Braces and Food

Traditional orthodontic braces are a significant investment, both financially and physically. Take care of your braces and teeth through regular cleaning and by keeping a close eye on what you are putting in your mouth! Avoid certain food and drink while wearing braces to limit your number of emergency repair visits to your orthodontist and keep you on track to a healthier smile. For information about invisible braces, you can read more here.

Braces are very fragile and can be easily damaged by chewing hard foods. Whether it's crunching on ice from a drink, chewing hard candy or even eating chips or hard bread like bagels or crunchy pizza crust, you are in great danger of breaking off or dislodging a bracket. Watch out for healthy snacks too, as eating whole apples and munching on carrot sticks can be damaging to the braces even though they are wonderful for your teeth.

When wearing braces, avoid gummy and sticky foods altogether. Bubble gum, gummy bears, taffy or caramels - there is just no way to eat these foods and keep your braces and teeth healthy. Candies like lollipops and candy canes also pose a threat as you might be tempted to bite them and loosen your brackets in the process. Look for alternative healthy sweet snacks, like bananas, halved grapes and fruit smoothies to replace favorite unhealthy and unfriendly munchies.

For people wearing braces, many 'forbidden foods' can be fixed by chopping or pureeing them. Food is safe once pureed in most cases, so a little culinary creativity can go a long way toward satisfying a craving while keeping your braces intact. Eating corn on the cob, chicken wings or ribs also pose a danger to your braces, as food particles get caught in your braces and the small bits left from corn and ribs are very difficult to remove entirely. That leads to leftover food particles which cause bad breath and discomfort. Try cutting off the corn kernels and removing meat from the bone to eat these foods more safely.

Don't forget to avoid any potential tooth-staining liquids too. Drinking coffee, red wine or sodas while wearing braces might cause unattractive staining when your braces come off. Maintain a rigorous tooth brushing schedule and invest in a water pick to help remove any extra food particles and plaque from your child's teeth and braces. Once braces are removed, there are different teeth whitening procedures that can help if there has been any staining or uneven coloration.