braces for my picky eater

[Minnie824]

So, my DD8 is getting braces. We expected it at sometime, but not in 2 weeks. She is such a picky eater. Pizza is a staple and I'm wondering if she can still have that. If not, we'll need to find other things for her to eat. Any advice on what to eat/not eat. The ortho is going to go over it before they put the braces on, but just wanted some suggestions to start preparing her. Thanks.

 

[Spinning]

no problem with pizza. My daughter eats everything and will chew gum and has had even the sticky stuff! GASP!
They will tell you not to drink a lot of sugary drinks, sticky foods and sour candy. I think they also told her no hard candy or hard pretzels. I am sure there were other things but that is what I mainly remember. We stay away from anything that takes a long time to eat, ring pops, lollypops etc....swedish fish, and stuff like that.
Main thing is to really brush and if you can't brush after you eat then water.
We bought her a water pik and that helps since flossing seems to be a huge chore.

 

[laurie31]

Pizza is no problem at all. The only "no-no's" are very hard foods, sticky foods - things that might break a bracket.

My DDs both had braces, and could pretty much eat anything - they even chewed gum without incident, but not corn on the cob. That was the thing they missed the most.

 

[PirateSnowmen]

Pizza is no problem at all. The only "no-no's" are very hard foods, sticky foods - things that might break a bracket.

My DDs both had braces, and could pretty much eat anything - they even chewed gum without incident, but not corn on the cob. That was the thing they missed the most.

That was my experience too. They tell you all these things you can't have, but I don't know of anyone who actually followed the rules very strictly. I ate just about anything that I would normally eat, with the exception of corn on the cob, and nothing bad ever happened.

 

[clh2]

Will your DD have a pallete expander in addition to the braces? If so you want to avoid really hot foods that could burn the roof of her mouth. Yes - really hot pizza would not be good in this case. (The pallete expander is almost like a cage in the roof of their mouth, and any food that gets stuck up there is hard to get out.)

If you do have to deal with the expander - tie a piece of floss to the key

Other things to avoid - whole apples, popcorn (unless hull-less) bigger carrots, crunching on ice, hard candies, gooey things like caramels, gum and taffy and corn on the cob.

Things that are OK to eat - apple slices, julienned carrots (i.e. really skinny ones), corn that is cut off the cob. Chocolate!!!

Right after braces - some foods that worked well for my DD - mac n cheese, scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes.

Good luck to you and your DD.

Get some "mouth wax", and some super floss, and some "christmas tree" brushes

 

[Silent1CB]

She'll be really sore the first day. Please don't serve her overcooked tough steak like my mom did.


I don't remember not being able to eat things. I do remember shaving corn on the cob off the cob though.

 

[ziggystardust]

i had braces 2x. first time for 9 years (yes 9 years) and another time for 2. I ate pizza, with a knife and a fork, still do it that way for the most part. I get made fun of still for it, but its what i know

 

[golfgal]

Give her ibuprofen about 30 minutes before her appointment and then on schedule for a day or two afterward and that will cut down on the soreness from the braces. Our kids ate pretty much everything with their braces except corn on the cob and beef jerky. Actually, they still ate those they just cut the corn OFF the cob and cut the beef jerky into smaller pieces first.

 

[aprilgail2]

My daughter eats pizza no problem, and pretzels, bagels, whole apples. She has had braces a year and a half and none of those things ever broke her braces. When she got them on I was prepared with a bunch of soft food but she didn't need any of it- said they were a bit sore but she ate like normal. I am not one to medicate my child "just in case" and she ended up not needing anything at all. If your daughters are sore you could make pasta, thats easy to eat.

 

[Minnie824]

Thanks for all the input. DD and I were already laughing about the corn on the cob....last summer I had to cut it for her because she had lost her top 2 front teeth. I just said to her a week ago, well, you can eat corn on the cob normal this year. And, now she can't. She actually thought that was pretty funny because I think she got used to me cutting it up for her. Glad to hear pizza is still ok. That was one of main concerns. Thanks again!

 

[RUDisney]

My kids eat everything, including corn on the cob. I couldn't believe it when they didn't want to cut off the kernels like my siblings did. DS eats his pizza in bites. DD eats pizza with a fork and knife.

DS chews gum and eats gummy candy and lollipops. DD doesn't. She doesn't want to inconvenience me by having to go to the ortho between visits. So far, DS has only had to go once in 1.5 years.

Don't worry about your DD. If she's hungry, she'll find a way to eat.

 

[mhsjax]

We have just gotten DD braces on. Her regular dentist does it, and everyone in town absolutely loves him. I say these these because of what I am about to say.

She was told pizza is fine, just leave the hard back crust alone. No corn on the cob. no caramel, gum, popcorn, things like that.
Everyone that goes to him pretty much follows these rules, because if he finds out that you have broken them, he will give you one free ride after he fixes a wire, after that you are out of there. Like I said everyone loves this guy, he is WONDERFUL with the kids, so almost everyone obeys his laws.

Also the way I look at it is this. If everyone else want to let their kids chew gum eat sticky stuff and whatnot that is fine, but I just paid $4000.00 for her teeth, She is following the letter of the law as laid down by her orthodontist, he went to school for this, we did not. We will follow his advise.