Can you chew gum with braces? It’s the age-old question. Knowing which foods to avoid during orthodontic treatment is important, and can help you keep your treatment on schedule and on budget. Snacks like hard candy and chewy taffy can damage your brackets while staining foods like blueberries and dark colored sodas can leave your smile looking less than perfect. We’re here to help prevent that. While you’re navigating the grocery store aisles for braces-friendly foods, keep the following in mind.
Busted brackets.
Keeping your braces secure and your treatment on track requires eating the right things. When it comes to snacks, hard, sticky or gummy foods can harm your braces. Everyone has a sweet tooth, and small, hard candies can be tempting. Those same candies are your braces’ worst enemy. So, instead of wrapped up bracket busters, satisfy your sweet tooth with frozen grapes or yogurt. These are healthy and safe alternatives to candy. In addition to harder snacks, chewy foods like jellybeans or taffy can cause the same kind of damage. Because of their thick substance, pieces of chewier foods can get lodged in-between your braces without you knowing it causing plaque build-up, and eventually – cavities. For example, biting into meat off the bone or corn on the cob can cause problems. Instead, we suggest cutting the meat from the bone and corn from the cob to keep your brackets protected. Tough-to-chew foods put stress on your brackets and may cause them to fall apart or break off. Below we’ve listed a few foods to avoid during orthodontic treatment. `
- Popcorn
- Ice
- Hard Candy
- Candy apples
- Jellybeans
- Caramels
- Taffy
- Nuts
- Gum
- Corn on the cob
- Meat on the bone
The more candy you munch on the more your brackets are in danger of failing apart. This can land you in your orthodontist office more often than you would like and can even lead to a refitting or replacement of your braces. That can get expensive. Avoiding these harmful snacks can keep your treatment short and save you money in the long run.
Staining your smile.
Taking care of your teeth during orthodontic treatment leads to better results. And keeping your smile clean is an important part of that. Dark juices or artificially colored foods can stain parts of your enamel that surround your brackets. Those stains can be tough to get rid of after getting your braces removed when the part that was covered will be unstained. Avoiding staining foods is especially important for those who wear ceramic braces. Those clear bands can tint easily based on what you eat and drink throughout treatment. To protect your smile we’ve listed a few staining snacks to stay away from while wearing braces.
- Tomato-based foods
- Blueberries
- Black coffee or dark teas
- Colored sodas
- Mustards
- Artificially colored foods
A straight smile looks its best when it’s beaming and beautiful. If you or your child have further questions about which foods to keep out of the pantry during treatment, we’ll be happy to chat with you during your free consultation.
Where Do We Go From Here?
We want your teeth to look their best in as little time as possible. Avoiding hard to eat and staining foods is a simple way to make that happen. Our licensed orthodontists are here to talk with you during your free consultation about how to best take care of your smile during treatment. Choose from one of our four convenient locations and schedule your first visit with us today. And if you decide to get braces immediately following that appointment, we’ll even give you a $129 discount. Our mission is to create smiles at affordable prices, so we’ll spend time during that first visit to talk about affordable payment plans that best fit your budget.
Everyone deserves the smile they’ve always wanted. So schedule your free consultation today and Smile More with Birmingham Orthodontics.
At Birmingham Orthodontics, our mission is simple: we create smiles. Not only do we straighten the crooked grin, fix the bite, and adjust the jaw, we brighten yearbooks and instill confidence. We also believe in our staff. Our culture of continuous learning drives us to host monthly training sessions for each team and bring in leading industry consultants to help keep us ahead of the curve. Contact us for a free consultation, or with any questions you might have.
