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Since I was the not-so-lucky recipient of bite turbos last week and consequently have no teeth touching, thought I'd see who else out there is also dealing with not having the option to chew? I guess the upside is there isn't any pain! Ha.
Anyway, I'd love to hear how others are dealing with this, and any food ideas!
I'm currently living on soup, frozen curries (the best! delicious and the chicken cuts up into miniscule pieces very easily), and yogurt. Somewhere along the way I'll have to figure veggies out, so I don't die of scurvy!
Only 2 of my teeth touch at the back on my left side, so I'm kind of in the club. However, this is how my teeth have always been, so it's quite normal for me
If you start of with something quite bulky/thick that fills the gap between you teeth, you get somewhat of a head start. I can manage to chew on my right side (top picture), however not particularly well!
I can't really chew very well either. The worst thing though is biting. I can't bite anything. I have to break everything into teeny tiny pieces and then swallow them whole. It's amazing what you will try and eat when you are desperate.
Mash potato
Soup
Yoghurt
Jelly
Cottage cheese
Chocolate - melt half a square on the roof of your mouth! ( amazing!)
soft cake which i can break up and swallow
soft poached fish e.g salmon and cod
I have bought 3 large cartoons of Innocent Smoothie so I can make sure I actuallu eat some fruit.
Ive also just bought some spaghetti in tomato sauce which im going to try at some point - cut up really small of course!
I tried to eat a chip and got so desperate I ended up scraping the soft middle out of it just for the taste! haha...
I am in the club!!! I have bumpers on my two middle front teeth to keep my top braces from slamming into my bottom brackets when I close my mouth.
I have found it incredibly difficult to chew. When I first told my husband about it the very first day, he said, you'll figure it out (speaking of eating). I said, "no.... my teeth do not touch, my arches do not come together"! Well, turns out he was right. I still am not able to grind food between my upper and lower molars, but somehow I do eat! I have found that I mostly use one side of my mouth (don't really know why) and tend to use my cheek a lot to help. Oh, and Previous poster.... about that spaghetti! yes, be-careful to cut it up well. The first time I made and ate spaghetti with no bite was almost dangerous! I did not cut it up, and since I had no bite to chew the long strands in half, one half of a strand went down and the other half stayed up! (sorry if TMI). But it led to me almost choking!
I have learned to live with this, but I often find I just get tired of "chewing" and eating. I just cannot wait to have the smile of my dreams and be able to chew like a normal person some day!!
Good luck to us all in the no-teeth touching group!!!
Have you tried eating honey glazed carrots? You just take either some baby carrots, or cut carrots into coins, add a little water, and a little honey, salt and pepper, and microwave them covered for 5-7 minutes. Tasty and a veggie.
I'm noticing my elastics "push" my teeth into a position that my back teeth touch a little. But I'm still sore from the adjustment. I'm soooo hoping this is temporary. For the first time in my life, I don't have an underbite! It's amazing to see how my profile has changed, so I guess there is some trade off.
Thanks for all the great ideas guys, and it does help to know others are going through this as well!!! It's a bit frustrating I'm off to the grocery now!
I tried manicotti last night, filled with all soft stuff (spinach cut really small, cheeses), and it was great - had to take a bit of time to cut the pasta all up, but seemed to work well!
I'm so glad to see this posting! I just got my braces on 5 days ago, and I never once bargained for not being able to close my bite. When I bite down, the only place my teeth touch is where the one bumper is on the right side of my mouth. The teeth on the left side of my mouth do not touch at all!! How long will this last? I'm picturing the whole 18 months of liquid foods. Oh, the vanity...
I have a open bite like crazybeautiful's, except it's my two back teeth on the right that touch. Good times! I've been dealing with the not able to chew thing off and on for 20 years, so it's adaptable for sure.
It probably seems weird to not be able to chew or bite anything, but you'll adapt. I tend to stick to pasta, soups, and stuff I can cut up and/or break up with my tongue or that I can chew up well enough with my horrible bite. I'm pretty sure I straight up swallow a good portion of my food without chewing it at all, which probably isn't that healthy, but it seems to work out ok. I avoid uncooked hard fruits and veggies and most meats other than chicken because they're just more trouble than they're worth (and I don't like fish...blech).
The biggest problem with not being able to chew is that the easiest foods to eat will make you gain weight because they are either processed or starchy/sugary. I ended up doing the weight watchers points thing just so that I could be more careful about my lack of vegetable intake and it has definitely made me gain less this time around. I've gotten pretty good about chopping up green onions or whatever into swallowable pieces and spiking my soups and sandwiches for some vitamins.
Remember it's only temporary and should be over before you know it!
I have this problem as well. I've found that eating soups, ensure, carnation instant breakfast, pasta, yogurt and applesauce are just easier. I've lost some weight from my month in braces with no bite. And eating these foods make it much easier to keep the braces clean during the day!
I think the main thing though, is to always attempt to eat the things you would like to. Some things I simply can't eat, but most things, I do manage. Like cvn, I can't chew things as much as you really should, but in my current situation that's the only way I can eat, so I can't change that.
If you honestly cannot eat things that aren't soft, then ok, but the more you try to, the more you will get used to it. I'm saving a soft-food or liquid diet for when I really can't escape it- when I have my surgery!
I had these blue buildups at the beginning of my treatment, I really thought I would'nt adapt and that eating with them was simply impossible. I was wrong. I don't know how but somehow you manage eating and (sort-of) chewing with them. With few exceptions (salad was impossible those first months) you'll be eating normally, even if none of your teeth touch!
