I got my braces today and wondered if other people avoided hard and sticky food all throughout their braces journey or did you go back to your regular diet after a few months/weeks?
Only kiddie gum sticks. Trident, orbit, etc are a-ok. Will not get stuck in your braces. My ortho actually said it’s good because it helps saliva flow or something
I don’t do hard candy, gum, or corn chips. Everything else - I cut or tear into smaller pieces. Taking care of your braces hits different when you are paying for it yourself. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
This is me. Compliance is way different when it’s 7k out of pocket.
The braces are the 3rd most expensive thing I “own”. Home and car are 1 and 2. Not going to mess this is up.
yesss🥲
I'm paying for mine by myself but I'm still eating the same thing, just if your going to eat the " bad things " eat slow.
I had none. She told me that life needs living, and if we need to fix something, we'll do it.
Nothing ever broke in 3 years.
I wish mine had that attitude. I feel like I got lectured today like a child, and over what, 5 more minutes of work?
i asked her what to not eat, and got the opposite lecture. she is amazing really 😭
Same here. I completely forgot that braces had food restrictions and my ortho didn't say anything when he put the brackets on, so I guess he trusted that I wouldn't be dumb enough to eat rocks or something 🤷🏽♀️ my friends even thought it was weird that he gave me a donut at my last appointment but I didn't think twice about it at the time 😂
I follow most of it….. But I do occasionally eat popcorn. I avoid the kernels though.
Do you have issues? I have to wait until my deep cleaning before I get braces.
But popcorn is my favorite snack. Even without braces I get it stuck in the back.
I eat everything. I just make sure to be careful. So far I haven't had any issues.
No I didn't except for "no gum"
Yes I do. I got braces when I was young and mistakeningly chewed bubble bum and the back braces came off. Now getting braces a 2nd time as an adult, I'm avoiding all hard food stuffs (toasted bagels etc) and curry/coffee (I have ceramic braces). Lost 15 pounds so far.
but ceramic braces dont discolor only the transparent powerchains and bands do no?
I ate pretty much everything except gum and nuts
I ate whatever I wanted just very carefully, chopped up and making sure to chew only on my back teeth.
Never bit into apples or anything like that though !
Mainly according to what I liked/was able to eat lol. But then again their recs make sense for a reason. Like if they tell you not to eat popcorn, you'll probably have some difficulty eating it anyway.
I couldn't bite into apples for ages lol. Even now I think it's a post-braces habit, I still slice them hahaha.
I eat whatever I want, but carefully. I even tried gum once.. that was a mistake hahaha. Sticky stuff is super annoying. I live potato chips though and will die without them
Hard is a bracket breaker and sticky is really annoying with braces. Just stay off it.
I eat almost everything except chewing gum (pain in the butt to get out!) and sticky stuff.
Never did. It’s not what you eat it’s how you eat it
Yes! At first to the letter, but now that I'm about 18 months in and having broken a bracket, I'm a little more adventurous. I do peanuts and Chips.
Somethings are too painful to eat, like jerky.
Yes.
And I am expected to get braces off 6 months early (Sept).
Compliance is key. Broken brackets slow you down.
Edit: I think a few people are misunderstanding “diet restrictions”. It’s very unlikely your ortho was like “Eat all the skittles and starbursts you want!!” And just because you don’t normally eat something, doesn’t mean there wasn’t a diet restriction regarding the item.
As an adult who is paying for them, and having had braces as a child with a bracket getting ripped off my tooth from candy, yes. I strictly abide by the recommendations.
Yes I do, 99%. I don't want to break my braces
Yes I follow the restrictions 98% of the time. But if I want a jelly bean or chips, I’ve eaten them carefully lol.
No, I eat everything. I don't think it is that easy to break a bracket (Im 3 months in and no problem so far)
I ate everything
No gum, no popcorn, no skittles or starbursts, but still eat gummy bears and sour patch kids.
Stopped peanuts because they made my teeth hurt a lot. Doc said no peanuts and he was right
Eating everything, had a bracket break on a crown because they used the wrong bond (not my fault 🤷🏾♀️)
Almost 3 months in and I still avoid everything I was told to, although I have eaten chips a couple times recently (while being really careful).
