Maintaining a Proper Diet with Braces

At Haney Orthodontics, our mission is to provide world-class orthodontic care from our San Anselmo, CA office, and while your regular orthodontic visits to our office are an important part of treatment, taking care of your braces at home is critical as well. Outside of a strong oral hygiene regimen, you’ll need to watch the types of food you eat while wearing braces. This is because certain foods can pose a threat to braces and teeth by getting stuck in braces, causing cavities, or even breaking brackets off the teeth.

Foods That Can Harm Your Braces

Many foods may be ostensibly healthy for your teeth, but  can disrupt treatment by doing damage to your braces. Certain foods that are sticky, gooey, crunchy, or too hard can lodge themselves underneath the archwire or potentially break your braces entirely. The brackets of your braces are mounted to your teeth with special dental cement. This cement forms a strong bond, but with enough force, it can be broken – so you’ll need to be careful to avoid foods that have the potential to rip braces off.

Here are a few of the foods that can damage your braces during treatment:

• Raw carrots
• Apples
• Hard candies
• Pizza crust
• Nuts
• Hard pretzels

Foods That Can Cause Dental Decay

In addition to caring for your braces, you’ll also need to take excellent care of your teeth during treatment. Your teeth are at an increased risk for dental decay during orthodontic treatment for two reasons: first, food can get lodged into the cracks and crevices of your braces, causing decay; and second, part of your teeth are covered by the brackets, which creates an uneven decay pattern that can exacerbate problems.

Generally speaking, any food that is high in sugar or carbohydrate content can damage your teeth. Both sugars and carbohydrates interact with bacteria in the mouth, breaking down into acids that eat away at tooth enamel. Food that sticks to teeth or braces are especially damaging, as they can create an acidic environment in the mouth for a longer time.

Contact Your Marin County Orthodontist

By maintaining a healthy, braces and tooth-friendly diet, you can ensure your treatment progresses as normal and prevent damage to your teeth. Feel free to call us at 415-453-7880 if you have more questions about which foods to avoid during treatment. Also, don’t forget to contact us if you need to schedule a checkup appointment. We can’t wait to hear from you, and we wish you luck in maintaining a braces-friendly diet!

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