How To Eat With Springs On Your Braces

When you wear braces, your orthodontist attaches various equipment to braces and you get worried about eating habits. And, when you get springs, you ask, can you eat with springs on your braces?

Coil springs or forsus springs on braces allow you to open and move mouth normally and that’s why you can eat without having any problem. But, you need to to be careful while opening mouth wide and shoudl avoid foods like apple, burger or other hard and crunchy foods.

You also have to be careful about the way you chewing and biting on foods so that it can’t damage the springs. So, pick foods that are friendly for braces as well as springs.

Let’s know how you have to eat, what to eat, what to avoid with springs on braces.

Also, if you have other questions regarding coil springs and forsus appliance, you can check our other articles.

Problems you face while eating with braces springs

During braces treatment, your orthodontist may suggest you wear springs such as coil springs or forsus springs. You may face some issues during chewing or biting after getting the springs.

Coil springs

Your orthodontist places a coil spring on braces when he or she decides to close a gap between your teeth. To do that, two ends of spring are attached to the two brackets situated on either side of the gap.

After getting spring tightened, you feel pressure on the teeth. So, how do you feel during eating?

For the first few days after tightening you may feel mild pain or discomfort when you chew or bite on foods.

After that, you get used to it and if you follow the right food habits for braces and springs, you may not feel pain. You can move your mouth normally.

But, wrong food habits can cause permanent damage to the coil spring or it may get broken, loose or come off.

Coil springs don’t affect your mouth opening. You can talk or laugh as usual.

Forsus springs

You may have to wear a forsus spring appliance when it’s necessary to correct an overbite. One end of spring is connected to the braces of upper teeth, and another end to the braces of lower teeth.

As forsus spring connect your upper teeth with lower teeth, you can get worried about the mouth opening and eating. But, it’s not the case. It’s made in such a way that you can chew or bite with it.

When you first get the forsus spring, you may feel discomfort with that. But, over time you may not feel any problem.

However, if you don’t be careful of the extent of mouth opening or selection of foods, forsus spring can be separated from your braces. Sometimes it may get damaged, broken, or come off.

So, eating may not cause any problem, but you can’t open mouth extremely wide for eating, biting or for any other reasons with forsus spring.

Ways how you can eat with springs on braces

Eat soft, liquid and foods that are friendly for springs and braces.

Avoid hard, sticky, crunchy and foods that are bad for springs and braces.

Avoid opening mouth extremely wide while eating, if you have forsus springs in your month. When you bite on food that forces you to open mouth wide like a burger, cut it into small pieces.

Foods to avoid with springs on braces

Restriction of the foods we love is so painful for us. But, to get a beautiful smile, you need to sacrifice some foods for the treatment period.

Hard foods

Chewing or biting on hard foods like hard candy, bagels, nuts, hard fruits, hard chocolates, hard rolls, or meat bone may damage your springs and braces. Springs can get break off for that. So, hard foods can be an enemy to the springs and braces.

Sticky foods

These are worse for your springs and braces. Examples of those foods are gums, caramel, sticky candy, or sticky chocolates. But, why is that?

It’s hard to clean teeth with braces and springs. As sticky foods stick to your springs as well as braces, it’s become more difficult to clean them.

It has two effects. One, it may damage your spring, brackets and archwire and two, it may cause tooth decay.

When we can’t clean food particles from our teeth, plaques are formed and we may have tooth decay. If the food contains sugar and sticks to our teeth for days, it’ll be a suitable environment to form dental caries.

Chewing gum can be the worst choice while you wearing a spring on braces. It’ll stick to the spring and become hard to remove from it. Even, it may damage the springs.

Foods that make you open mouth wide

This is especially for forsus spring wearer, as it’s attached to your upper and lower teeth. Examples are apples, burgers, etc. You can cut them into pieces and then it’s totally safe to eat. Otherwise, they can damage or break off your forsus spring and braces.

Crunchy foods

A good example here is the popcorn. Popcorn may look like small and soft food but can damage springs and braces.

If you notice carefully, you can see popcorn contains a small hard part inside it. And, if this part gets under bracket, archwire, or springs, especially coil springs, it’ll be hard to remove it. So, you must stay away from popcorn, crunchy fruits, crunchy vegetables, and other crunchy foods.

Sugar containing foods

As braces wearer has a high risk to develop tooth decay, reduce taking sugar-containing foods and drinks during the treatment with springs and braces.

Foods you can eat with springs on braces

You should eat soft and liquid foods during the treatment with springs and braces. But, why?

Foods like mashed potatoes, soups, grains, yogurt, soft vegetables, and soft fruits don’t stick to your brackets and springs. If any food particles remain after eating, it’s easy to clean.

These foods also don’t give any pressure of chewing or biting while eating. So, coil spring, forsus springs, and braces are safe from them.

How to eat with loose or damaged springs on braces?

Braces springs can get damaged or get loose for many reasons, such as wrong method brushing or flossing teeth, injury, wrong food habits, and others.

If your springs come off or get damaged and you can’t fix it, it’s wise to keep the part and visit your orthodontist with it. He or she will repair it or gives you a new one.

But, if your spring is loose for any reason, be careful while you eat. Before getting it fixed, take soft and liquid foods, as we mentioned above.

Avoid any kind of hard, sticky or crunchy foods, not even mistakenly.

If you have any problems with the springs, make an appointment as soon as possible. Otherwise, the treatment time will be prolonged.

Takeaways

In short, you can eat with springs on braces normally. Just you have to be a bit cautious while eating for the first few days until you get used to it, especially for forsus spring wearer.

And, you have to select foods carefully to prevent any damage to the springs and braces. Still, if any damage occurs during eating, visit your orthodontist for the solution.