Life with Braces
Eating with Braces
What can you eat? For the first day or so, stick to eating soft foods. Avoid tough meats, hard breads, and raw vegetables. Before long, you'll be able to chew harder foods again, although it will still be easier if they are in smaller pieces.
Foods to Avoid
- Chewy foods: hard bread rolls, licorice
- Crunchy foods: popcorn, ice, chips
- Sticky foods: caramels, gum
- Hard foods: nuts, candy
- Chewing on hard things (for example, pens, pencils or fingernails) can damage your braces. Damaged braces will cause treatment to take longer.
- Apples and carrots are fine as long as you cut them into smaller pieces
- Corn on the cob is fine as long as you cut the kernels off of the cob
General Soreness
When you get your braces on, you may feel general soreness in your mouth and your teeth may be tender for three to five days. This can be relieved by rinsing your mouth with a warm salt water mouthwash. Dissolve one teaspoonful of salt in 8 ounces of warm water, and rinse your mouth vigorously. If the tenderness is more serious, take whatever you would normally take for a headache or similar pain. Your lips, cheeks and tongue may also become irritated for one to two weeks as they toughen up and become accustomed to the surface of the braces. You can put wax on the braces to lessen this discomfort or rinse with warm salt water.
Loosening of Teeth
This is to be expected throughout treatment. Don't worry! It's normal. Your teeth must loosen first so that they can be moved. At the end of orthodontic treatment, your teeth will become more rigidly fixed in their new – corrected – positions once orthodontic pressure is stopped.
Loose Wire or Band
Don't be alarmed if a wire or band comes loose. This occasionally happens. If the wire protrudes and is irritating you, use a blunt instrument (the back of spoon or the eraser end of a pencil) and carefully, gently push the irritating wire under the archwire or bracket. Simply get it out of the way. If irritation to the lips or mouth continues, place wax or wet cotton on the wire to reduce the irritation. Call our office as soon as possible for an appointment to check and repair your braces. Should any piece of your braces or appliance come off, please save it and bring it with you to your appointment.
Care of Appliances
To successfully complete the treatment plan, you must work together with Dr. Lamont, Dr. Moldez and staff. Your teeth and jaws can only move toward their corrected positions if you consistently wear the rubber bands, headgear or other appliances as prescribed. Frequently, damaged braces or appliances will lengthen the overall treatment time and could impact the treatment fee estimate.
Brushing
It's more important than ever to brush and floss regularly when you have braces so your teeth and gums are healthy during and after orthodontic treatment. Patients who do not keep their teeth clean may require more frequent visits to the dentist for a professional cleaning. Adults who have a history of difficulty cleaning or of gum disease should also see their dentist or a periodontist during orthodontic treatment.
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