Help... I want to snack

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#1 Post by **today** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 9:05 am

I'm brand new in brace and plan to follow the ortho's advises on oral hygiene as closely as possible. The only problem is that I have a habit of snacking alot and eat many small meals. Now with the rule of "brushing after anything you put in your mouth" I ended up eating all my food and snacks at once and struggle through the next couple hours just to give in and eat some more. I ended up brushing so much (I'm thinking ~7 times yesterday). Is there a solution for this? If I eat the sugar-free snacks (ex. jello, candies), do I need to brush right after? And to take it out another level, after some fruits or small snack? I don't think I can cut down so much on the snacks (I get really hungry in couple hours after a meal) and brushing so much is such an nuisance. Can you give me some advise on how to cope with this?

#2 Post by **sparkles** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 12:32 pm

Firstly I'd say try to avoid snacking on sugary foods...the reason you will be feeling hungry so often is because your blood sugar levels will be rising sharply and then crashing quickly.

You need to choose your snacks wisely...go for unrefined carbs such as wholemeal bread, brown rice, pasta, oat based foods, fruit, vegetables, etc. They will keep your blood sugar levels at a reasonable level during the day and you shouldn't need to snack more than say twice...midmorning and midafternoon if you are having decent meals at breakfast (most important meal of the day), lunch and dinner. I can't stress enough how important breakfast is! Get a good bowl of porridge and chopped fruits in you and you'll be set til lunch

I'm not saying not to snack as I appreciate some people graze throughout the day rather than have huge big meals 3 times a day but to choose foods wisely.

This in turn, will reduce your snacking times and therefore reduce the amount of times you have to brush your teeth!

There are some foods that stick in braces more easily than others, personal food stickers for me are bananas, soft bread and rice. You don't need to brush your teeth every single time you eat something, you can overbrush and do harm to your teeth in the long term if you are brushing 7+ times a day. Sometimes a good swill of water and a rinse is enough.

When I first got my braces, I think I brushed after main meals as well as morning and night. Now I only brush (extra to morning and night routine brushing) if things are stuck in my braces. But I have a more detailed routine brushing thing going on..I now not only just brush, I use interdental brushes and a toothpick every time and sometimes a mouthwash too. So my cleaning is more thorough.

hope that helps

#3 Post by **jaswi** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 11:10 pm

Don't worry about brushing after every single time you snack on a little something. Just get used to using lots of water to swish the crud out. I just try to make sure every single little particle is out of my mouth once a day.

Mon Aug 04, 2008 3:32 am

sometimes i just use the proxy brush after snacking to get the gunk out
and brush after a meal
i have really cut down on snacking too

#5 Post by **mary.** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 4:04 am

Brushing 7 times a day would be way too much for me too : )
I would just be concerned about getting any food "unstuck" from your braces. The water swirling works well. You could also just run a dry toothbrush over your teeth. Then, focus on brushing 3 or so times a day.