Categories: Clear Braces

Clear Braces: What Foods Should You Avoid?

Clear braces are a subtler version of traditional metal braces that allow you to straighten teeth without dealing with the poor aesthetics of metal braces. Instead of metal brackets, clear braces come with tooth-colored brackets that are barely noticeable in your mouth. Instead of metal wires to connect the brackets, clear braces come with transparent or tooth-colored wires. As a result, clear braces blend in with your teeth, while metal braces look like miniature railway tracks on your teeth.

Foods to avoid during treatment with clear braces

Like metal braces, clear braces remain fixed in place once a dentist inserts them, which means the patient will have to learn to eat and clean their mouth with the appliance cemented to their teeth. Some foods are easier to eat while wearing braces than others. Some of the foods people with tooth-colored braces should avoid include:

Chewing gum
Popcorn
Chewy candies
Ice
Nuts
Hard candies
Pretzels
Hard crackers
Chips
Crunch fruits and vegetables

Hard foods can damage the brackets and wires that come with braces, forcing an emergency trip to the dentist to get needed repairs. Other foods like popcorn or chewy candy can get stuck underneath the contraption. Getting them off can be challenging since braces get in the way of brushing and flossing teeth.

Sweet foods and beverages should be avoided as much as possible since they lead to teeth being covered by plaque. This increases the risk of tooth decay since braces make it harder to clean teeth properly.

Foods that can damage or get stuck underneath braces are not the only things people who wear clear braces have to worry about. The tooth-colored components of the appliance can pick up stains, which makes them more noticeable in the wearer’s mouth. Examples of foods that can stain tooth-colored braces include:

Foods with lots of curry or turmeric
Beets
Berries
Yellow mustard
Red wine
Tea
Coffee
Soy sauce
Foods that contain artificial coloring
Dark soda

Brushing, or at the very least rinsing after every meal, helps to limit the formation of stains on clear braces. The longer the coloring agents in foods and beverages make contact with the appliance, the more likely it is to pick up stains. Brushing after every meal also helps to keep teeth clean, reducing the risk of tooth decay due to having braces attached to your teeth.

People who smoke should consider giving up the habit before treatment with clear braces since tobacco smoke discolors them. It leads to the brackets and wires turning yellow, making the appliance more visible. Whitening toothpaste can help keep clear braces white, but the parts of the patient’s teeth covered by the brackets will likely be a different color by the time the patient’s treatment is over.