Teen Inspiration Dental Appliance

Having a teen with dental issues can be daunting at times, inspirational most all of the time. My teen has been wearing braces with appliances for over a year. This post is about what we’ve faced during this time.

One of the first things the dental office tells you to do is to give your child ibuprofen if they develop a fever due to the braces. What they do Not tell you is when your child has braces with an appliance and the child’s mouth cannot close all the way due to said appliance is that you should give your child Liquid ibuprofen. Child choked on the ibuprofen because it got stuck in the appliance. This is quite frightening and life endangering.  Now as that has been said, I can carry on with the point of this post.

A child who has braces with appliances and their mouth cannot close can also not chew. Solid foods are out of bounds. The diet must consist of liquids – if it fits through a straw, has no chunks, doesn’t have to be chewed, then she can have it. This makes for careful meal planning. Easy out foods would be mashed potatoes, applesauce and pudding. The nutritional values of those three items are not all that much and grow very weary for your teen if that is what they are being offered constantly. Smoothies and juicing are much better options on how to get your child the nutrition she needs. Sure, you can purchase premade meal replacement shakes, but some of the premades have ingredients that are not that healthy. If you are running out the door to theater rehearsal and don’t have time to make a proper smoothie or juice, then the premades come in handy.

Make your own smoothies and juices. The variety of fruit and vegetables available, the nutritional value they provide – vitamins, minerals, protein, etc., and the combinations you come up with, all give a freshness to each meal that your child may be happy with and you the certainty that your child has her nutrients vital to her health.

For smoothies, you can add protein powder such as pea protein to the mix for an extra boost. For juicing, you can add powdered supplements after you’ve made the juice. These are the four that we use.

Having no choice in the manner of how she eats can be frustrating. Trying to explain to family, friends, and curious on-lookers can also be frustrating. I’ve even heard ‘so she chooses not to eat’ – which really upset me. Her mouth cannot close so she can chew – it is physically impossible. If you know someone who has this issue, be kind and thoughtful. When it’s your turn to bring snack to rehearsals or practices, don’t just keep in mind those who have peanut allergies, gluten intolerance, milk allergies, or whatever their body cannot have. Be mindful of those who have dental issues because it, just like the others, is also a real issue. Plus how it makes the child feel when you don’t remember, well, that’s just rude. As a parent, you also try to eat healthier and “with” your child, not “against” your child. You’ll both be happier and it will make braces with appliances a “normal” thing, not something which must be fought or embarrassed by.

This is my Day 6 of 31 Days of Juicing. It is part of the #write31days challenge. To read all the posts, come back to the first page where I’ll link up after I’ve posted.