10 Tips for Eating with Braces - A Local Expert Provides Tips

10 Tips to Eating with Braces

One of the first major challenges that come up when wearing braces is: “How do I eat?!” With September rolling around and school starting, learning how to eat properly with braces is important. Here at Epic Lifetime Dental Care in Norwood Massachusetts, we’ve found 10 helpful tips that can make your life with braces a little bit easier.

When you first get braces on your teeth, you’ll find out your teeth don’t exactly touch the way they did previously. This will change the way you chew. As your treatment progresses, your teeth will shift, consistently forcing you to adapt your biting and chewing technique. Most people tend to feel comfortable chewing again after a few weeks. Remember to be patient! Take a look at the following tips to help you cope with these changes in your mouth:

1.   Slow Down! Cut your food into small pieces and chew slowly and carefully. Avoid taking large bites.

2.   Give the harder food a break and stick to the soft stuff. You’ll be able to eat chewy and rough stuff again soon, but take it easy for a little while. Avoid anything that may pop off a bracket.

3.   Avoid stringy foods. Cut up your spaghetti instead of twisting it around your fork. Stringy pasta will get twisted around your brackets. Also, be wary of foods like mozzarella cheese that get extra stringy when melted.

4.   Don’t eat nuts, seeds, popcorn, and sticky foods. These foods will get stuck in your brackets and drive you insane until you brush them out. Sticky foods will stick to your brackets and be difficult to clean off.

5.   You may find it impossible to use your front teeth to bite into anything for a while. Try your best to use the side of your mouth to bite.

6.   Beware of anything with large hidden chunks of meat or vegetables, like burritos, wraps, or other tortilla filled meals. Bite carefully so you don’t choke. It’s best to eat those foods with a fork and knife.

7.   Sushi could be a problem since it contains many of the foods listed above. It’s recommended that you cut each piece in half before putting in your mouth to avoid complications.

8.   Treat yourself to something cold, such as ice cream, popsicles, or frozen yogurt. The cold temporarily dulls the pain from your braces.

9.   Don’t think you need to stick with the same foods. There are unlimited recipes for braces-friendly foods. Ask Dr. Matthew Miner for suggestions!

10. If poking brackets and mouth sores keep bothering you while eating, ask Dr. Miner about dental wax or dental silicone.

It may feel very uncomfortable at first, but over time you will get use to wearing braces. Remember these tips and continue to ask Dr. Miner and the whole team over at Epic Lifetime Dental Care in Norwood, MA any questions or concerns that arise.

Visit us over at www.epic-dental.com for more blog posts, make an appointment, or learn more about our dental team. We look forward to hearing from you!