7 Things You Should Avoid Doing While Wearing Braces

The longer you have your braces on, the more you’ll realize what you can and can’t do while wearing them. However, until you get used to them, your orthodontist will provide you with a few things you should avoid doing while wearing your braces. These precautions are meant to prevent you from causing pain to yourself, breaking off your brackets, or bending and shifting your wires.

Below are 7 things you should avoid doing while wearing your braces. For those new braces-wearers or if you just need a refresher:

1. Chew gum – Anything that sticks to your teeth will also stick to your braces. If you chew gum, it will pull on your brackets, wires, and the bands around your molars, placing stress on the hardware, which could cause them to break. While gum is the worst at this, you should avoid anything sticky.
   
   
2. Chew on ice – It’s not a great idea to chew ice, even if you’re not wearing braces. But when you are, chewing ice can cause you to easily break off a bracket or bend a wire, both of which are painful and expensive problems.
   
   
3. Drink sugary or carbonated beverages – Your braces make it more important than ever to stay away from sugar. The acids in sugar and carbonation can dissolve the glue that holds your brackets to your teeth, making it much easier for them to come off.
   
   
4. Forget to floss – Neglecting the floss can cause problems not only while you’re wearing braces, but also once you get them off. Food particles can build up between the teeth, causing cavities or tooth decay. Flossing becomes more difficult with braces, but it’s never been more important. We also have ways of simplifying the process for you.
   
   
5. Grind your teeth – Many people grind or clench their teeth as a stress response, sometimes we even do it without realizing it. It’s important to correct this problem, as it can damage your braces. If you believe you grind or clench during the night, ask your orthodontist about a mouth guard you can wear to protect your teeth.
   
   
6. Get hit in the face – We know you probably won’t go seeking this out, but try to avoid it anyway! Getting hit in the face while wearing braces can not only damage your teeth, but your metal brackets can also cut your cheeks, lips or gums.
   
   
7. Use your teeth as tools – This is something you should always avoid, but that goes double while wearing braces. Teeth should only be used for eating, and using them to do anything else can weaken or chip them, as well as damage your braces.

To learn more about how to best care for your braces, or to set up an appointment with an orthodontist, please contact Firestone Pediatric Dentistry & Orthodontics, located in Firestone, CO!