I’ve only given up nuts, and not because you can’t eat them carefully but because eating them carefully is annoyingly tedious.
I chew gum all day long. Never had an issue.
i ate everything unless it hurt my teeth liek sometimes nuts and never broke my braces
I ate a large popcorn by myself at the movies a couple of weeks ago lol, the only thing I avoid is gum, I’ve been having a recurring nightmare about chewing gum and it getting stuck everywhere
Chewed gum every single day you just get sugar free variant trident is just fine and my ortho recommended it. They say no popcorn but oddly enough it was the only thing besides soup I could when I first got them that wasn’t painful
absolutely not. i have not once broken a bracket and I've still eaten things like toffee, popcorn, chewing gum ect...
Im avoiding sticky stuff. Hard breads like the crust on pizza. I never ate popcorn much so no loss there. I miss chips. But I'm 10k into this - I don't need chips.
Another commentor mentioned losing weight and I noticed that as well. I actually cant eat as much anymore my body wont tolerate it. So thats a benefit for me personally since I wanted to lose weight anyways.
I miss noodles though. I have a pallet bar and dang thing gets my food caught all the time 🙄
I just stopped eating peanuts and popcorn. I chew sugar free gum because it’s recommended by my orthodontist. But only for like 10 minutes when my pain is high after a tightening.
I avoid the obvious things that can mess the braces up like gum and sticky candies and that sort of thing but I still eat chicken wings i just don’t bite into them I take meat off with a fork. I’ve hust adjusted how I eat things but I mostly eat the same
It’s been 8 months since I started wearing braces and the only thing I avoid eating is gum. I felt bold today and had a couple Hi-chew taffies 😤 Most things are manageable albeit pain levels tends to be the bigger factor in what I end up not eating (e.g., just got power chains on my top arch and it hurt to chew my vitamin gummies in the first several days)
I still eat popcorn and chips but not hard sticky foods or sweets like caramel or gum.
Nope but i made the mistake of eating gum once and haven’t since
I still eat popcorn and chips but not hard sticky foods or sweets like caramel or gum.
My teeth, including the back molars I was told I would be able to chew on, are in too much pain to eat most solid foods. So it’s less about following my orthodontist’s “restrictions” and more about avoiding incredible pain. Am about 1.5 months in.
i got them about 3 weeks ago and honestly i haven't really been too strict about it lol - i've eaten things like nuts, crisps, dates etc. only things i haven't had (so far at least) is chewing gum, popcorn and sticky sweets. though i only have my top braces so far so maybe that's why i've had no problems?
I only don’t eat extremely sticky or hard candy. I do eat anything else really though as I find that there are some ways to make restricted food items more braces-friendly— mainly just chewing carefully or cutting it into smaller pieces.
As long as i can bite into it i eat it.
So apples for example are a huge no, especially when it hurts like hell if i even try.
I do chew gum for example, just make sure to be careful and not bite with braces, but with teeth only.
I eat everything except chew gum and hard candy. I eat popcorn, chips, etc. But, I am very careful. It’s been 6 months and I have not broken a bracket yet
I ate anything I wanted and I was fine. I think the only time I broke a bracket was on some totally normal food. Some food made me have to do a lot of cleanup but it was worth it to eat what I wanted lol roll salami was the worst. The little chunks of fat would get stuck in the wire gaps between my teeth
I even chewed gum and purposefully mushed it up in the wires one time just to see what all the fuss was about. Took me like 15mins with the little brush but I got it all out lol
Probably the only things to actually avoid are if you chew hard candy (don’t do that shit anyway) and the absolute stickiest and chewiest candies
yes bc i didn’t at first and my little bands fell out two times & i didn’t want to delay progress so now i don’t eat what im not supposed to :( sad but it’s ok
My orthodontist had a soda machine in their lobby and would give you a cup after your appt so you could take a soda to go. I wasn’t great with compliance, but only had one bracket break and that was during a wire change.
Nope, I just don't eat anything that I deem too hard or will break my bracket
Nope eat about everything and chew gum. Just sugar free gum
The only thing I stopped having was chewing gum (I never ate really hard sweets anyway), everything else I just ate carefully and I’ve had no problems