When you begin wearing braces, you will need to make adjustments to parts of your daily life and learn how to properly care for your appliances. Drs. Wiltshire, Brassington, and Bibona have provided the following information to help you adjust to life with braces. For more information, and to schedule your appointment with our experienced orthodontists in Richmond, Virginia, please contact Richmond Orthodontics at 804-740-7281.
Food Braces
Be attentive to what you eat while wearing braces. Certain types of foods should be avoided, as they can become lodged between the wires of your braces, and in some cases can even damage or pull off your brackets!
Foods that you should avoid include:
- Chewy foods – such as bagels and licorice
- Crunchy foods – such as popcorn, ice, and chips
- Sticky foods – such as caramel and chewing gum
- Hard foods – such as nuts and hard candies
- Foods that require biting into – such as corn on the cob, raw carrots, and uncut apples
There are, however, many foods that you can still enjoy while wearing braces. These include:
- Dairy – such as soft cheese, pudding, and milk-based drinks
- Soft breads – such as soft tortillas, pancakes, and muffins without nuts
- Grains – such as pasta and soft-cooked rice
- Meats/Poultry – such as soft-cooked chicken, lunch meats, and meatballs
- Seafood – such as tuna salmon, crab cakes
- Vegetables – such as mashed potatoes, steam spinach, and beans
- Fruits – such as applesauce, bananas, and fruit juice
- Treats – such as ice cream without nuts, milkshakes, soft cake, and Jell-O
Remember, your braces treatment will not last forever. If you have to modify your diet because of your orthodontic treatment, it will be temporary. You will be able to enjoy all your favorite foods again as soon as your treatment has been completed.
