Life With Braces
Eating with Braces
What can you eat? Let's talk about what you shouldn't eat! If you've wanted to drop a few pounds, the first week wearing braces is your chance! For the first day or so, stick to soft foods. Do your chewing with a knife and fork - cut things small. Avoid tough meats, hard breads, and raw vegetables. Before long, you'll be able to bite a cucumber again. But you'll need to protect your orthodontic appliances when you eat for as long as you're wearing braces.
Foods to Avoid
- Chewy foods: bagels, hard rolls, licorice
- Crunchy foods: popcorn, ice, chips
- Sticky foods: caramels, gum
- Hard foods: nuts, candy
- Foods you have to bite into: corn on the cob, apples, carrots
- Chewing on hard things (for example, pens, pencils or fingernails) can damage the braces. Damaged braces will cause treatment to take longer.
General Soreness
When you get your braces on, you may feel general soreness in your mouth and teeth may be tender to biting pressures 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 severe, take ibuprofen (Motrin®) or whatever you normally take for headache or similar pain. The lips, cheeks and tongue may also become irritated for one to two weeks as they toughen and become accustomed to the surface of the braces. You can put wax on the braces to lessen this. We'll show you how! Your Titanium wires are heat activated, so a cold drink will decrease the pressure.
Loosening of Teeth
This is to be expected throughout treatment. Don't worry! It's normal. Teeth must loosen first so they can be moved. The teeth will again become rigidly fixed in their new - corrected - positions.
Loose Wire or Band
Don't be alarmed if a wire or band comes loose. This happens occasionally. If wire protrudes and is irritating, use a blunt instrument (back of a spoon or the eraser end of a pencil) and carefully, gently push the irritating wire under the archwire. Simply get it out of the way. If irritation to the lips or mouth continues, place wax, wet cotton, or sugarless gum on the wire to reduce the annoyance. Call our office as soon as possible for an appointment to check and repair the appliances. If any piece comes off, save it and bring it with you to the office.
Care of Appliances
To successfully complete the treatment plan, the patient must work together with the orthodontist. The teeth and jaws can only move toward their corrected positions if the patient consistently wears the rubber bands, headgear or other appliances as prescribed. As teeth move past each other, there will be times when a temporary interference is unavoidable. You have a choice. Don't just chomp down on it and knock off a bracket. Pause, shift your jaw, and chew on the other side. Broken appliances prolong treatment and require extra visits to the office. Always call when you have breakage, so we can give you a longer appointment to make repairs. If you come to the office without giving us a "heads up," we will have to decide whether to do the repair or do the scheduled adjustment. We cannot do both.
Brushing
It's more important than ever to brush and floss regularly when you have braces, so the teeth and gums are healthy 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 gum disease should also see a periodontist during orthodontic treatment.
Life with Braces / Types of Braces / Types of Appliances
Brushing and Flossing / Palatal Expander / Braces Diagram / Retainers
Color Your Retainer / Comfort Care Videos