When you are wearing braces, be aware that they do not mix well with sweets. Besides the problem of sticky candy getting caught in your teeth and being very hard to remove, hard candies can damage them. Since most people enjoy eating lots of candy and sweets around the holidays, it is also the time when most braces get broken.
This means that you need to be extra cautious about how much of the sweet stuff you consume during the holidays. Sweets are often frequently seen and enjoyed between Halloween and New Year’s Day. Here are some guidelines that can help you to decide what to eat – and what to avoid.
1. Avoid eating too many sweets. Even though everyone loves sweets, including people wearing braces, you need to be careful to limit how much you eat. The sugar will stick to your teeth and increase your risk of cavities. Keeping your teeth and braces clean and free of sugar is already hard enough.
2. Stay away from sweets that are hard or sticky because they will stick to your braces – no popcorn balls. Apples can easily damage your braces. Only eat them if they are cut into small pieces. Sticky foods will make it more difficult to clean your teeth and you may break a wire while doing so. Hard or crunchy sweets can break your braces or bend the wires. When that happens, it will take time to get to a dentist and it may set your treatment time back.
3. When you do eat sweets, the best and easiest kind to clean from your teeth and braces are soft ones. This includes ones with chocolate, which will quickly melt; but avoid them if they contain caramel. Other candies may be hard, but they will melt if you can avoid biting and chewing on them.
Soft foods that will melt rather quickly include a wide variety of sweets. In that group, you will find ice cream, shakes, smoothies, apple cider, root beer floats, Jell-o, peanut butter cups, cake, bananas, pudding, and more.
4. Be careful when consuming acidic foods. Foods that contain acids in them will promote tooth decay and cavities because the acid in them helps erode your tooth enamel. Acidic foods and drinks include orange juice, specialty coffees and teas, citrus juices, wine, and sodas. Not only do they contain acid, but they also have a lot of sugar in them. Rinsing your mouth out with water will help remove the acid.
After eating sweets or acidic foods, it is important to rinse your mouth out with water. Follow this with cleaning your teeth to remove all the sugar and excess food particles. You also need to do this shortly after eating the sweets because the bacteria that cause cavities feed on sugar and carbohydrates.
When you are tempted to eat sweets the next time, think about how beautiful your teeth could look when the orthodontic treatment is completed. You or your parents want you to have great looking teeth, which is why you are wearing the braces in the first place. Having cavities will not make them look good.
Sweets can seriously damage your teeth over the long run because of the sugar in them. Keeping your teeth looking good for when the braces finally do come off is important, and sweets will not help you obtain beautiful teeth. Think also about all the time you have already had to put in to keep your teeth clean.
Getting your teeth straight and looking beautiful takes time but you will be glad when you see the results. Creed Orthodontics in Cypress, Texas can help you get the straight teeth you want for a beautiful smile. Contact us today for a free consultation.