What Foods You Should Avoid on Your First Week With Braces

Peabody orthodontic treatment not only allows patients to have a straight and beautiful smile but also improves their oral health by fixing their current orthodontic issues and by making brushing and cleaning much easier for the patient.

To get all those benefits, however, the patient needs to comply with all the recommendations an orthodontist may give. Lack of compliance by a patient can result in severe dental conditions, as well as delays in their treatment time.

Keep reading to know what you can and can’t eat with braces, and always remember to follow your orthodontist’s instructions.

What’s It Like to Eat With Braces the Day You Get Them?

You won’t feel anything right after getting your braces installed. After a few hours, you’ll start feeling some discomfort in your gums and teeth. As the day goes by, you’ll notice that your mouth is much more sensitive than before. This will last for a couple of days up to a week until you get used to the constant pulling motion of your braces Peabody.

During this time, you’ll have to learn how to eat with your braces. To do that with the least amount of discomfort possible, we recommend only having foods that require very little to no chewing.

Foods to Avoid Even After Your First Week With Braces

There are a few types of foods that you need to be aware of if you want to go through your braces treatment without as few bent wires, broken ligatures, and loose brackets as possible.

You’ll want to avoid anything that can damage your Peabody braces whenever you bite, such as hard foods, crunchy foods, and sticky foods. You should also be very careful with your sugary food intake. Although they won’t immediately damage your braces, they will make it more likely for you to suffer from tooth decay and gums infections.

Here is a small list of foods you can’t eat with braces:

• Popcorn;
• Hard candy;
• Raw vegetables;
• Hard or crunchy fruit unless you cut them into very small pieces;
• Pizza crust;
• Chewy candy;
• Avoid sugary drinks and foods as much as possible;
• Caramel Candies;
• Ice cubes;
• Tough meats;
• Candy bars;
• Tortilla chips;
• Potato chips;
• Chewing gum with sugar.

List of Foods You Can Eat the First Week With Braces

You’ll be happy to know that there are plenty of healthy and delicious foods available for patients with braces, despite their limitations. You can enjoy any meal as long as it doesn’t put any extra pressure on your braces or stick to them. Generally speaking, this means soft foods or bite-sized pieces are the way to go.

Here is a small list of foods you can eat with braces:

• Soft cheese;
• Ice cream;
• Mashed potatoes;
• Scrambled eggs;
• Soft fruits or fruits cut into small pieces;
• Soft, cooked vegetables;
• Moist cakes (occasionally);
• Seafood;
• Pasta;
• Soups;
• Smoothies;
• Yogurt;
• Oatmeal;
• Tender meats.

Resulting Orthodontic Issues From Poor Patient Compliance

Negative effects from lack of proper care for your braces during your Newburyport orthodontic treatment are plenty and can vary drastically from cosmetic issues to severe dental problems that can even result in permanent tooth loss.

If you don’t follow the balanced diet your orthodontist gave you, you could damage your appliance in very crucial points. See, orthodontists adjust your braces to pull every tooth in a specific way for a specific amount of time. If you somehow change that by breaking, bending, or loosening a part of the appliance and don’t fix it soon enough, you risk moving your teeth into undesired positions. Additionally, damage to metal braces will lead to more pain and discomfort for the orthodontic patient.

Not following the diet also makes cavities and infections much more likely. Sticky and sugary foods make cleaning more difficult for braces patients, leading to bacteria and plaque accumulation that causes tooth decay, teeth staining, gum disease, white spots in your teeth, and even tooth loss in the most difficult situations.

What Can I Eat With Invisalign?

No, there are no food restrictions with Invisalign. Part of the advantages of the Invisalign treatment is that you can remove them whenever necessary. As long as you remove your clear aligners before you drink or eat anything besides water, you are good to eat whatever your heart desires without damaging your appliances.

However, you’ll still have to be very careful about proper cleaning. While there aren’t any metal parts where food particles can get stuck, they can still hide in between your teeth.

If you wear your aligners without removing the plaque and bacteria first, you’ll be trapping your teeth with the enamel-eating bacteria for many hours at a time. This kind of exposure could result in tooth decay, cavities, and teeth staining.

Always wash your aligners thoroughly with water whenever you remove them and clean your teeth before putting the aligners back on. Ideally, you should brush after every meal, but brushing at least twice daily and flossing once is enough to maintain proper oral health.

The Best Orthodontist Near Me

If you are looking to start Newburyport orthodontic treatment or have questions regarding braces and Invisalign, then Pavlo Orthodontics is the correct place for you. We are ready to help you in any way possible at our contact page here. Additionally, if you are looking to schedule a new appointment, you can take our complimentary exam.