Sushi, maki, sashimi, nigiri, and all variations of the specialist Japanese cuisine are popular around the world. It can be had as a quick lunch or an indulgent meal. But can you eat sushi with braces and keep your teeth healthy?
Can You Eat Sushi With Braces?
Yes, you can eat sushi with braces. In fact, sushi in all of its forms makes for really good braces food. It’s typically soft, not very chewy or sticky, not staining, and comes in small bite-sized pieces. In fact, it basically avoids every checkpoint on our list of food to avoid with braces.
All of your favorites like the California roll, Spicy Tuna Roll, Spider Roll, and Rainbow roll all go perfectly with braces. However, there are a few problems you can encounter while trying to eat sushi with braces. Read our top tips: –
How To Eat Sushi With Braces
Eating Sushi With Braces Tip #1
Firstly we’d recommend asking for a knife and fork and cutting the sushi into smaller pieces. This makes it easier to place at the back of your mouth and chew – without having to use your more sensitive front and middle teeth for cutting.
Luckily that normally means just cutting one bit of sushi into two. Most sushi restaurants these days don’t see using a knife and fork as bad manners, plus you’ll have a very good reason to use them. Any good sushi restaurant will have some available.
Eating Sushi With Braces Tip #2
Bring a brush or interdental brushes, or a water flosser to get the small pieces of food out of your teeth and braces after eating. The only real problem with eating sushi is that rice and seaweed pieces are prone to getting stuff into small gaps in your teeth and braces.
Water flossers like this Waterpik Cordless Advanced are brilliant as a portable flossing system. Their best use for people with braces is actually for dislodging stuck food fast. If you don’t have a flosser then a couple of different sizes of interdental brushes and a regular toothbrush will do the same with a little more effort.
As always, try and brush and floss your teeth properly thirty minutes after eating. You should be doing this after every meal as well as first thing in the morning and last thing at night with braces.
Eating Sushi With Braces Tip #3
Use soy sauce or other sauces to break down the sushi and make it a little softer to eat. Dense food that requires a lot of chewing can be painful to eat while wearing braces. So along with cutting up your food, try using the soy sauce to help soften it up further.
Can You Eat Sashimi With Braces?
Sashimi is raw slices of raw fish or meat that are served commonly in sushi-style restaurants. You can eat sashimi with braces but avoid very chewy meats and fish, as well as big pieces. Cut them into smaller bites and chew using the back of your mouth after you savor the taste with your tongue.
You should also use soy sauce left for a few seconds on the slices to break down the texture a little.
Can You Eat Nigiri With Braces?
Nigiri is the thin slices of fish like sashimi, but this time paired with rice. Again these are totally fine to eat with braces but you should avoid large pieces that need a lot of chewing.
Can You Eat Maki, Temaki, and Urumaki With Braces?
Maki is the classic image of sushi. A couple of different ingredients that are normally fish and veg in the middle of a rice roll, covered in a seaweed wrap. This neat and easy-to-eat package is normally eaten in just one. Urumaki is the “inside-out” version of Maki, with Rice on the outside and seaweed wrapped around the central food. It’s also fine with braces.
Temaki are the looser, less perfect roll that looks almost like mini burritos. You can also eat these with braces but they’re probably the hardest to eat. Instead of being able to pick them up and bite into them with your front teeth, you’ll need to cut them up.
This also goes for sushi burritos which are becoming their own thing. Best stick to classic sushi as having to cut them up defeats the point of having sushi in a more hand-held biteable version.
Also read – Can You Eat Burritos With Braces?
Can You Eat Soy Sauce, Ginger, Miso Soup With Braces?
These are all totally fine extras to eat with braces. The soy sauce helps soften the sushi. Miso soup is a nutritious starter or side that goes down with no problem. Ginger as a small side shouldn’t cause any issues with braces either.
Noodles as a side dish are common in Japanese meals, take a look at Can You Eat Noodles With Braces?
Can You Drink Sake With Braces?
Yes, you can drink sake while wearing braces, though make sure you brush your teeth 30 minutes after, even if you drink it without food. Alcohol is sugary and too much sugar left alone on teeth can cause cavities and yellow teeth even if you brush every day – especially with braces.
Can You Eat Wasabi With Braces?
Yes! If you’re a fan of the unique Japanese horseradish that comes as a side to many sushi dishes then go ahead. You can definitely eat wasabi with braces if you’re brave enough to add the tangy green paste to your sushi.
