Choosing the Right Foods When You Wear Braces or Another Dental Appliance
With braces, avoid hard, crunchy, chewy, and sticky foods that can damage wires and brackets. Choose soft foods, cut food into small pieces, and chew slowly. Brush after meals and floss daily. Drink water, limit sugary or staining drinks, and ask your orthodontist if you have questions.
When you have a dental appliance like braces, you'll need to avoid foods that are too hard, crunchy, chewy, or sticky. These foods can break the wires and brackets on braces and cause other damage. They can also get easily caught on braces and between teeth.
Instead, choose foods that are soft and easy to chew. And try to chew slowly when you eat. Also, brush after each meal and floss at least once a day. Talk to your orthodontist if you have questions.
How can you choose the right foods?
Stay away from foods that can damage dental appliances, including:
- Hard foods like hard candy, nuts, hard pretzels, and corn on the cob. And don't chew ice.
- Crunchy foods like popcorn, snack chips, and whole, raw vegetables and fruits.
- Chewy foods like bagels, hard rolls, crispy pizza crust, crusty bread, and tough cuts of meat.
- Sticky foods like gum, caramel, taffy, and other sticky candy.
Choose healthy, easy-to-chew foods, such as:
- Stews, casseroles, and pasta dishes.
- Refried beans, tofu, cottage cheese, hummus, and scrambled eggs.
- Soft-cooked fish and meat, like meatloaf and shredded chicken.
- Soft-cooked rice, noodles, tortillas, quinoa, and oats.
- Steamed or boiled vegetables and canned or cooked fruit.
Make foods easier to eat by:
- Slicing crunchy, raw fruits and vegetables like carrots and apples.
- Chopping tougher meat like ribs and chicken breast into bite-sized pieces.
- Removing corn from the cob before eating.
- Cutting pizza (with softer crust) and sandwiches into bite-size pieces.
If your mouth is sore, try foods that need little chewing, such as:
- Soup and mashed potatoes.
- Yogurt, pudding, and soft cheese.
- Applesauce and mashed bananas.
- Smoothies and ice cream.
Make other choices to help keep your teeth healthy, such as:
- Drinking water most of the time. Milk is also a good choice.
- Limiting beverages that can stain teeth, like coffee, tea, and red wine.
- Avoiding sugary drinks, like soda pop, energy drinks, juice, and punch.
- Limiting sugary foods, like cookies, cakes, candy, and other sweets.