Foods to Avoid When You Have Braces

Having braces is a challenge for both children and adults alike! There can be a lot of pain, a lot of dietary restrictions and the hassle of appointments. Not to mention getting food stuck in them! Food getting stuck can cause serious damage to teeth over time and you don’t want to end up having to schedule an emergency dentist appointment. Searching ‘dentist near me’ because of a sudden emergency should be a last resort. We’re here to make it easier with some tips on what foods to avoid. Your orthodontist will probably have some of their own too, so ask them.

Spinach 

There’s nothing worse than seeing yourself in the bathroom mirror and realizing you’ve been walking around with spinach in your teeth since lunch and NO ONE HAS TOLD YOU. Spinach will often get stuck in your braces too. It should be avoided because it is incredibly tough to remove. The leaves will wrap around your braces and stay there. You don’t want to damage the braces trying to get it out or walk around with spinach stuck in them all day. So it’s best avoided altogether.

Broccoli 

While broccoli is a great superfood, unfortunately, it is another one that will lodge in your braces. The little florets will stick there, unknown until someone tells you! Save yourself the embarrassment and avoid eating food containing broccoli.

Bagels

Unfortunately, chewy foods such as bagels should also be avoided. They can cause damage to your braces, which can be an expensive problem to fix. That’s not to mention the little poppy seeds which may lodge themselves in your braces.

Coffee 

Coffee is well known for staining teeth. You might think ‘I don’t care, I’ll drink it anyway’, but when you have braces it stains the teeth around the brace. This means that when the braces come off, you have little white squares on your teeth where the braces used to be. No one wants that!

It’s not the end of the world to have braces. If you know what foods you should avoid, it makes it much easier to manage as then you’re not spending all day trying to fish out whatever has gotten stuck in there.