Are you a pizza lover with braces? If so, you might wonder if enjoying your favorite foods is possible without damaging your traditional metal braces. The good news is that there are ways to enjoy pizza while keeping the orthodontic gear on your straightened teeth safe and sound. This blog post will discuss how to properly eat pizza when wearing braces so you can chow down without any worries.
Can You Eat Pizza With Braces?
It depends on the type of braces you have. Generally speaking, eating pizza with traditional metal braces is not advisable, as the hard crust can easily damage the hardware. Soft-crust pizza with cheese and toppings that don’t require much chewing is usually safe for those with braces. Additionally, cutting up the pizza into smaller pieces and avoiding tough toppings such as pepperoni or sausage helps reduce the risk of damaging brackets and wires.
What is Pizza?
Pizza originated in Italy and was first made over two thousand years ago! The traditional Italian pizza consists of a thin, round, and soft crusts topped with tomato sauce, cheese, and other ingredients like vegetables or meats. Today, pizzas come in all shapes and sizes—from deep dish to flatbread—and almost anything can be used for toppings!
How Is Pizza Made?
Making a genuinely delicious pizza requires skill and patience. First, you must complete the dough using flour, yeast, salt, oil, and water. Once the dough has been kneaded together correctly and allowed to rise for several hours (or even days!), it needs to be stretched out into a thin disc shape before being baked at high temperatures.
The topping ingredients are added before baking until everything is cooked through. Finally, the pizza is cut into slices and served hot.
Is It Possible for Pizza to Warp and Crack Braces?
Can you eat pizza with braces? Eating pizza with braces can cause some severe damage. The thin crust and gooey cheese of a pizza can get stuck between the wires and brackets of the braces, which can cause them to bend out of shape or even break if they are not removed quickly. While this doesn’t sound like a major issue, it can lead to further complications such as longer treatment times or difficulty chewing food.
What About Pizza Sauce?
Due to their acidic nature, tomato-based sauces like marinara or pesto can be tough on brackets and wires. This acidity could weaken your orthodontic treatment over time and cause damage. Opt for lighter sauces such as olive oil or white sauce instead of red-based sauces to avoid this issue. Additionally, adding fresh vegetables like tomatoes to your meal should be avoided as they may also contain high acidity.
How to Eat Pizza With Braces?
Can you eat pizza with braces? Here are a few tips for pizza lovers who want to ensure they eat safely with braces.
Choosing the Right Crust
The first step is selecting a crust that won’t damage your braces. Avoid thick crusts and opt for thin crusts instead. A thin crust will help reduce the time needed to chew the pizza, which is important when you have braces on as it prevents food particles from getting stuck in them and causing potential damage or risk of infection.
Additionally, try to go for a softer crust, such as focaccia, over a crunchy one like Roman-style or Neapolitan-style pizzas. Soft pizzas are easier to eat and chew than hard ones and don’t require as much effort when biting down.
Selecting Toppings Carefully
When it comes to pizza toppings, choose softer toppings and easy ingredients to chew without any risk of breaking or damaging your braces and wires. Cheesy options like mozzarella, ricotta cheese, feta cheese, and cottage cheese all work great because they melt quickly in your mouth without putting too much pressure on your teeth or brackets.
Hard and chewy foods should be avoided, such as onions or jalapeños, because they can cause serious damage when biting down on them with braces. Also, avoid crunchy items such as peppers or pepperoni because these tend to get stuck between the brackets and wires more easily than other pizza toppings.
Go Easy on Sauces
When it comes to sauces, try to keep the pizza manageable, as this can make chewing difficult due to their thickness varying from one sauce type to another. Instead, stick with either tomato sauce or pesto sauce if possible. These two sauces are usually easier on braces since they tend not to be overly thick or heavy compared with other options like barbecue sauce or garlic butter sauce (which should be avoided altogether).
Also, check for sugar content in sauces; high sugar levels may lead to cavities even if you have good oral hygiene habits.
Best Pizzas to Eat with Braces
Thin Crust Pizza
Thin-crust pizza is an excellent option for people with braces because it is soft and easy to bite into. This type of pizza also has fewer chewy toppings than other types of pizza, so there’s less risk of getting something stuck in your braces or damaging them. If you’re looking for a thin-crust pizza, try a classic Margherita or Neapolitan style. These pizzas have simple ingredients like tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and fresh basil, which are soft and easy to chew.
Cheese Pizza
If you are looking for the ultimate comfort food while wearing braces, look no further than cheese pizza! Cheese pizzas are usually made with a thicker crust than thin-crust pizzas, but they are still soft enough that they won’t damage your braces or get stuck in them. Plus, cheese is also very smooth and easy to chew – making it an ideal choice for people with braces who want to indulge in their love of pizza.
