Skip to content

Can You Drink Coffee With Braces? (You Must Know This!)

  • 6 min read

Every person who has had braces has their fair share of horror stories. However, never having to abstain from coffee tops the list of horror because we all know how a good cup of coffee can turn a bad day into a good day. Can you drink coffee with braces? Everything explained!!!

Braces are part of the necessary evil you must endure before having a perfect smile that cheers people whenever you walk into a room. It is impossible to have a charming smile with crooked teeth, and braces rectify crooked teeth for children or adults. Braces are more efficient for kids than adults because their growth development is an advantage that enables teeth to adjust more easily.

Braces are challenging for adults because of two reasons. The first reason is that braces take longer to adjust your teeth when you are an adult. The second reason is that you should avoid sugary food or drinks. Most adults rely on coffee to get through the day, and coffee contains sugar. Can you drink coffee with braces? Everything explained!!!


Is Coffee Safe When Wearing Braces?

It is unwise to drink coffee with braces if it contains sugar and milk. Excess sugar intake is unhealthy for your teeth because it causes dental caries to develop, thus promoting tooth decay. Milk contains calcium that sticks to your teeth afterward, thus causing dental plaque. You can safely drink black coffee without sugar or milk to prevent damage to your teeth while wearing braces.


How to Determine What to Avoid While Wearing Braces?

How to know what to avoid while wearing braces

Knowing what to avoid while wearing braces preempts that you first understand the type of braces you have. The list of things to avoid while wearing braces may differ depending on the type of braces you are wearing. There are four main types of braces: ceramic, metal, lingual, self-ligating, and Invisalign.

Generally, the foodstuffs to avoid while wearing braces include chewy, crunchy, sticky, and hard foodstuffs because they can stick between your teeth and braces or damage the structural integrity of your braces. Coffee can fit in the sticky food category because it can leave sticky residue on your teeth.


How to Drink Coffee With Braces?

How to drink coffee with braces

Coffee is not a taboo if you have braces because you can tweak your coffee preferences. The two main things to avoid putting in your coffee while wearing braces include sugar and milk. You can use other sweeteners like Stevia or Splenda instead of sugar to keep your coffee tasty while preventing damage to your teeth.

However, you must avoid adding milk to your coffee or try to substitute the coffee flavoring with a timid flavor additive like Almonds or Fortified Soymilk.


Is It Safe to Drink Coffee Blends with Braces?

The coffee house industry is a billion-dollar industry with different coffee blends making their way into the market. Drinking coffee blends is a trend that is not showing signs of dying anytime soon. The most popular coffee blends include espresso, cappuccino, latte, mocha, Americano, and flat white.

However, most coffee blends contain a high amount of sugar and dairy products to enhance the taste of the coffee. Avoid drinking coffee blends because of the high amounts of sugar and milk. You can ask your coffee barista to formulate a coffee blend without sugar or milk to prevent damage to your teeth while wearing braces.


Can You Drink Coffee with Retainers?

Can you drink coffee with retainers

Retainers are similar to braces but are slightly different in structure and functionality. Braces, apart from Invisalign, are structurally permanent on your teeth, and you can’t remove them throughout your braces treatment. Retainers are structurally temporary because you can remove them and put them back on throughout your teeth treatment.

You can drink coffee with sugar and dairy products while on retainers. However, ensure you remove the retainers before drinking coffee and brush your teeth afterward before putting them back on to prevent damage to your teeth and retainers.


What Is the Best Coffee Blend When Wearing Braces?

The Americano is one of the safest coffee blends when wearing braces because it contains mainly espresso and water. However, there are different recipes for brewing Americano coffee. You should always look at the ingredients list in your Americano to ensure it doesn’t contain anything with excess sugar or milk.


What Are the Advantages of Drinking Coffee with Braces?

What are the advantages of drinking coffee with braces?

The above content mainly focuses on the disadvantages and effects of drinking coffee while wearing braces. We can’t just focus on the negative aspects of coffee while on a braces treatment without mentioning an upside.

One of the best advantages of drinking hot coffee while wearing metal braces is that it helps with debris removal stuck between your teeth and braces. Metal braces contain metal parts, and hot coffee causes the metal to expand, thus relieving the grip on your teeth to enable you to remove stuck food particles.


How Often Can You Drink Coffee When Wearing Braces?

How often you should drink coffee depends on how you take your coffee. You should limit your coffee limit to at least once a day if you take your coffee with sugar and milk. Drinking less coffee with sugar and dairy products decreases the chances of getting dental caries or dental plaque. You can drink as much coffee as you want, provided you remove sugary and dairy ingredients from your coffee.


Conclusion 

Changing your daily routine is challenging for any human because it requires dedication and perseverance to build/stick to a new habit. Drinking coffee is part of the daily routine for most adults because it helps kick-start your body functions. Few people can go cold turkey and quit drinking coffee while on their braces treatment.

However, you can still drink coffee while wearing braces if you can avoid sugar and milk in your coffee. You can substitute the sugar in your coffee with alternative sweaters like Stevia. You can switch from taking coffee with milk and using alternatives like vegetarian creamers, almond milk, or soy milk. It is also prudent to consult your dentist for professional advice regarding coffee damage while wearing braces.