If you’ve recently had braces fitted, you may be struggling to eat comfortably. As well as your mouth feeling tender at first and after tightening sessions, it is important to consider carefully the impact hard or sticky food will have on your mouth hardware. Orthodontists throughout Melbourne will recommend types of food to eat and those to avoid with braces. Here’s a list of foodstuffs we really advise you steer clear from whilst wearing braces. Remember, it will be all worth it for the perfect smile.

Firstly, let’s explain why it’s important to be careful about what you eat when you have braces on your teeth. Although sturdy, we don’t recommend you test the strength of your braces by biting into hard food. Similarly, sticky food can cause strain to your braces and all Melbourne orthodontists would recommend avoiding these sorts of treats. This food can get stuck in between your braces and teeth and make cleaning a real challenge. Also, if your braces are of the traditional ‘train track’ variety, the risk of staining to your teeth due to poor dental hygiene is higher. Remember to always clean away any trapped food from around the brace itself to ensure your end result really is a perfect smile. Now let’s take a look at what food Melbourne orthodontists and those all over Australia recommend avoiding:

• Popcorn – always high on the list because the hulls are a real nightmare for brace-wearers when they get trapped in the wires or between teeth
• Ice – bad for your teeth enamel and your braces, ice is very hard and can cause some serious damage to your mouth if munched on
• Gum – really, it’s not worth the clean-up task afterwards
• Hard food – biting into something hard can damage the metal and dislodge parts of the brace frame, forcing an unscheduled trip back to your orthodontist. Specifically avoid:

– Cookies
– Crackers
– Chocolate
– Lollies
– Whole raw vegetables (carrots and corn on the cob, in particular)
– Corn chips, taco shells and pretzels – the starchy nature of this food has a habit of burrowing its way into the brace frame and making cleaning very difficult
– Nuts

• Crusty bread and pizza – again, it can damage the braces and can become lodged in the wires. In order to still enjoy this food, cut it up into smaller pieces instead of biting down with your front teeth
• Sticky food – as mentioned above, food which has sticky qualities can be incredibly harmful to the braces and even disconnect the wires from the brackets. Specifically avoid:

– Caramel
– Gooey chocolates
– Chunky peanut butter
– Chewy lollies (no more gummy bears …)

All Melbourne orthodontists understand the frustration and difficulties which comes with braces but we also know how important it is for our patients to adhere to these rules if they truly want to achieve a perfect smile by the end of the treatment. It can take some getting used to but you need to adapt your diet towards softer foods and ensure you regularly brush and floss between your teeth to minimise chances of decay and any plaque build up. As a general rule, steer clear of all food which requires too much chewing and we can guarantee when you are ready to have your braces removed, you will have the perfect smile you always wanted.