Eating!

[Mslewis1999]

It has been a week since I had my braces put on. Over the weekend I managed to eat a small slice of pizza but it made my stomach upset. Has anyone experienced this after only being able eat soft foods?

[Sunny]

I never ate soft foods after getting my braces, but I did after bowel surgery. I was on clear liquids for a few weeks and after that I had to build up to eating soft then harder foods very slowly - took about three months ... but it was after bowel surgery, so I suspect this was the main reason. Also I had to be very careful adding spices etc.

Maybe the slice of pizza was too spicy for your stomach, if you've been 'babying' it for a week. Get back to eating as you usually do, but for a few days don't add as much spice as you'd usually do. Hopefully this stomach upset had nothing to do with your eating the pizza, and all is going well now.

Great news that you're back to eating properly. Good luck with this continuing to improve.

[MsMichelle]

Yep, I have to say that I unfortunately did 'baby' my teeth. Sometimes after an adjustment yep I will say that I am still doing it now. I will say this, chew what you can but take it easy with harder to chew or digest foods. I was back to eating 'regular' foods within a few weeks, but still there was sporadic tooth pain so I just waxed it up and kept it going. It was by far the best NOT ON PURPOSE diet EVER!

[Denise]

This is funny because my sister got her braces 2 weeks after I got mine, and after our 'adjustment' period where we regained the ability to eat solids, she was very, very sick. She thought maybe she had gotten the flu, but felt fine other than nausea when she tried to eat normal foods again. We ate a lot of pasta, yogurt, soup, etc for the first 10 days of having our braces on. I wasn't sick at all but she swears it was from changing her eating habits due to the braces. Now after adjustments she can go right back to eating solids, but my teeth are too sensitive for about four days so I baby them, but I don't get sick when I go back to normal food. I'll bet it was from eating all those soft foods, then going back to a solid, and spicy, food that upset your tummy. Good luck!

[Mslewis1999]

Thanks everyone. I am starting to feel a lot better now and able to eat some stuff that I normally do but is just deesn't seem to taste the same. I also, have lost some weight which was much needed.

[Denise]

I lost quite a bit of weight in the beginning because of how restricted my diet was. Now though I have leveled off since learning how to eat almost all the same foods as i used to. The only thing that is still hard for me to eat is apples, carrots, and celery. My teeth are just not as strong as they were and it hurts too much to eat those foods, but otherwise I can eat just about all I used to. You're absolutely right about food not tasting the same! I noticed it too and I'm super excited to taste food for the 'first time' again! I have long forgotten how things actually taste.

[mariagn]

I'm actually going through that right now. My stomach always gets upset after I eat. I blame it on the braces, but who knows maybe it could be something else. I got my braces four weeks ago so hopefully everything gets better. Shouldn't I be better by now? My braces don't hurt...well sometimes when I try to bite down when I eat, but otherwise they are okay. I have this thing called "blue glue" (well that's what my dentist calls it) on my bottom last two molars. I think that when that comes off everything should be good for me.

[Sunny]

Hi and welcome mariagn!

Having braces should not cause your stomach to be upset, although if you're not chewing your food properly or eating a well balanced diet, these may be affecting your digestion.

The brackets do not touch your taste buds, so orthodontic treatment shouldn't affect the taste of food. What I've found talking to patients who express a change in taste, is that they're not chewing their food and therefore the flavour is not being experienced the way it should be. Usually as soon as they start chewing again, things quickly improve.

Mariagn it sounds like you have 'molar buildup' on your molars and this can make more challenging to chew food ... but nothing that practise won't help with. You're still very early in your orthodontic treatment, so here's to you feeling loads better with each passing day!

Good luck with your treatment!

[mariagn]

Thanks Sunny!

Yeah I can’t chew my food properly so I am pretty sure that’s what is causing my stomach to be upset. It looks like its getting better though, but I still can’t wait until my ortho removes this ‘molar buildup.’