EATING & DRINKING
So
now I have discussed cleaning, I would like to talk to you about eating and
drinking with braces and things I was conscious of when eating in front of
other people. When I first got my brace work I was at work and also attending
university. I was really worried that food would get trapped in the braces and
people would be offended by it. For the first few weeks, I did not eat in front
of anyone but my close family and friends. Do not worry it takes some time to
adjust to eating with braces. When I was out for lunch or dinner, I found it
useful to have a small pocket mirror and food pick/ small brace brush in my bag
to quickly check my teeth after I had eaten. This allowed me to remove any
visible signs of food from between the brace work. I also found it useful to
discreetly roll my tongue along the bottom and top braces every so often to
check no food had become caught in the wires.
It
is important that you do not put too much pressure on the braces by eating
foods that the orthodontist or dentist advise against. I avoided certain fruits such as apples and
pears, hard toffees or chewy sweets, chewing gum, steak, large meat dishes such
as burgers or ribs and celery sticks or carrot sticks.
For
the first few days of every tightening or movement you will most likely have
sore teeth and gums, so it is best to stick to a fairly soft diet. I found
milkshakes, fruit juices, mash potatoes, mashed vegetables, over cooked pasta,
eggs and rice dishes were good to have during this time. I tended to steer
clear of tough or chewy foods like meat, rolls, pizza and crunchy salad.
In
terms of drinking, the key point I would emphasis is to always use a straw. I always drank through a straw and whenever
possible tried to drink water instead of sugary drinks. This is because the
sugar gets in and around the braces and can cause staining and decay if it is
not cleaned properly through brushing. During my time with braces I would drink
alcohol occasionally but would always ensure that when I got home I had a glass
of water before thoroughly brushing my teeth and rinsing with mouthwash.
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Hi Stefanie! Just discovered your blog. :) I'm still in the early stages of braces and probably will do my op next year. Thought I'd ask you about whether you did, or was recommended to do, any rhino or genioplasty with your op? How did you make that decision?
ReplyDeleteHi Mis-Erialc, Thanks for the comment and for checking out the blog. My surgeon recently broached the subject of having a genioplasty, however i am not sure. I had the double jaw in 2011 and plates removed following issues. I spoke with a few people and my friend who works as an orthognathic specialist nurse and she said the Genioplasty is a lot easier and well worth it. I Can not comment on the Rhinoplasty as i have not researched in to that yet.I was unhappy with my nose but it has changed shape naturally since surgery so maybe it would be best to wait until after the first surgery. Are you on Facebook? i am a member of a jaw surgery group on there and there is a huge range of people who had different jaw surgeries. Hope this helps :)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.facebook.com/groups/2224052305/
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