THE BRACES FOOD CHALLENGE:
What you can & can't eat !
Great to hear that you have started off your braces journey quite well and want to explore more about how it will be in the near future! Or the situation might be that you are about to start your journey with braces as your companion and are worried about how you will be able to manage your fooding habits with braces, Right?
When we are here for you, there is no reason to worry! We will tell you or rather guide you through your complete journey of braces about what all you can eat and how and most importantly what not to.
We know that, Initial days with braces are hard to manage and even difficult to adapt. Even if you are eating the basic regular food that you eat almost daily, that is also making you feel like it's a difficult job to do because of those absolutely non harming forces that are pushing and pulling your teeth from one place to another.
So now you are stressed about how you will be able to manage your munching habits and the foodie nature of yours, right ? see the thing is we make little things bigger by ourselves, your doctor just advised you to avoid eating sticky and chewy things or something very hard, the reason behind avoiding any kind of unwanted stress on your braces or teeth which can hamper the desired results of your orthodontic treatment.
You can still have your favorites in the form of small chunks or pieces, there are certain things like cheese or chewing gums which are advised to be avoided at that time i.e during the braces duration of yours because of two reasons-
- One is because they tend to get stuck onto the ortho brackets & tooth surfaces eventually leading to poor oral hygiene (if not removed well which is already a very tedious job to do if you have gone through it you know it.) Believe me cheese is not a very great thing to pull out from your braces after enjoying a large slice of exotic margherita pizza.
- Secondly, if you are having chewing gum that is creating an unnecessary force or pressure on your braces to pull that away from your teeth which eventually may lead to removal of those brackets from the tooth surface and delay your treatment duration.
It’s good for you and for your treatment as well if you are not craving enough for these things during your orthodontic treatment! Once you develop these cravings even before your treatment has started it's very difficult to get rid of them and of course another tedious task to continue the treatment along with them.
Okay so now we know the absolute contraindications! what you absolutely have to stop or avoid absolutely. Right? Let's continue towards what all you can have with zero worries regarding your braces and treatment procedure.
All sorts of “GHAR KA KHANA” or the home cooked meal you say but we prefer saying the former one because these days specially after the covid era, everyone is making all sorts of snackables and fast food items at their home, so people might get confused when we say home cooked meal (you know the reason why now).
The chapatis,rice,dal,veggies,curd,salads etc having them in adequate proportions daily helps you serve the right amount of nutritional requirement by your body. That's why it's highly important for you to notice or keep a check on what you are eating while your ongoing orthodontic treatment. Because when you are pain you tend to eat good food (which means the food you like sweets or junk or in short which makes you feel happier and pleasant and lifts your mood) but that is good for once in a while and not recommended to be consumed on daily basis as it will not fulfill your daily dietary requirements prescribed by FDA or WHO guidelines.
Have you heard of NUTRITIONAL SHORTFALL?
The dietary guidelines for Americans say that many Americans don't get enough of four vital nutrients. Over time, a shortfall of these nutrients may affect different aspects of your health, from teeth and bones to your heart, gut, muscles, blood pressure, weight, and more. This was acc. to the article published in -
(https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/4-essential-nutrients-are-you-getting-enough-2021031622124)
This is true not only for Americans but other people living in different continents of the world also, these days the lifestyle pattern has changed for everyone, be it male or female the working hours duration and type of work have become almost similar for them, so the nutritional needs must also become equalized, right?
But we are not here to debate upon that, we are just here to inform you that during your treatment phase your body is already going through a lot of stress which needs or demands for additional care to heal up & respond quickly & in a progressive manner. And you need to be supportive for that too!
As we previously mentioned about “GHAR KA KHANA” in INDIA our meals are a perfect blend of medicinal and nutritional requirements if consumed in right proportions, you need not to search here and there for the food you can have while your braces ON, as your daily meal plate has it ALL.
There are chances that you might be facing some issues while chewing roti or some other Indian flat breads in your meal for the initial days or when braces are tightened in your scheduled appointment, because of the little movements and occlusal changes, but you can have rice, idli’s, uttapam and other south indian dishes as you saviour for the time being as they are healthy, digestive, nutritional as well as tasty food options to cater to your hunger and craving needs.
When in doubt ? South indian dishes emerge as a savior for your convenience, eating bread, cheese, pizza’s, pastas and other fried stuff might look tasty but not good for you in the long run! Therefore we recommend you to have them after your treatment has been completed and then too in appropriate proportions.
Just remember one single note that whatever you are eating you should be having them in chunks or small pieces and never directly bite a huge piece from your front teeth like eating an apple or guava using your incisors or what you say the front teeth to engulf a huge bite because that might cause dislodgement of your braces and can harm your mucosa too and believe me that's not only the physical trauma which you will face, their will be mental and emotional breakdown too (because that will prolong your treatment duration) as you were not expecting this kind of injury because of your braces.
And these days smoothies and shakes are like, various kinds of DIY protein shakes , banana and nut smoothies, milkshakes, oatmeal and other cereals are highly in demand and are there to cater to your nutritional requirements also. You can refer to the link below for more information regarding the braces food IDEAS!
https://orthodonticsaustralia.org.au/safe-foods-braces/
REMINDER!
Your braces seek for attention and need attention always, thats why to stay happy with them you should make sure that they are neat and clean always and hence add on just one more reminder on your phone which says- Brush twice daily with the use of interproximal brushes followed by flossing and mouthwash. That's the only mantra to have a happy ending with your braces !