Veggie Pizza
Another great option for people to eat pizza with braces is veggie pizza. Veggie pizzas are typically made with various raw vegetables like mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, and olives – all of which are soft enough to eat in small bites without damaging your braces or getting stuck. In addition, veggies provide plenty of nutrients and fiber – so you can feel good about indulging in this delicious treat.
Worst Pizza to Eat with Braces
Deep Dish Pizza
The deep dish pizza is a classic Chicago-style pie that is popular around the world. Unfortunately, this type of pizza has a thick crust that sometimes stands as high as two inches, making it especially difficult to eat without damaging your traditional metal braces. In addition, the doughy and crunchy texture makes it difficult to chew without risking damage or loosening wires and can even cause tooth decay. For this reason, you should avoid deep-dish pizza if you’re wearing braces.
Stuffed Crust Pizza
Stuffed crust pizzas are even more challenging for those who have braces because they are typically filled with sticky or hard cheese or other ingredients that can stick between brackets and wires, causing damage and increasing your risk of cavities. Additionally, many people find them tricky to cut into slices due to their extra-thick and hard bread crusts. Therefore, it’s best to steer clear of stuffed pizza crusts while wearing orthodontic appliances such as brackets and retainers.
Pepperoni Pizza
The last type of pizza you should avoid while wearing braces is pepperoni pizza—or any other variety topped with large chunks of meat or hard vegetables like mushrooms or onions, for that matter! Due to their size and texture, these toppings can get stuck within brackets and wires and be hard to remove. Plus, they can cause discomfort that may last long after the meal ends! So, in general, it’s best to opt for plainer pizzas with small portions of toppings when eating with braces.
Advice on Cooking and Preparing Food for Braces
Modify Your Recipes
There are lots of ways to modify recipes so that they’re better suited for people with braces. For starters, try cutting food into small pieces. This way, you can avoid biting down too hard and risk injury to your brackets or wires. For example, cut sandwiches, apples, carrots, and more into thin slices for easier eating. You can also soften tougher foods like steaks by pounding them with a meat mallet or marinating them in vinegar or citrus juice overnight before cooking.
Choose Soft Foods
When you doubt whether something is safe for your braces, stick with softer foods such as pasta, mashed potatoes, eggs, fish (or cooked fish), yogurt, and soft fruits like bananas and peaches. These items won’t require as much chewing – which is great news if you just got your braces tightened! Soft foods will also reduce the risk of damaging any wires or brackets on your teeth when you eat them.
Avoid Tough Foods
Avoid tough foods like popcorn kernels and nuts, which can get stuck in the brackets of your braces, and pull off the wire running through them. Likewise, it’s best to steer clear of sticky foods like candy or even hard candy which can easily get caught in the brackets and cause damage, and sugary drinks like soda which can erode tooth enamel over time. However, all these types of food should be avoided regardless of whether or not you have braces.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, can you eat pizza with braces? Eating pizza with braces is possible – you need to know which pizza is better for people wearing orthodontic appliances. Soft crust pizza and cheese pizzas are ideal as they have softer ingredients that won’t damage your braces or get stuck in them. However, it’s important to avoid deep-dish, stuffed or tougher crust, pepperoni pizzas – or any other pizza with large toppings like vegetables or meats. Look for braces friendly foods instead.
Additionally, it’s important to consider how you prepare your food when wearing braces – cutting foods into small pieces can help make them easier to eat without damaging your braces. With some knowledge and preparation, you can still enjoy pizza even if you have braces.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can pizza break your bracket?
Braces and pizza can be shaky, so it’s best to look for pizzerias with softer crusts if you want to keep your brackets in check. Eating thick or burnt pieces may put them at risk.
What happens if I eat pizza crust with braces?
Eating pizza with braces can be challenging, as the crunchy crust may cause issues. It is important to avoid biting into that delicious – yet potentially dangerous – layer of crispy dough if you are wearing orthodontic appliances. Doing so could lead to bent wires, loose brackets, and food particles getting stranded in those hard-to-reach areas.
Can you eat pizza and burgers with braces?
Enjoying a delicious pizza with braces doesn’t have to be off-limits! Just remember that when deciding on your order, soft crust pizza and easily chewable toppings are the way to go. Forcing yourself through tough or thin-crust pizzas could lead to potential damage to those precious metal bands.
How long after braces can I eat normally?
After a few days of adjustment, braces become second nature, and you’ll be ready to explore tasty treats again! In no time, just two weeks with your braces – everyday foods will feel like old friends.
