Is there such a thing as a diet when wearing braces at all? Not really. However, one can divide the types of foods into those that help maintain the health of teeth and orthodontic brackets in place, and those that promote the appearance of caries and may affect the detachment of brackets.

Foods that stick around the brackets cause decalcification and the appearance of caries:

BEVERAGES

1. Coke – it’s sweet and sour: it’s the perfect combination to dissolve enamel. Have you ever tried throwing a milk tooth into it? It dissolves after one day.
2. Juices – they contain a lot of sugar, and their reaction is sour. Drinking too much can dissolve enamel.

FOODS

1. Sweets – especially the sticky ones like toffee, wine gums, mentos, fudge. They stick to the brackets and destroy the enamel that adheres to them. In addition, they are often quite hard and by biting on them with a lot of force, you can detach an orthodontic bracket.
2. White bread – white bread often contains a lot of sugar. Its consistency causes it to stick to the brackets and, like sweets, dissolves the enamel of the teeth.

How to eat when wearing permanent braces?

1. Do not bite your front teeth into hard foods (hard apple or bread crust). We cut them into smaller pieces and bite them sideways. When you chew, you can generate a force of 70-100 kg. The brackets are glued to the teeth with glue. One can therefore imagine that hard food and a great deal of strength consequently mean detached orthodontic brackets.
2. Watch out for coloring drinks! Drinks that can discolor your teeth or elements of the braces are, for example, red wine, coffee, tea or beet juice. You can reduce the risk of discoloration by drinking through a straw.
3. Beware of coloring spices: turmeric or pepper. This applies to patients wearing transparent or bright ligatures (elastics).

By the way, I would like to add a few words about removable braces, which are most often worn by children. When it comes to sweet and sour drinks or sweets the situation is similar – it is better to avoid them. If, however, the patient cannot do without them, remember to always put CLEAN BRACES ONTO CLEAN, WASHED TEETH. Placing braces on dirty, glued teeth increases the risk of developing caries. When wearing removable braces, you can drink water and it is better to avoid juices. However, if the patient likes them, please take off the braces and then brush the teeth (and the braces) before putting them on again.

For those with a sweet tooth, we recommend using a toothpaste with a lot of fluorine – 5000 ppmF overnight. At night, our body produces less saliva. Dryness promotes the development of caries, especially if the teeth are not thoroughly cleaned (which is difficult to achieve with sweet and sticky foods). Fluoride comes to help, which remains in saliva after brushing the teeth and saves the enamel from the dissolving effect of acids.