Healthy Smile Pharmacy Has 8 Snacks to Get You Smart Snacking
Snacking and Aligner Treatment?
Beyond water, now snacking with aligners is all about:
Remember the days when you fancied a snack and could move straight to ‘go’?
Popping the trays out
Making sure they’re rinsed
Making sure they’re put somewhere safe
Having a snack
Realising the snack’s too hard for that one pre-molar
Swapping snack choice
Wishing you’d never bothered with a snack
Rinsing
Brushing – regular and interdental
Replacing aligners
Biting down on a chewie
Surely there’s an optimum way to maintain oral hygiene and snack during aligner treatment? There is. Let’s get you started.
Yes, in short, a bit of a rigmarole.
Smart snacks for aligner wearers are soft, easy to eat and easy to clean your teeth after
- Soft: Your teeth are sensitive to pressure during this time so opt for soft.
- Easy to eat: Modern life doesn’t afford us all the time in the world, and neither does the boss, so we need to smarten up on the way we snack with aligners. Preparation is sometimes key.
- Easy clean up: Some foods hide. Ever experienced popcorn kernels for days? Yup, not the best snack for oral hygiene during aligner treatment.
Once you’ve had the snack, make rinsing then brushing your habit
remember
While we do have a list of scrumptious snacks for you during aligner treatment, the key to all snacking is to rinse afterwards. All foods affect the acidity of your mouth and the key is to bring its natural PH back to levels that protect your teeth. Don’t be in a big rush to move straight to brushing after snacks - rinse first to wash some of the acids away. Then brush.
Here’s your post snack routine for aligner wearers:
enjoy your snack and commit to the follow up!
- Mouthwashing after snacks with VITIS Orthodontic Mouthwash is crucial, if you don’t have your mouthwash to hand, rinse with water
- After rinsing, brush your teeth
- Use your interdental brushes to winkle out those sneaky food particles
- Snacking away from home? Take an Aligner Travel Kit with you so you’ve got your tools to hand. Mini mouthwash? Check. Mini toothpaste? Yup. Access Toothbrush? You bet. Aligner retriever? Uh-huh. VITIS Effervescent Tablets? For sure. We’ve even squeezed in a timer, so you don’t sell your teeth short, and TePe Plaqsearch Tablets so the yellow stuff has nowhere to hide.
What can I eat when the aligner tray munchies strike?
Snack attacks in aligners never got so delicious, or premeditated ...
Aligner-friendly snack one:
Get fruity, preppy and chop chop!
We’re looking to keep the window for food acid attacks short. Having prepped a low sugar fruit salad of berries and grapes, we don’t want to take a leisurely holiday while eating it. It serves us well to eat it quickly and then rinse. Now brush.
Aligner-friendly snack two:
Protein means fuller for longer so fewer snack attacks
If you’re going for a snack to keep you fuller for longer, protein is a good choice. Dairy proteins such as yoghurt are filling. Full fat yoghurts also help keep you feeling fuller. Some yoghurts have additional protein: bonus!
Cheese cubes or handily packaged mini cheeses such as Babybel are a quick eat and pleasingly salty, so a good sub in for crisps. Smooth nut butters on soft bread feel like a treat, too.
(Now rinse and brush – your favourite routine!)
Aligner-friendly snack three:
Every day’s a soft & savoury picnic
It might sound like a 1970s buffet, or a body builder’s regime, but hard-boiled eggs are a really satisfying snack. Plus, they’re practically a multi-vitamin in a shell: bonus! Or, you can adopt the modern de rigeur of mashed avocado on soft toast to be bang on trend!
Aligner-friendly snack four:
Occasional lifesavers
It’s a cruel fact that stress makes us feel hungry. Research also suggests that when we’re stressed, our brains send out signals to take onboard carbs. No surprise, then, that, even in aligner treatment, there’ll be times when nothing but chocolate cuts it. A dark chocolate square melts easily and is less sticky than milk chocolate. However, you will need to guard against stains, and this article will help, but, essentially, rinsing and brushing are key.
Scotch pancakes might become a go-to life saver for ‘those times’ because they’re low crumb, soft and have that comforting mouth feel.
(Nothing chases pancakes better than rinsing and brushing when you’re in aligners. You know the drill.)
Aligner-friendly snack five:
Swap textures – go sweet and soft
Yoghurts and fromage frais won’t set off that row of teeth that are feeling somewhat sensitive. Vegan? Try dessert pots made with coconut milk. These sort of snacks are satisfying because they have that luxurious mouth feel with being creamy. Nom nom nom!
(Then rinse and brush – yes, we know it takes the edge off the fun, still ...)
Aligner-friendly snack six:
Crudites are cool
If you’re up to the pressure required to chew them raw, peppers, celery, cucumber and carrots suddenly become more interesting when crisps are off the menu. Try dips such as hummus, smooth peanut butter or treat yourself to a dip from the local deli. Sophistication has nothing on you!
(Do we need to say it? Rinse. Brush.)
Aligner-friendly snack seven:
Get cheesy with it
You’ve been craving cheese strings and now you have the perfect excuse to eat them. Crisps aren’t great when you’re undergoing aligner treatment because they risk your teeth (that soggy potato hides) but you can enjoy a similar saltiness in cheese. Parmesan shavings are a great alternative.
(Rinse. Brush.)
Aligner-friendly snack eight:
Smooth carbs
Remember, it’s all about adapting to the treatment. While it might have been a bag of kettle chips in the days before your aligners, now you’re looking for something altogether smoother. Surprise yourself by turning to a pasta pot as a savoury snack. But make sure you’re not risking staining from a tomato sauce – go blonder with creamy sauces.
(Guess what we’re going to say ...)
