Since there are restrictions on foods during orthodontic treatment, can you eat a burger with braces?
You can’t eat a burger normally while wearing braces because its ingredients or taking a bite opening your mouth wide can make your braces fall out or get loose. However, you may eat a burger if you can find an alternative way just like you do it for other foods.
Here, we have discussed eating burgers in detail.
If you want, you can also know how you can eat pizza with braces.
Why can you not eat a burger with braces?
Here are the reasons for which you can’t eat a burger with braces:
It’s big
Burgers are big in size. But, what’s wrong with that? To take a bite, you need to open your mouth wide. This causes problems in two ways.
First, during opening mouth wide, components of braces such as rubber bands or springs maybe fall out, broken, or torn.
This happens when you wear a rubber band or spring that connects your upper and lower teeth. Those are used when it’s necessary to move teeth forward or backward.
If you are wearing any of those components, you must avoid it.
Second, while taking the big bite, you don’t have proper control over yourself. So, burgers might hit the front braces and break or make them loose. The wires may sometimes be popped out because of that.
Crispy chicken
Chicken may not be the main reason for ignoring burgers with braces on teeth when soft pieces of chicken are used in the burger.
But, it may be harmful when a big big piece is used, especially when it’s crispy fried chicken or special BBQ chicken. That crunchy and big-sized chicken might make your braces fall out.
However, when the crunchy and crispy outer parts of chicken get stuck between the braces and teeth, it’s difficult o remove them resulting in damaging teeth gradually.
Meat
Beef or mutton burgers aren’t friendly for your braces. Part of bacon or the fiber of the meat can easily get stuck between the braces and the teeth.
You may not able to remove that completely while wearing braces, It may damage your braces as well as your teeth.
Moreover, some meats may be crispy or crunchy, which can hurt your braces and break them while biting on them. So, stay away from those burgers.
Hard and raw vegetables and other ingredients
Vegetable presenting in burgers may also hurt your braces. If it contains raw and hard vegetables, it may damage your braces during chewing as you may not be aware of its hardness.
Soft and boiled vegetables are fine to eat with braces, but still, you can’t eat a burger because of the bread and other ingredients.
Hard and chewy bread
Bread of the burger is the main thing that makes it difficult to eat with braces. Its size is usually big, so you have to open your mouth wide as we mentioned already.
Another thing is some bread may be hard and need more effort to chew. The pretzel bun, ciabatta, or kaiser rolls may seem soft on the inside but has a hard crust.
This puts pressure on teeth as well as braces and causes loosening or broken braces.
Hard or Sticky cheese
You may like a cheesy burger, but can they interfere with braces? Yes, they can. Hard cheese can damage the braces while sticky cheese can cause more problems.
Examples of those cheese are Pecorino or Parmigiano-Reggiano. Hard and Sticky cheese of the burger such as can easily adhere to the brackets or wires and may damage them.
Even if they don’t damage in this way, they are hard to remove.
When that sticky cheese stays between your teeth and braces for a long time, it triggers the process of tooth cavity formation. Some may develop tooth sensitivity or staining.
However, some soft sticky cheese such as mozzarella cheese may not cause such a problem. But, you need to floss your teeth nicely after eating it.
High acid condiments
Condiments increase the taste of the burger and they may not cause any issue with braces.
But, acidic condiments such as tomato-based varieties, ketchup, and mustard shouldn’t be taken while wearing braces.
Acidic foods cause staining or discoloration of teeth. So, it’s better to stay away from those condiments.
How to eat a burger with braces?
Here are the possible ways to eat a burger while wearing braces on teeth:
1. Cut into small pieces
As the size of the burger is a big problem for the braces, cut it into small pieces. Make it smaller as possible so that you can take the piece in your mouth easily. If you do that, you can consider the following things.
2. Soft bread or buns
Whatever you do to eat the burger, the bread or bun should be soft and easy to chew. It can protect your braces from the chewing force.
3. Be careful of ingredients
Ingredients of the burger should be braces-friendly. So, when you pick a burger, get sure about the ingredients before you eat.
4. Go for the vegetable burger
You can choose vegetable burgers, instead of chicken or meat. But, those vegetables must be soft and boiled, not raw or hard.
5. Soft chicken with small pieces
You can also eat chicken burgers if you cut them into small pieces. But, you should aware of the hardness of the chicken.
It should be soft and easy to chew. It’s a great choice to pick a burger that contains sliced chicken pieces.
6. Chew slowly
Chewing fast can harm your braces if you choose to eat the burger. It may lead to food debris getting stuck to braces or breaking them. So, take time to chew the burger piece while wearing braces.
7. Low acidic condiments
Most of the condiments don’t harm the braces or your teeth except those are highly acidic.
You may pick condiments such as guacamole, mayo, and a cream-based variety.
8. Make your own burger
It’s better to learn how to make burgers at home. Use a soft bun and choose the ingredients that favor the braces. Prepare them in a way that they are soft and easily chewable.
Conclusion
You shouldn’t eat a burger with braces as it can be dangerous for those brackets and wires. Even though you find a way of eating a burger, you have to be careful and clean your teeth and braces after eating.
Burgers aren’t essential food for you, not even healthy in many cases. So, you should control yourself from eating burgers until your braces are removed.
