Proper Diet while Undergoing Orthodontics

Many people undergo orthodontic treatment during childhood, adolescence, and even into adulthood. Wearing orthodontic appliances like braces is sure to produce a beautiful smile. Though orthodontic treatments at Iowa Orthodontic Solutions are designed to accommodate your lifestyle, chances are you will need to make some dietary modifications to prevent damage to your braces and prolong orthodontic treatment.

The First Few Days with Braces

The first few days wearing braces may be the most restrictive. During this time, the adhesive is still curing, which means you will need to consume only soft foods. This probably will not be a problem, however, as your teeth may be tender or sensitive while adjusting to the appliances.

Orthodontic Dietary Restrictions

You can eat most foods normally the way you did without braces. However, some foods can damage orthodontic appliances or cause them to come loose. Examples of foods you will need to avoid include:

  • Chewy foods like taffy, chewing gum, beef jerky, and bagels
  • Hard foods like peanuts, ice chips, and hard candy
  • Crunchy foods like chips, apples, and carrots

How to Continue to Eat the Foods You Love Most

Keep in mind that you may still be able to enjoy some of the foods you love by making certain modifications to the way you eat them. For example, steaming or roasting carrots makes them softer and easier to consume with braces. Similarly, you can remove corn from the cob, or cut up produce like apples and pears to avoid biting into them. Other tips include grinding nuts into your yogurt or dipping hard cookies into milk to soften them. If you must eat hard candies, simply suck on them instead of biting into them.

If you have any question whether a food is safe to eat during your treatment with Iowa Orthodontic Solutions, we encourage you to err on the side of caution. Of course, you can always contact our Iowa office with any questions you have about your diet and the foods that should be avoided during treatment. By following our dietary instructions and protecting your orthodontic appliances from damage, you will be back to chewing gum in no time.

1 Response to Proper Diet while Undergoing Orthodontics

Rose says:

it is not that loud and she has great hearing**2. The rovreseir is so small it runs out in 10 seconds.** Maybe this user has a leak in his unit. I use mine for about 30 seconds until all food is removed and I still have half of the water left. And yes I am using the High pressure setting. **3. The tip is so mobile (rotates all over the place), you can't control it. ** Mine doesn't. Of course I have only had it a month. **4. It is poorly designed, too large, and difficult to hold (Can't imagine if you have small hands).** I thought it was well ergonomically designed. I have nerve damage in my hand that makes it hard to hold on to things and get tops off of bottles but I had no problem holding the WP-450 Ultra. I think it is most excellent! **5. Poor battery life, long charge time, no charge indicator. After two uses I needed to recharge! (yes I let it charge up initially for 16 hours!).** I have only charged my unit for 8 hours and have been using once a day for a month. I has not slacked off one bit in pumping the water out. **6. Expensive, Poor Value: Price is ~70% higher than the WP-360** Yes that is usually the case for older models. They usually do cost less than newer models as the cost of production is higher than years ago. It is actually 61.4 % higher in cost. The old unit uses Ni-Cad batteries as the new one uses more expensive L-Ion or NiMH batteries hence the higher cost and the L-Ion battery can hold a charge longer. **7. Poor Reservoir Capacity -only 120 ml or 20% less than the already-tiny WP-360 s 150 ml** I do not know how you can say that. I fill my units up to max and the new Water Jet holds twice the amount of water then the WP-360. Also I had to use a paper cup the fill up the old WP-360 ** 8. Terrible portability, large/inefficient size, ungainly ergonomics** Well it is not touted as a travel water jet just a cordless one for home use. The Panasonic however is a true Travel/Portable unit as advertised. **9. Weak water stream.** You've got to be kidding. It has two settings and is way better then the WP-360 and about the same pressure as the Panasonic model. Are you sure you have it charged up? **10. Very bad. Main problem is the tip won't stay fixed, it keeps rotating, so it sprays water everywhere but your teeth.** I have not observed this problem. My tips stays right where it should. I will report back if this changes. **11. The rovreseir is so small that it empties before you are ready to stop using it. It should be at least 2 1/2 times the size.** I have to wonder what you are using this for. I use mine to remove the food particles from the gums and between teeth. When things stop coming out of the mouth am done. My dentist says I have the best gums of any patient he has in his practice and I only use this once a day before bed. ** It appears that the problem with the old WP-360 was the fact that the charger contacts on the front would get water inside no matter how careful one was and the metal from the charger was different from the metal that took the charger. What I observed on the WP-360 was dissimilar metal corrosion. What I observed on this new water jet was the charger contact is now enclosed in plastic and has been moved to the back of the unit where their is less chance of water getting in to the charger contacts. Allot of people keep going on about the old WP-360 in this post about the batteries not holding a charge. I think most people probably keep the unit charger plug in while not in use. This will lead to what is called a memory problem with Ni-Cad batteries. Ni-Cad batteries should never be keep on a continuous charge as that will lead to the memory problem mentioned. It is best to have Ni-Cads discharge completely and then recharge them. L-Ion / NiMH batteries do not suffer from this problem that I know of, but it is always better to only charge any battery after it loses its charge. Continuous charging on batteries will lead to shorten battery life. If I experience any problems with the Waterpic Water Jet WP-450 Ultra I will amend this review. I just can not understand all these bad negative reviews. If the unit was so bad why would it be the number seller when I bought it? No I do not work for Waterpic but I have used their products for years and have not had that many problems which is why I guess they are still number one in Oral Irragtor sales. I hardily recommend the WP-450 Ultra if you are looking for a cordless (not Travel sized) waterjet. This is hands down better then the old but still selling WP-360.

Back to Top Back to Top sesame communicationsWebsite Powered by Sesame 24-7™