Food to Avoid While Wearing Braces

Perhaps one of the biggest drawbacks to braces is the limitations on the types of food you should eat while wearing them. Certain foods affect your teeth more negatively while wearing braces, and others may actually break the braces themselves. Here’s a quick rundown of the types of food to avoid while wearing braces.

Sugary Foods

While sugary foods should always be eaten in moderation, these foods are even worse for those wearing braces. Sugar builds up easily on braces, and can cause which can lead to swollen gums, white spots on the teeth, and decay.

Some examples to avoid include:

• Chocolate
• Lollipops
• Mints
• Soda
• Sport Drinks

Chewy and Sticky Foods

Chewy or sticky foods can actually pull the braces off of your teeth. Should this occur, an extra appointment with the orthodontist or dentist will be required, and the treatment process will be slowed down. On top of this, most sticky foods are often sugary—making them doubly worse!

Some examples to avoid include:

• Caramel
• Taffy
• Gummi Bears (and worms!)
• Skittles
• Starbursts
• Now and Laters
• Gum (even sugar free)

Hard Foods

Certain foods are tough, and attempting to eat them could cause damage to the braces, which, again, will require extra treatment and slow down the whole process.

Some examples to avoid include:

• Hard Taco Shells
• Chips
• Crusty Breads
• Bagels
• Nuts
• Hard Pretzels
• Ice

Foods that You Need to Bite with your Front Teeth

The Brackets on your front teeth are often more exposed than ones farther back, and the angle that you bite certain foods at can cause some serious damage. While you don’t necessarily have to cut these foods out of your diet—you should make sure to cut them into smaller pieces to their easier to manage.

Some examples to avoid include:

Carrots

Apples (or similar fruits like pears)

Corn on the Cob

Spare Ribs

Chicken (no drumsticks!)

Popcorn

Popcorn get its own category because not only can the kernels damage braces, they may get lodged into the gums behind them, becoming very difficult to remove and can cause severe irritation.

Non-Food Items

This may seem like a no-brainer, but many people chew on things like pen caps or their nails without even realizing it. Chewing on these items can damage braces, as well as cause a buildup of bacteria (which is a great reason to not chew on these things even without braces!)

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This is only a small list of the foods one should avoid while wearing braces, but hopefully it will serve as a useful guideline.

Avoid the Hassle

And while this may seem like a necessary evil on the road to improving your smile—there is an easier way: Invisalign. Because don’t wear Invisalign while you eat, you don’t have to worry about breaking them or any excess buildup of sugars or plaque (so long as you brush before putting them back on, of course.)

To speak to one of our dentists about using Invisalign instead of braces, schedule a free consultation at our Brooklyn Heights dental office today!