Foods to Avoid While Wearing Braces
At Choice Orthodontics, it's our mission to provide high-quality orthodontic care in a fun, friendly office environment. Our orthodontist and dedicated team of highly trained orthodontic specialists work hard to get to know all our patients individually, and we strive to craft specialized treatment plans to perfectly suit our patients' unique orthodontic needs. While the treatments we perform in the office are critically important to your new smile, it's also vital that you take great care of your teeth and braces in Northwest Missouri - and that includes monitoring your diet and avoiding sugary foods and food bad for your teeth.
Protecting Your Braces & Orthodontic Treatment
While braces are strong enough to move teeth, they can easily be damaged by hard foods, sticky foods, and sugary foods. During your treatment, it's imperative that you avoid these kinds of foods, as they may break or damage your brackets or wires, throwing your treatment off track and causing costly, time-consuming repairs. While you're wearing braces in Northeast Kansas, our orthodontist recommends avoiding these foods:
- Sticky Foods to Avoid: gum, licorice, Sugar Daddies, toffee, Tootsie Rolls, caramels, and Starburst
- Hard Foods to Avoid: ice, nuts, hard taco shells, french bread crust/rolls, corn on the cob, apples, and carrots (unless cut into small pieces), bagels, chips, Jolly Ranchers, pizza crust, and uncooked carrots (unless cut)
- Minimize Sugary Foods: cake, ice cream, cookies, pie, and candy
- Only in a While: soda, sweetened tea, Gatorade, Kool-Aid, and drinks with sugar
There are many foods that you can eat with braces in Northwest Missouri. You can still enjoy many of your favorite foods like pasta, pizza (without the crust), mashed potatoes, cooked vegetables, hamburgers and so much more. The important rule to remember is that if food seems too hard or sticky, it probably is and it's best to avoid it.
Schedule Your Next Appointment With Choice Orthodontics!
Are you interested in orthodontic treatment like Invisalign or braces? Contact Choice Orthodontics in Northwest Missouri and Northeast Kansas today! To schedule your next appointment, fill out our easy online form or call one of our office locations directly. We look forward to seeing you soon and starting your orthodontic journey!