Getting braces - Need suggestions for non-staining foods

Taboola

Hoping the wise people of the cooking forums can help me out with this. I'm getting braces tomorrow. White train tracks for 4 months. I've been given a list of food to avoid which pretty much contains all the foods I eat Here's the list:

• Coffee (I'm ok with this, I can live without it)
• Curries
• Cumin, Paprika, Cajun, Tumeric spices etc
• Any tomato based sauces
• Soups of colour

Looking at it it doesn't look that bad except for the fact that pretty much everything I eat is either tomato based or has the above spices in it.

I'm panicking and drawing a complete blank on what I should eat for lunch/dinner. I'm ok for breakfast. I'll be either having a spinach smoothies or greek yogurt and fruit. I don't eat bread/wraps or pasta.

Any help is much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

frag420

Was in same situation last year. I didn't give up anything, I just made sure I brushed after every big meal and used mouthwash. You're braces will stain regardless of what you eat unless you want to eat white food only. I bought an electric toothbrush and kept it in my bag with some paste so I could brush at work or at a mates house after eating. Worked great for me!

carefulnowted

I have braces and would agree with the advice above. You don't need to cut out anything really, just floss and brush carefully etc. I also like to drink lots of water after finishing a meal to make sure not much food residue stays in my mouth. Definitely stock up on straws if you drink soft/sugary drinks, they decay and damage your teeth like crazy. Good luck!

spottybananas

I had Invisalign that were nigh on impossible to remove without crying so ate with them on during work. My lunches were mainly pasts with chickpeas and mushroom. Dull, but soft and beige

mdudy

I had braces twice and did not cut out any of those things - granted I got the actual brackets changed a few times, they were metal, not clear/white.

Just rinse with water after every meal, and definitely don't stay away from tomato based sauces or soup! I've never heard of an orthodontist telling a patient to avoid types of soup, rather you may find you'll eat a lot of soup in the first few days.

I would avoid the hard foods, rather than the colourful.

Taboola

mdudy wrote: »

I had braces twice and did not cut out any of those things - granted I got the actual brackets changed a few times, they were metal, not clear/white.

Just rinse with water after every meal, and definitely don't stay away from tomato based sauces or soup! I've never heard of an orthodontist telling a patient to avoid types of soup, rather you may find you'll eat a lot of soup in the first few days.

I would avoid the hard foods, rather than the colourful.

The white/clear are different and stain. I've had regular metal braces before and didn't need to worry about staining. So far so good anyway and I'm keeping them as stain free as possible. Not brave enough to eat a curry yet :P

Thanks for the help everyone.

confusticated

Maybe try coconut milk based curries rather than tomato?

the beer revolu

confusticated wrote: »

Maybe try coconut milk based curries rather than tomato?

I'd imagine the issue with curry would be the turmeric in most curries.

jokettle

I had the clear brackets last year and all I gave up was hard bread rolls and apples (but apple slices were fine). I eat a lot of curries, foods with spices, tomato-based soups etc and had no problems with staining. I think drinking lots of tea and coffee would be the main offenders. Having said that, my braces were on in the midst of my diet coke addiction and that didn't seem to cause any staining either.

Taboola

jokettle wrote: »

I had the clear brackets last year and all I gave up was hard bread rolls and apples (but apple slices were fine). I eat a lot of curries, foods with spices, tomato-based soups etc and had no problems with staining. I think drinking lots of tea and coffee would be the main offenders. Having said that, my braces were on in the midst of my diet coke addiction and that didn't seem to cause any staining either.

That's good to hear. Maybe the dentist was just trying to scare me