Hampden Dental Group is your source for orthodontia services here in Aurora. We’re proud to provide braces for both children and adults alike. If you’re getting braces from our orthodontist, it’s likely that you’re getting braces for the first time. So, you may not know what foods you can easily eat, and foods that you ought to avoid. Today, we’re going to outline a few foods from the latter topic. Here are foods that you may want to steer clear of if you’re wearing braces.
Ice
Ice shouldn’t be chewed. It’s bad for your teeth, and it can cause your brackets to pop off. That’ll cost you an extra trip to the orthodontist.
Hard Candy
Hard candy can be just as bad as ice, or worse. Since hard candy is sticky and crunchy, it can damage your braces, it can damage your teeth, and it’s hard to clean after eating. It’s best to avoid hard candies altogether.
Chewing Gum
Chewing gum will weave its way into your braces in a jiffy. And since chewing gum is sticky, it can get caught in the gaps between your braces and your teeth. Avoid chewing gum.
Taffy
Taffy is extremely sticky and it’s texture can break a bracket free on your braces. Plus, like chewing gum, taffy will work its way between your braces and your teeth.
Jerky
Jerky is stringy, hard, and difficult to chew. When you take a bite of jerky, it can snag on the brackets of your braces, and once again, that can cause your brackets to snap off of your teeth. Try to avoid stringy meats too; for instance, it can be difficult to clean your teeth after eating pulled pork.
Nuts
Nuts, especially harder nuts like almonds, may wedge their way between your teeth and your braces, causing brackets to pop and wires to warp. Finely chopped nuts are okay to consume.
Popcorn
The hull of a popcorn kernel can be as forceful as a nut. In addition, these hulls can work into the gaps in your teeth, and it can be very difficult to clean them out. However, hulless popcorn may be consumed.
Pretzels, Pizza Crust, & Other Hard Breads
Hard breads can be surprisingly strong, and they can tear at your braces. Avoid hard breads like pretzels, pizza crust, bagels, hard cookies, and others. Fortunately, you can actually soften up hard cookies by dunking them in milk before you consume them.
If you’re curious about foods that you should or should not consume while you’re wearing braces, feel free to get in touch with your Aurora orthodontist here at Hampden Dental Group!