How to Eat When Newly Wearing or Tightening Braces

Cut food into small pieces. The way you eat is one of the biggest risk factors that can damage your braces. Biting food in the usual way can cause brackets to fall out of your teeth or break. To avoid this, you should cut food into small pieces. This helps control how many times teeth have to chew food at any given time.

• Use a knife to cut the corn kernels from the cob. Corn kernels are soft enough to be eaten safely, but biting into the cob can cause toothache, broken braces, or jaw pain. ^[23]
• Cut apples into slices before serving. Similar to corn, biting into the core of an apple can cause pain or damage to braces. ^[24]
• Even if you eat foods that are good for braces, you should cut them into smaller pieces. This helps control pain and protects the tooth from damage.

Chew with molars. Most of us don’t think too much about which teeth we use to bite and chew food. However, when you have just installed or adjusted braces, your teeth will be more sensitive. Therefore, you should chew with your molars – which are usually thicker and better built for grinding food – to help relieve pain in your front teeth.

• When chewing, you should avoid tearing or tearing off food with your front teeth. This is also the reason it is more beneficial to eat foods that are chopped. ^[25]
• Another less damaging way is to get food deep into the mouth (but not down to the back of the throat to avoid choking). ^[26]
• If you’re not used to putting your fork deep in your mouth and are worried you might bite into it, you can try holding food with your hands and gently placing the food in a position where you can chew with your molars. ^[27]

Eat slowly. Although you are very hungry (especially when your teeth are so painful that you cannot eat in the first days of braces), it is important to eat slowly. Eating too quickly can cause you to forget the proper way to eat (eat small pieces, chew with your molars) and increase your risk of biting into nuts or bones. ^[28] If you chew too quickly, your teeth can become sore or inflamed. This is because the bones and ligaments that support the teeth in the mouth are already weak due to the impact of the force that helps to align the teeth.

• Drink plenty of water while eating. This makes it easier to swallow if food is difficult to chew. Drinking water also helps wash away food residue that can get stuck in braces. ^[29]

Gargle with physiological saline. Teeth, gums, lips, tongue, and cheeks may be sore for a few days after braces are fitted or adjusted. This is normal and can be controlled in many ways. The simplest way to reduce inflammation in the mouth is to gargle with physiological saline. ^[30]

• Mix 1 teaspoon of salt in a cup containing 240 ml of clean and warm water. Do not use water that is too hot to avoid the risk of burning your mouth. ^[31]
• Stir until the salt is completely dissolved. ^[32]
• Gargle with a salt water mixture as needed throughout the day, especially during the first week after braces are fitted or adjusted. Spit out the salt water after rinsing your mouth. ^[33]

Apply dental wax to sharp braces. Many braces wearers experience pain when their lips, cheeks, and tongue rub against the metal braces. Others have had the wire stabbing their lips, cheeks and tongue over and over again. Both of these conditions are quite common. The best way to deal with the pain is to apply dental wax to the braces or wires that cause pain and discomfort. Dental wax can help when your mouth has to adapt to the new appliance on your teeth or as a temporary solution until you see an orthodontist to have it adjusted. However, if the braces break or the wire is sticking out, it’s best to see an orthodontist as soon as possible to deal with the problem. ^[34]

• Apply dental wax only on braces. Ask your orthodontist for take-home wax or you can buy dental wax at the pharmacy. ^[35]
• If wax keeps falling during application, you should ask your orthodontist to heat a small amount of Gutta-percha resin and apply it to the wire. The resin will cool down after 40 seconds and stick to the wire for a longer time than regular wax.

Take medicines. If you experience severe pain after fitting or straightening your braces, you should consider taking medication to control the pain. Common over-the-counter medications such as Acetaminophen (Tylep) or Ibuprofen (Advil) are helpful in reducing pain. ^[36]

• When giving medication to children or adolescents, avoid giving aspirin because it can cause Reye’s syndrome in children and adolescents. Reye’s syndrome is a health problem caused by aspirin use by young people that can be fatal. ^[37]

Brush your teeth with dental floss regularly. It can be difficult to brush with new braces, but this step is more important than ever when you wear braces. Food can get stuck between teeth or around braces, causing discomfort and possibly increasing the risk of infection. Some dental products like Floss Threaders or Superfloss thread make it easy to brush between your teeth and around the bars of your braces. ^[38]

• Brush under the wire, then insert the floss through the section above the wire between each group of teeth. ^[39]
• Bend the thread into a C-shape while brushing each tooth to ensure all food residue is removed. ^[40]

Brush your teeth after each meal. Brushing is an important step when you wear braces and can be especially helpful when braces are newly fitted or tightened. Food residue can be painful for soft teeth and gums. Brushing your teeth after each meal and before bed can help remove food residue. ^[41]

• Use a soft-bristled toothbrush to ease tooth and gum pain when brushing. ^[42]
• Consider using an interdental brush to clean between the braces and the wire. ^[43]
• Brush your teeth towards the tongue to make sure food residue is completely removed. This means you will brush from the top down for the top teeth and from the bottom up for the bottom teeth. ^[44]
• Do not rush to brush your teeth. It is recommended to spend about 2-3 minutes for each brushing to ensure that each surface of each tooth is cleaned. ^[45]
• You may need to repeat brushing and rinsing more often than usual. At this time, the plaque has spread to the wider surface that is the teeth and braces.

Wear orthodontic elastic as directed. Your doctor may recommend using an orthodontic elastic to correct misaligned teeth. Braces themselves will help straighten your teeth, but if your teeth are misaligned (for example, underbite or oversized), your orthodontist may recommend a special orthodontic brace. The elastic is worn by hooking each end around a special hook on two symmetrical braces (usually one in front and one behind, one above and one below on each side). ^[46]

• Orthodontic elastics should be worn 24 hours a day, 7 days a week until the orthodontist tells them to stop wearing them. ^[47]
• Orthodontic braces should only be removed when eating or brushing teeth. Otherwise, you should wear orthodontic elastics continuously, even at bedtime. ^[48]
• You may want to remove the elastic for a few days after each braces treatment. However, following the specific recommendation of the orthodontist will be best for the teeth. ^[49]