If you’re wearing braces, you’ve probably heard that there are foods you need to avoid with braces. You also have lots of great foods to enjoy with braces! Can you eat popcorn with braces? Can you chew gum with braces? What drinks should you avoid with braces?
The Ohana Orthodontics team has heard questions on all kinds of foods and drinks with orthodontic treatment. We’re happy to answer your questions, but it’s better to have a list you can revisit, right? Let’s explore the best foods to eat with braces, the foods to avoid with braces, and what foods you can eat with a little bit of caution to keep from damaging your wires and brackets.
What Can You Eat the First Week With Braces?
Braces use gentle pressure to move your teeth to the correct positions. They straighten your teeth, fix your bite, and create a beautiful smile.
Your teeth might be a little sore the first week with braces. That’s perfectly normal, but it can make eating the first week with braces a challenge. We recommend sticking to soft foods for the first few days at least.
Soft foods such as mashed potatoes, hot oatmeal, cottage cheese, soup, ice cream, and protein shakes will be easier on your mouth as your teeth get used to being moved by your braces. The soreness should disappear after a few days. You can eat normal foods after that.
What Foods Can You Eat With Braces?
What can you eat with braces? Contrary to what you may have heard, you have many great options! Most meats, dairy products, and cooked vegetables are fine to eat with braces. Some breads and candies are OK to eat with braces, too.
Let’s look at some of the foods to enjoy with braces.
- Meats: thin-sliced deli meats, chicken, hot dogs, bologna, roasted turkey, seafood such as crab, lobster, shrimp
- Dairy: Shredded or grated cheeses, soft cheeses including cream cheese, butter, cottage cheese, milk, yogurt, protein smoothies and milk drinks
- Fruits: Applesauce, diced fruit snacks, fruit juices, gelatin fruit snacks, bananas, seedless grapes, oranges and other citrus fruits
- Bread and grains: Soft breads, soft-cooked rice, cooked quinoa, tortillas, muffins, cinnamon rolls, soft pastries
- Desserts: Milkshakes, ice cream, soft cookies, cake, cheesecake, pudding, pies (no nuts), soft cookie cakes
- Candies: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, plain M&Ms, Reese’s Pieces, chocolate bars, Hershey’s Kisses, 3 Musketeers, peppermint patties, marshmallows
What Foods Can You Eat With Caution With Braces?
Some foods can be a little tricky with braces. It may take a bit of adjustment to eat them properly without damaging your braces.
This can include tougher meats like steak or pork chops. It can also include things like certain fruits and vegetables.
Here are some foods to eat cautiously and how best to eat them.
- Meats (non-poultry): Cut meats like steak and pork into small bites. Pull rib meat from the bone rather than eating it off the bone.
- Vegetables: Eat corn that has already been removed from the cob. Never eat corn on the cob because it can damage your braces brackets. Don’t eat hard raw vegetables, such as carrots or broccoli. Instead, cook them until they’re tender, then enjoy!
- Pizza: Hard thin-crust or chewy hand-tossed pizza crust can damage your braces. Stick with the softer deep dish or avoid eating the crust. Opt for the “pizza bowls” many places now offer. Toss the “pizza bones.”
- Fruits: Fruits that require a front bite, such as apples and pears, can damage your braces. Cut them into small bites or enjoy them as applesauce or pear sauce. Strawberries are OK to eat, but watch the small seeds on the exterior. They could get stuck in your brackets.
- Desserts: Enjoy the ice cream, ditch the ice cream cone. Hard popsicles and frozen ice treats should also be avoided, but Sherbert in a cup is fine. A good ice cream sandwich is OK.
What Foods Can’t I Eat in Braces?
You have many options for foods to eat with braces, but there are foods you need to avoid. These foods can break wires and pop off brackets. They can also get stuck in and around your brackets, increasing your chances of tooth decay.
Remember this: It’s only temporary! Once your braces are off, you can go back to enjoying these foods. It will be worth ditching these foods for a while when you see that gorgeous new smile several months from now!
Here are the foods to avoid with braces.
- Hard foods: Nuts, raw grains, sunflower and other seeds, candy-coated seeds, ice, hard breadsticks, hard crackers, including wheat crackers, thin pizza crust, hard cheeses (whole)
- Chewy foods: Bagels, jerky, hand-tossed pizza crust, baguettes
- Crunchy foods: Tortilla chips, hard taco shells, popcorn, Parmesan crackers, regular crackers
- Sticky foods: Gum, granola bars, protein bars, pastries with jelly centers, cereal bars
- Candies: Tootsie rolls, taffy, caramel, Peanut or Pretzel M&Ms, candy bars with nuts (Snickers, Almond Joy, Payday), hard candy bars (Butterfinger), hard candies, gummy candies, licorice
Are There Drinks to Avoid With Braces?
Water is great to drink with braces! Most tap water has fluoride, which keeps your teeth strong and healthy. Water is a building block of your overall health, so we encourage you to drink lots of plain water!
Flavored water needs more caution. Many flavored waters and sports drinks have added colors and sugars, which can stain clear braces and increase the chances of tooth decay. Clear flavored water is best.
Avoid coffee, tea, wine, and sodas, which can stain clear braces over time. Rinse your mouth after drinking any of these to reduce the chances of staining your braces and teeth. Naturally, you want to brush your teeth at least twice a day and floss at least once daily.
Braces Treatment in Canby, OR
Food restrictions are a part of your braces treatment, but they’re temporary. You can go back to eating the “no-no” foods once your braces are off. However, you may not miss those foods, as many are considered “junk foods” that aren’t as healthy for you as the allowed foods.
Ohana Orthodontics is here if you have questions about what foods to eat with braces. We’re also here if you happen to eat the wrong thing and accidentally damage your braces. Just give us a call or schedule an appointment in the Canby, OR, region, and we can take care of you!
