Braces-Friendly Foods
Are Much Easier Than You Might Think
While you are wearing braces, please avoid eating hard foods, sticky foods and foods high in sugar. Hard foods can break or damage the wires and brackets, and sticky foods can get caught between the wires and brackets. Minimize the amount of sugary foods you eat; the sugar can cause tooth decay and other related problems. There are plenty of foods though that are safe for you to eat!
Also, we encourage patients to quit bad habits, such as fingernail biting, pencil and pen chewing and chewing on foreign objects. All of these activities can break or damage your braces.
It’s important to regularly check your braces for bent or loose wires and brackets. If you have a loose/broken wire or bracket, please call our office immediately to arrange a repair appointment. Below are lists of basic foods to avoid as well as foods that are safe to eat with braces.
Foods You Can Eat Safely
Dairy — Soft cheese, pudding, milk-based drinks
Breads — Soft tortillas, pancakes, muffins without nuts
Grains — Pasta, soft cooked rice
Meats/poultry — Soft cooked chicken, meatballs, lunch meats
Seafood — Tuna, salmon, crab cakes
Vegetables — Mashed potatoes, steamed spinach, beans
Fruits — Applesauce, bananas, sliced fruit, most berries (but watch out for seeds)
Treats — Ice cream without nuts, milkshakes, Jell-O, cake
Foods To Avoid
Ice — At least not if you chew on it
Potato Chips — Be really careful with these
Caramel — Sticky goo which pulls off brackets
Beef Jerky — Tough as nails, avoid
Hard Candy/Suckers — It’s easy to forget and bite down
Raw carrots — Try to avoid raw carrots
Apples — You can eat them, just cut them up first. Sorry, no caramel apples
Corn on the cob — Cut off the cob first before eating
