Most of us agree that wearing braces during orthodontic treatment is quite a challenge. It starts with being too conscious about your smile, inhibiting yourself from talking too much, showing less interest in day-to-day activities, the list just goes on.
The next challenge would be to curb food cravings while wearing orthodontic braces. Now, this is generally an interesting topic of conversation among brace wearers and non-brace wearers. It is demotivating having to watch your friends enjoy classy food while all you can do is sit and watch. Don’t be overwhelmed. As much as there is a long line of food that you must avoid, our dentists at San Jose have put together a long line of soft-diet food that you can devour on which is equally healthy and delicious.
What food must you avoid?
Our dentist recommends to avoid the kind of food that is sticky and that would be difficult to bite and chew. It is also important to be mindful that we clean what we eat. The easier are they to bite and chew, the easier will it be to clean them off from the braces.
We advise avoiding food such as nuts, cashews, popcorn, pizza crust, chips, Doritos, bagels, bubble gums, candies, apple with the skin on, uncooked vegetables such as raw carrots, etc.
What food can you eat?
Don’t be worried as there are plenty of soft food that you can indulge in:
Sweet and safe: If it sweet and hard to bite, avoid it.
Patients with braces who have a weakness for sugar can happily devour on soft food such as ice-creams, yoghurt, and even pasta.
Crunchy, yet yummy: Avoid pizza crust as it is, as it will be hard to get them off from the braces.
Though it is hard to let go of those cheesy pizzas, there are alternatives to if they are prepared in the right manner. You can always satisfy your needs by eating it after separating them into small pieces that will be easy to chew on.
Fruits and vegetables: It is recommended to avoid fruits and greens if they are hard to bite.
Patients can eat soft and easy-to-chew fruits such as mangoes and bananas. As the braces are on, it will be advised to have the vegetables steamed making them even easier to chew.
Protein alternatives: Proteins being an essential part of our diet is inevitable to avoid. Patients are advised to continue their milk and eggs. While it is hard to chew meat, patients can choose an alternative such as soft meat. We recommend turkey or meatballs.