Foods To Avoid With Braces – What Can You Eat? (Full List)

Your decision to get orthodontic braces has just been made. The dream of having perfectly aligned teeth and that coveted smile is one step closer to becoming a reality.

Perhaps you should pause and rethink your diet in the midst of all the excitement. Do you need to completely avoid hard foods? What about your favorite taffy? What kind of diet do you follow?

Check out this article if you’ve been considering your food options. In this article, we’ll tell you what foods to avoid with braces and what you can eat without worrying.

Braces and Food

You can significantly improve the appearance of your teeth with braces. Nevertheless, it’s a lengthy process. There is a significant investment of time and money involved which can last for several weeks to several years.

Braces have brackets and wires, and their nooks and crannies are perfect places for food to accumulate. Unmindful eating can lead to wire breakage or tooth problems like cavities. As a result, it is important to consider your options when it comes to food and how they will affect your braces.

The first few days of wearing braces are the most difficult. As a result of the extra pressure on your teeth, you may feel soreness or inflammation around your gums and teeth. It may also be painful to chew hard foods.

For the first few days, your orthodontist will recommend eating foods that are easy to chew.

What Foods Can You Eat With Braces?

Foods that are ideal to eat during your treatment include:

Soft Fruits: Having braces makes it easier to eat soft fruits like bananas, avocados, melon, currants, oranges, and berries like raspberry, strawberry, and blueberry. Fruits such as apples, guavas, and pears should be avoided. If you must eat them, cut them into bite-sized pieces. Fruits pitted like cherries, olives, or plums should be avoided..

Vegetables: Whenever possible, cook vegetables, including leafy greens, before eating them. Juicing them may be a good option if you love eating them raw. Maintaining good health is as easy as eating steamed or stir-fried vegetables packed with vitamins and minerals.

Grains: You can choose from a variety of grains, including cooked rice, oatmeal, soft breads, pasta, oatmeal, pancakes, and waffles. There are a variety of delicious sources of carbohydrates that are nutritious, healthy, and comforting.

Soups: Soups are a great option for eating with braces. Then add cooked legumes, lentils, or seafood, and you’ve got a hearty dish.

Proteins: You can consume protein without harming your braces by eating eggs, boneless meat cuts, fish, tofu, and tempeh.

Dairy: The calcium and vitamin D in milk, yogurt, and soft cheese are ideal while wearing braces.

Liquids: These include milk, fruit juices, cold drinks, and smoothies.

Others: You may also enjoy mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes, popcorn without the hull, meatloaf, casseroles, muffins without nuts, and other moist desserts.

 

What Foods Are You Not Allowed To Eat With Braces?

Foods that require biting into, such as corn on the cob, apples, carrots, burgers, or eating meat off the bone, should be avoided if you have braces.

Avoid these foods to prevent damage to your braces or cavities.

Hard Foods: A big no-no is hard foods such as hard rolls, nuts, and hard candies. They are bad for your teeth because of the sugar they contain. The wires on your braces can become loose when you chew hard food, which delays the treatment.

Chewy Foods: Gum, gummies, jerky, steak, licorice, chewy breads like bagels, pizza crust is tough and can get caught on brackets.

Crunchy Foods: Eating crunchy foods can warp or loosen the wires. It is possible for the brackets to come undone. In general, crunchy foods such as nuts, popcorn, chips, croutons, ice (ice in cold drinks is fine), pretzels, nuts, and fibrous vegetables such as celery, raw broccoli, and carrots should be avoided. By getting stuck inside your braces, crunchy foods hinder your braces’ effectiveness.

Sticky Foods: Chocolate bars, caramel candies, toffees, and other sweet treats should be avoided.

Sugary Beverages: Drinks with sugar, such as soda, processed juice, and sports drinks, should be limited. Plaque formation on the teeth is promoted by these drinks, resulting in cavities. In addition, minimize coffee, tea, and beet juice since they can stain your braces’ ligatures.

Helpful Tips

The following should be kept in mind if you must eat some of the foods on the “to be avoided” list:

• Cut food into bite-sized pieces rather than biting straight into it with your front teeth
• Chew hard foods with your back teeth
• Avoid chewing on objects like pencil tips, pens and paper clips. They will damage not only your braces but also your teeth

Conclusion

Financial and time investments are required for orthodontic treatment. The best way to maintain your oral health is to take care of it from the inside out. The importance of eating a healthy and balanced diet cannot be overstated. Eventually, this will be reflected in your orthodontic treatment.

Foods To Avoid With Braces – What Can You Eat? (Full List)