What You Can and Can’t Eat With Braces
Eating with braces doesn’t have to be boring. If you’ve been breaking brackets you may need to make some adjustments, but there is a wide variety of braces-friendly foods that are readily available and easily prepared! You can learn more below. Matza Orthodontics has decades of experience, and we will provide the dental care you and your family deserve.
Making the Best Food Choices While You Wear Braces
Do you know what you can and can’t eat with braces? Having braces doesn’t mean that you will be living on pureed, bland foods during your treatment. Knowing what foods you can and can’t eat with your braces will help you achieve the optimum results after your orthodontic treatment has been completed.
Preventing damage to the archwires, bands, and brackets as well as keeping your teeth free from tooth decay during your treatment should be your number one concern. Use this list to take the guesswork out, and keep your food choices enjoyable and tasty.
Enjoy
- Soft fruit
- Cooked vegetables
- Soft cooked grains, soft crusted bread
- Milk and yogurt
- Lean, tender meat, tofu
- Smooth nut spreads
- Eating a variety of foods
Use Caution
- Hard fruit
- Hard raw vegetables
- Unground whole grains, hard crusted bread
- Meat from the bone
- Whole or chunky nuts and seeds
- Candy
Fruits
Fruit is an essential part of a healthy diet. It is recommended that children eat 1 to 2 cups of fruit daily.2 Even though fruit is a great choice for your health, how you choose to eat it is a challenge when you have braces.
Hard fruit, like an apple, for example, can be very difficult to bite into, because of the brackets that are on the teeth. Unripe pears and peaches pose the same problem. Cut hard fruits into bite-sized pieces so that they can be chewed with the back teeth.
Soft fruits are easily bitten into for braces wearers, but when teeth are tender, especially after a wire change, even the softest fruit can be a nightmare. Choose fruit such as blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries for days when your teeth are tender.
Vegetables
Vegetables provide vitamins and minerals that are essential for growing bodies. Children should consume 1 to 2 cups of vegetables daily.2 Like fruit, vegetables need to be prepared slightly differently for people who wear braces.
Hard, raw vegetables, such as carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli are tough to bite into with braces and may even pop a bracket off the tooth. When preparing raw vegetables, cut them into bite-sized pieces that can be easily chewed with the back teeth.
Most vegetables may be enjoyed cooked, which is a braces wearer’s dream because cooking automatically softens the food. If you are having a problem eating your favorite vegetable raw, try steaming it until it’s tender, or boil it until it’s soft.
Grains
Grains provide fiber, iron, and many other nutrients that you require. Whole grain products provide the optimum nutritional value for your buck.
Grains are generally an easy food group for braces wearers because most grain products are very soft and easily chewed. However, there are a few grain products braces wearers should be cautious of.
Eating hard-crusted bread, such as a bagel, is difficult for someone with braces because it is very hard to bite into. Soften bread by warming it or break it into bite-sized pieces.
Unground whole grains are also a challenge because they become stuck in between the braces, attachments, and even the teeth, which makes them very hard to remove. Avoid small seeds and grains.
Dairy
Strong bones and teeth rely on a diet that is rich in calcium. Dairy products provide us with calcium, vitamin D, potassium, even protein.2 Dairy products are an excellent choice for braces wearers because most dairy products are soft and require very little chewing.
Select from a variety of dairy products, such as low-fat milk, low-fat cheese, and low-fat yogurt.1 If you are lactose intolerant, soy-based dairy products are a great dairy alternative that is also generally soft and easily consumed with braces.
When eating soft cheese, you may find that it becomes stuck between the braces and wires. Try to prepare bite-sized pieces of cheese, or purchase a cheese string product that is easily peeled apart.
Meat
Meat supplies protein and iron. Both are essential, especially for growing bodies. Meat, however, poses a problem for braces wearers because it’s fibrous, making it hard to chew. Stringy meat will often become stuck in the braces, or between the teeth.
Tough cuts can be so difficult to chew that they end up loosening the bands that surround the molars. Eating meat right from the bone, such as chicken wings and ribs, becomes dangerous for your braces because you risk popping off a bracket.
Select lean, tender cuts of meat and cut them into bite-sized pieces before you eat it. Also, remove meat from the bone before eating. Some good choices include fish, chicken, and lean beef or pork. Tofu also is a good vegetarian option, since it’s soft.
Nuts and Seeds
Carefully selecting your choices from this vegetarian group will help keep your braces secure, because eating nuts and seeds can be very challenging for braces wearers.
Nuts and seeds are very hard, and they are very small—two challenging aspects for someone that wears braces. Biting down on a hard nut or seed can easily break a band or bracket off from the tooth.
Nuts and seeds are also responsible for bending the archwires, even though they may not break anything off. A bent wire can move the teeth into an undesired position, setting you back valuable treatment time.
Select nut spreads, such as peanut butter or almond butter, or coarsely grind your favorite nuts and seeds, and use them as a topping for your yogurt.
Candy: The Non-Food Group
Candy isn’t an official food group, but let’s face it most people do enjoy the occasional candy from time to time. But eating candy can be very destructive to your braces, and possibly to the tooth’s surface as well.1
Candy can be broken into two groups: hard and sticky. Morsels of toffee will adhere to the brackets and bands, which can easily break them off. Hard chocolate-covered nuts will do similar damage similar to its stick counterpart. Gummy candy will bend archwires and get stuck under your braces attachments.
Bringing It All Together: Enjoy the Variety
Eating with braces doesn’t have to be boring. Now that you know what you can and can’t eat with braces, you are able to choose from a wide variety of braces-friendly foods, that are readily available and easily prepared.
Try to select a variety of foods from all of the food groups listed above. Ensuring that your diet remains healthy during your orthodontic treatment is just as important as your overall treatment’s outcome.
If you are having a hard time connecting with your inner chef and you find your braces-friendly foods are bland and just plain boring, try searching for a braces-friendly cookbook or recipes that will help bring the excitement back to your taste buds.
Now is the perfect time to explore orthodontic options. We’re here to answer all the questions you might have! Dr. Matza is very well known in South Florida for his expertise. We will be happy to answer all of your questions! Call us at (561) 368-3480 or find us on Facebook.
Reference: [https://www.verywellhealth.com/what-you-can-and-cant-eat-with-braces-1059351]