Eating When Wearing Dental Braces

Traditional braces can make eating difficult and potentially lead to other dental problems

Primarily, we eat to stay alive and to be as healthy as possible. Food provides us with a range of nutrients to build muscles, energy to go about our daily lives and many other functions. This is its basic role and it is essential to survival.

Most of us would also add to that, that it should also be enjoyable and be a pleasurable part of life. There is certainly little doubt that there are now a wider range of foods available for us to enjoy than there was say 50 years ago.

Most of us can simply sit down and enjoy a meal without even thinking about the practical aspects of it. For some people though, eating can be a bit of a challenge. This especially applies if you have poor quality teeth due to neglect, but also to those who currently wear traditional dental braces. The problems can go beyond the standard ‘spinach in the teeth’ issue too!

Dental braces and oral health

Whilst none of us want to walk around with food visibly stuck in our braces, the reality is that, apart from any aesthetic consideration, this trapped food will become even more problematic if it is not completely removed. As it breaks down, the food will produce sugars and acids and this is likely to lead to tooth decay, or even gum disease, to say nothing of the fact that rotting food alone can lead to smelly breath.

From the ‘pleasure’ aspect of eating, we may also make sacrifices, choosing foods that are easier to eat when wearing braces, rather than those that we really like.

What can be done about it?

The most obvious thing to say is that you should take extra care to clean your teeth well if you are wearing the wire and bracket type of braces, whether the traditional metal ones or the more discreet and fast acting ones such as the Inman Aligner that is available at Blue Sky Dental. Our Chelmsford dentists will be able to provide you with full cleaning information to help you keep your teeth as clean as possible whilst wearing your braces.

You might also decide to sacrifice your favourite foods in an attempt to prevent food becoming trapped. Remember though, that trapped food doesn’t need to be visible to cause damage and even small and hidden  particles of food can cause decay to occur. The final choice is, where practical, to avoid the traditional wire and bracket type of braces and opt instead for ‘invisible braces’. These are available to both adults and teenagers whose facial features have fully developed.

A word about invisible braces

One thing that is important for our Chelmsford patients to be aware of is that invisible braces are not suitable for all people or all types of misalignment of teeth. It is essential that you see a dentist so that the right solution can be found for your particular problem. This is one of the many reasons why we don’t recommend that you opt for one of the growing number of  ‘invisible braces’ that are now widely advertised, especially on social media, aiming at the younger market.

Your teeth are important and having the wrong treatment could cause long term damage to them. We will make sure that you have the correct treatment, whether that be the invisible aligners approach or a more traditional method.

Most people will be aware of the most obvious advantage of invisible braces, ie, that they are very discreet and barely visible to most people. There is another significant benefit though and that is that they can be removed when you are eating, and also for cleaning your teeth. Providing that you do this correctly and also keep the transparent aligners clean, there is no reason why you should suffer from tooth decay and any other problems that can sometimes arise with traditional braces. You will also be able to choose any food that you want, rather than having to consider how difficult it might be to eat.

As significant realignment of teeth can take a year or even more, the convenience and oral health benefits of this modern type of orthodontic is a real plus for anyone who has crooked or uneven teeth and would like to improve their smile by having their teeth straightened using cosmetic dentistry.

If you live in the Chelmsford area of Essex and would like to see how we can help you have an even smile, we are always happy to see you. Our experienced and friendly dental team will guide you through the process and look at the options available to provide a successful outcome, whether that is the transparent aligners or a more traditional, but discrete, system such as the Inman Aligner. If you would like to have an initial consultation with one of our team, you can call Blue Sky Dental today on 01245 211070. We look forward to meeting you!