We know that it’s important to be careful with what you eat while you’re wearing braces so that you don’t damage them, and breakfast requires the same level of consideration as any other meal. So can you eat cereal with braces?

Australian’s Love Cereal

Cereal has been a staple of the Australian diet for years and as you can see below, the popularity of cereal in Australia has been steadily growing since 2007.

There’s no need to suddenly stop eating cereal just because you have braces so don’t worry.

But we do need to choose our foods carefully to make sure we’re keeping our teeth, and braces in good condition.

How can cereal impact our orthodontic treatment?

If you’re eating cereal which causes damage to your braces, then your braces won’t be working as effectively to correct the alignment of your teeth.

That means it’ll take longer for your teeth to move into the correct position, which means you’ll need braces for longer.

Cereals which are bad for braces

There are 2 main ways where cereal can cause problems for brace wearers which are very simple to identify.

1. The cereal which is either very chewy or crunchy and can bend wires or break the braces off the teeth inside of the mouth.
2. The cereal which is very high in sugar and causes tooth decay to the teeth during the orthodontic treatment, which can result in leaving white marks on teeth after removing braces.

So with that in mind here are some simple ways you can identify cereals to avoid in the morning.

Avoid cereals with added sugars

Cereals which contain high amounts or added sugar can cause rapid decay in teeth which in turn has an impact of the outcome of the orthodontic treatment.

Avoid cereals which are very crunchy or chewy

The more difficult your cereal is to chew, the more force is likely to be applied to the braces inside your mouth making them more likely to break. So stay away from things like granola!

If you do have crunchy breakfast cereal, then let it soak for longer in the milk before you eat it so that it softens up and is less likely to cause damage.

Keep in mind that there are many cereals which become very soft when they are mixed with milk which may be ok to eat.

However there some of these may still contain things like dried fruit, or nuts which will remain very hard and chewy no matter how long they soak for in the bowl.

Cereals which are safe for braces

The good news is that there are plenty of cereal choices out there which will be safe to enjoy if you’re wearing braces because they’re soft, and they’re also low in sugar.

Coincidentally they are also among the most popular cereals in the country!

1. Quick oats are a great cereal to use because they get very soft when soaked in milk or water, or even softer if you use them to make porridge! The plain variety also only has 1 gram of sugar per 100 grams!
2. Weet-bix are very low in sugar and get nice and soft when soaked in milk. They have 3.3 grams of sugar per 100 grams.
3. Corn flakes also get very soft when soaked and have only 8.1 grams of sugar per 100 grams.
4. Rice bubbles are extremely soft even when they haven’t been soaked and have 8.7 grams of sugar per 100 grams.

Conclusion

For many people cereal is consumed every single day as part of their regular diet, and there’s no reason that needs to stop if you’re wearing braces.

The important thing is to just be aware of what cereals could potentially cause damage and instead choose something that is satisfying and safe.

Did you bite down on some crunchy granola and now a wire is bent, or a bracket is broken? Make contact with your orthodontist so they can repair your braces and keep your orthodontic treatment on track!