Nutrition Bytes

Orthodontic appliances have been used for many years to treat malocclusions and poor jaw relationships, but their effects on the nutritive intake of the patient have not been extensively documented. This paper aims to consolidate the findings of three studies on the effects of appliances on nutrition by Riordan DJ, Shirazi et al., and Al Jawad et al. Based on a review of these studies, nutrition intake is altered as well as ability to consume the nutrients. Studies showed that copper, manganese, and lipid levels were decreased notably while total fat, cholesterol, saturated fat, monosaturated fat, polysaturated fat, linoleic fat, linolenic fat levels increased. The message conveyed through all three studies is that appliances will acutely alter the patient’s diet. This review of the current literature highlights several of the key nutritional changes once orthodontic appliances have been applied to patients.