Metal Mouth Message Board

I have had my upper ceramic braces for 3 days.

It is not due to pain but I have developed a hatred of eating and brushing 4 times a day isnt fun. I eat at the very back of my mouth and am annoyed cos one bracket has already detached when I ate some cooked prawn in my Chinese Saturday night.

The problem I have is I really don't like to eat cos no matter how I eat food ends up around practically every bracket and eating and clean up takes forever. I tried some Fruit and Fibre cereal for breakfast being that cereal breaks down nicely with milk and it was everywhere-even bits stuck in the middle of the front of my front brackets! It must've taken at least 5 minutes to clean up to ensure there was no cereal stuck in or around my brackets.

Any advice please for eating? I would be so grateful for any suggestions

I haven't found any shortcuts, I'm afraid. My tip is always to carry a toothbrush, TePe brush and a MIRROR!

Well, first of all--invest in a waterpik---and toothpicks (but not to be used at the table!). The waterpik makes cleaning so much easier. Yep, you will be cleaning a lot, but I have found that I now wonder why I didn't clean my teeth as much before braces!

You should get to the point where you know what foods are going to be harder to clean than others. Sometimes you will not eat certain things because it's not worth the cleaning hassle. It's surprising which foods are the biggest problems--for me it's strawberries, rice,
salad etc. The easiest for me are cookies (seems like all sweets are easy ), and a lot of soft foods.

It just takes time to get used to the changes...

I've just ordered the SPAMTRONIC SPAMSONIC SPAMONAIDE SPAMSTER SPAM SPAMINATOR equiv of a Waterpik as it has had by far better reviews in relation to charging etc. I'm hoping it won't be long til it arrives. I'm hoping that cleaning up will be a lot quicker then food shouldn't be such a dread. I only intend to eat 3 times a day and ignore my stomach, as I don't wish to brush more than 4 times in a day!

It does get easier and sometimes am amazed how I can eat a burger in public and nothing in my teeth but a soft sandwich will have stuff EVERYWHERE. I do not enjoy eating at all but I eat everything mostly. I find cutting things up in stripes or pieces and putting in the back of my mouth on my molars is the best. I love my waterpik but don't need to use every meal any more. I love the GUM brand soft toothpicks. THE BEST little invention, they are great for getting the stuff unstuck and easy when you are out in public to use in bathroom or even a car

I don't know if your braces are a lot different than mine but I used to be really self conscious about eating as well (I still kinda am) but I've found that heavy rinsing (?) a few times [i]really[/i] helps right after a meal because the food isn't all stuck in there yet. OR you could try those little Scope brushes that you can carry around anywhere (they already have the toothpaste on them!)

Yeah, the Waterpik really makes a huge difference. It just blasts the little food bits right out of there. If you're like me and snack a lot at work or school or whatever, it helps to stock up on snacks that won't get stuck in your braces. Yogurt is AWESOME. So is pudding and applesauce. And I've become a big fan of SlimFast shakes as afternoon snacks...lots of protein for that much-needed afternoon kick, and it's liquid so all you need afterward is some sugar-free gum or a quick swish of mouthwash.

Yeah, I still enjoy food, but I don't enjoy meals the way I used to. The nice thing is that I take the time to think about whether I really want something before I shove it in my mouth now.

I carry a toothbrush, gum picks, and mouthwash everywhere now, and I chew everything really far back in my mouth so most of the food gets stuck in the brackets and wires by my molars and not up front.

this was my biggest fear when i first got braces....eating was a nightmare because of the mess afterwards.

i must admit that overtime it has gotten easier as you find a different way to eat in order to keep food trapped in your braces to a minimum if at all. i was scared of eating in public but luckily i have been eating out with work colleagues at least once a week without any issues. my top tip is to always have a glass of water nearby to give your mouth a good rinse every now and then.

i agree with the others who said getting a waterpik is essential. though i have a portable one, i never take it to work with me so only use it morning and night at home.

kellyb wrote:my top tip is to always have a glass of water nearby to give your mouth a good rinse every now and then.

I just wanted to second this tip.
The braced do help me cut down on between meal snacks, though!

I'm 4 months in and i still hate eating. I was hoping it would have passed long ago, but no luck.

I have found that "soup in hand" is wonderful when I am feeling lazy and do not want to deal with the hassle of cleaning my braces.

I have just given up on certain foods; meats especially ie., steak, pork chops. Instead of fried chicken I bake it; Cornish hens; hamburgers slow broil. I get upset if its something I really want. I experiment with cooking now. There is 1 food I eat but drives me is RICE all in brackets, stuck in wires. But I gotta eat hate it or not.

xanidu2012 wrote:I have just given up on certain foods; meats especially ie., steak, pork chops. Instead of fried chicken I bake it; Cornish hens; hamburgers slow broil. I get upset if its something I really want. I experiment with cooking now. There is 1 food I eat but drives me is RICE all in brackets, stuck in wires. But I gotta eat hate it or not.

lol yes rice can be abit messy at times but at least it is white (well most of the time) and not that noticeable. it's the coloured stuff that are so obvious that gets to me. lettuce for me is the one which likes to wrap itself around wires etc