While braces are a helpful choice for people who need teeth correction, they usually can be taxing when it boils down to eating specific foods.
With braces, your diet isn’t entirely limited to liquid and solid dishes, but regardless, it pays to be on the lookout for things you eat when you have braces on.
A seemingly common concern in the braces community is if people who have braces can eat burgers with braces. Truth is, with braces, eating burgers is not really okay. It’s only okay if you eat it a certain way. Let us show you how.
Can you eat burgers with braces?
It is recommended not to, but you can on some conditions. You can eat burgers with braces when the burger is in bite-sized pieces.
It is not about the burger in its entirety or just the meat, the toppings can be a cause for concern as well.
Let’s talk in detail about when you should avoid burgers with braces on.
Why can’t you eat burgers with braces on?
Like we mentioned earlier, you can only eat burgers with braces on some conditions, if your burger has any of the following features, avoid it.
Burgers are big
What’s wrong with big-sized foods? For someone without braces, nothing! But with braces, big-sized foods are calls for concern. To take a bite out of your burger, you’ll need to have your mouth wide open. When you take such a big bite with braces on, you’re at risk of breaking or damaging parts of your braces that connect the upper and lower teeth, parts like springs or rubber bands.
Also, taking a big bite can leave some burger remnants in the wires of your braces and can cause damage to them.
Crunchy or crispy chicken
When your burger contains tender and easy-to-chew chicken, you’re good. Nonetheless, in a situation where your burger comes with a large piece of chicken, specifically the ones fried to a crisp or special BBQ chicken. That tempting crunchiness and big size can be detrimental to the health of your braces because when parts of it get in your braces’ parts, it can be hard to remove, which will result in gradual ruin to your braces and teeth.
Meat
Just like chicken, beef or mutton-burgers aren’t braces-friendly animal protein options. They can get stuck in your braces and cause a lot of long-term damage because getting them out may not always be an easy task.
Hard or/and raw vegetables
Raw vegetables in burgers are great for your body but bad for your teeth if you have braces. You may not realize it, but raw vegetables require quite an amount of chewing, and this chewing pressure is bad for your braces.
Hard or/and chewy bread
When considering eating burgers with braces, the buns should also be taken into consideration. How chewy is the bread? Is it too hard? These are the issues. If the buns in your burger belong to either of these categories, you should avoid it because it would require a lot of chewing pressure. Also, the main thing that makes burgers a no-no if you have braces is the size of the buns, they’re usually big, which means that you have to open your mouth wide to grab a bite and this can cause damage to parts of your braces.
Sticky or hard cheese
If you enjoy a cheesy burger, and you just got braces, this is a sign telling you to avoid it till your orthodontic treatment is done. Hard or sticky cheese can get in the way of your braces. Specifically, hard cheese can cause your braces to break while sticky cheese can find its way in between your teeth and braces and can cause cavity problems in the long run.
Read also: Can You Eat Cereal with Braces?
Condiments that contain high amounts of acid
Condiments are great with your burger, but high-in-acid condiments like ketchup and mustard should be avoided while wearing braces.
Can you eat meat while having braces?
Not exactly. Because meat is fibrous, this makes it not so easy to chew. This means that it can get stuck in the braces and have you running back to your orthodontist. Also, chewing meat with braces requires a lot of chewing pressure and this is not good for you if you have braces.
However tender meatballs and lunch meats may be okay.
Read also: Can You Eat Goldfish with Braces?
When can I eat a burger with braces?
A few days after you get your braces are fine. This is because your gums and teeth may still be sore right after getting braces and attempting a burger at that point will mean attempting to upset your mouth.
When you have braces on, attempting a burger is just one of the fast foods you should try to stay away from. Nevertheless, burgers are not the only fast food you can’t eat with braces, there are more fast foods that are not recommended for people with braces.
Read also: Can I Eat Spaghetti After Tooth Extraction?
What fast foods can’t I eat with braces?
- Pizza – Pizza and braces are a no-go because of the crust. You can have soft-crust pizza that has tender-cooked toppings. Pizza crusts can get in between your braces and teeth and cause long-run damage.
- Chicken nuggets – Like pizza, the hard crust on chicken nuggets can cause a lot of problems for you if you have braces on and you don’t want this.
- Popcorn – This sticky/sweet snack I’d bad for you if you have braces. The hulls in popcorn can slip in between your teeth and braces, cause cavity issues because they are hard to get rid of, and cause damage to your brackets.
- Burgers.
- Tacos – A taco with a hard and crunchy tortilla is a no-no if you have braces.
- French fries.
- Sandwiches – If your sandwich has raw and hard vegetables, crunchy chicken, non-tender meat, and hard bread, you should avoid it.
- Pretzels.
- Bagels and other strong rolls.
