
Soups are also great since they are healthy and soft, and you can find hundreds of recipes with your favorite ingredients. Remember this even after your first week with braces because biweekly adjustments can bring soreness too.
What Foods Can You Not Eat With Braces?
The main things you should avoid are
- Hard foods. They can knock off your braces or loosen your archwires.
- Chewy or sticky foods. These types of food can get stuck in your orthodontic appliances and give you a hard time cleaning your teeth. Sticky foods could also break a wire, an elastic band, or a bracket.
- Excess of sugar. Foods and excessively sweet drinks can hurt your tooth enamel, creating a risk of cavities.
Are There Food Restrictions With Invisalign?
Invisalign treatment has different dynamics. Clear aligners are removable orthodontic appliances, meaning patients can take them off to eat. An action as simple as removing your dental trays can free patients from food restrictions.
Taking off your invisible aligners to eat is mandatory. However, you can leave them on when drinking. And one thing you should think about is that small particles of your drinks allocate between your teeth and your trays.
This means that if you drank a sugary soda and didn’t wash your teeth for the next 6 hours, that sugar will comfortably feed bacteria in your mouth for hours, increasing the risk of tooth decay.
How to Avoid Orthodontic Emergencies?
Not following these dietary recommendations can lead to minor orthodontic emergencies. A broken bracket or a loose wire are minor problems but can cause delays in your treatment plan.
Biting a corncob can cause a lost bracket or a poking wire, and a loose wire creates ulcerations in your lips or gums. You can fix these issues at home, and you can also avoid them.
You and your orthodontist can make a great team for your dental health if you follow their recommendations.
How to Maintain Good Oral Hygiene?
Oral hygiene is vital throughout your life, and if you want to have successful orthodontic treatment, you ought to remember this.
Traditional brackets do not impede dental flossing. If you are having a hard time while doing it, we recommend waxed floss and self-threaders to make the work easier and avoid floss tearing.
Brushing twice a day is the minimum you should be doing, but if you can brush your teeth thrice per day, it would be more efficient.
Adding mouthwash use to your dental hygiene routine can benefit your teeth. Pick a mouthwash with fluoride to reinforce the fight against bacteria, plaque, and gum disease.
Visit Our Orthodontic Office at Hillsdale Orthodontics.
Many people are afraid of going to the dentist because some procedures seem complex and painful. Visiting your dentist doesn’t have to be painful at all.
If you take care of your teeth with yearly dental checkups and good oral hygiene, you may never need to fix any cavities or complex procedures. Visiting your doctor is the best way of taking care of your teeth.
