Orthodontic treatment requires temporary adjustments to daily habits, particularly concerning diet. While braces are designed to withstand the forces of normal chewing, certain food types can easily damage the delicate wires and brackets. Following dietary guidelines is necessary for successful treatment progression and helps prevent appliance breakage. These precautions ensure the hardware can consistently move your teeth into the correct position.
The Specifics of Bacon and Braces
The good news for bacon lovers is that this food is generally permissible, provided you adjust the texture and method of consumption. Traditional, fully crispy bacon is the most significant risk, as its brittle texture can snap or shatter upon impact with a bracket. Prepare bacon to be soft and pliable, which is easier to chew and gentler on the orthodontic hardware. Methods like low-and-slow cooking or baking the strips until they are cooked but still relatively chewy are preferred over maximum crispness.
The key to safely enjoying bacon is to never bite directly into a whole strip with your front teeth. The shearing force required to tear off a piece puts excessive pressure on the brackets bonded to your incisors. Before eating, the bacon must be cut into small, bite-sized pieces that can be easily chewed with the back molars. This modification reduces the force concentrated on the appliance and prevents stringy pieces from becoming lodged between wires and brackets.
Identifying Foods That Damage Braces
Foods that compromise orthodontic hardware generally fall into three distinct mechanical categories. Hard foods, such as nuts, ice, or hard candies, are dangerous because the compressive force used to crush them can shear the bond holding a bracket to the tooth surface, causing it to detach from the enamel.
Chewy or sticky items, including caramel, taffy, and chewing gum, pose a risk because they adhere tenaciously to the appliance. The stretching motion required to pull the food away can tug on and loosen the wires or dislodge the bands around the back molars. Finally, crunchy or brittle foods, like popcorn or hard pretzels, create a different hazard. The small, sharp fragments can become forcefully wedged beneath the wires or between the bracket and the tooth surface, causing discomfort and potential damage.
General Rules for Eating Meat
Consuming protein sources like meat requires a methodical approach to prevent damage, as the fibrous nature of muscle tissue can be problematic. Tough cuts of meat, such as steak, pork chops, or jerky, demand greater chewing force, which can strain the appliance and cause wires to bend or break. Always opt for tenderized or slow-cooked preparations, like pulled pork or moist ground beef, which require minimal effort to break down.
If you choose to eat a tougher piece of meat, such as a filet mignon, cut it into extremely thin, small pieces approximately the size of a thumbnail before placing it in your mouth. This practice bypasses the need for the powerful shearing action of the front teeth. Meat served on the bone, such as chicken wings or ribs, must be carefully removed with utensils before consumption. Biting or tearing meat directly from the bone introduces unpredictable, high-impact forces that are likely to break brackets or wires.
Cleaning Your Braces After Eating
Given the fibrous and often fatty nature of meat, immediate post-meal hygiene is necessary to prevent food accumulation. The first step after finishing a meal should be to vigorously rinse your mouth with water. This action helps to dislodge larger particles and wash away grease that might otherwise cling to the brackets and wires.
To address the trapped debris, specialized tools are highly effective at reaching the tight spaces created by the orthodontic hardware. Use a small, conical interdental brush to gently clean around and under the wires and brackets. A floss threader is an invaluable tool that allows traditional dental floss to be passed beneath the archwire for thorough cleaning between the teeth.