Are There Foods I Can’t Eat with Braces? (SUPER LIST 2024)

However, some things haven’t changed since the early days of orthodontia, and one of those is the recommendation to avoid certain types of foods during the treatment period. This is not to say some patients have not continued to eat these foods and still experienced excellent treatment results.

Avoiding certain foods can minimize the possibility of treatment disruption due to damaged hardware or tooth injury. In this article, learn which foods we advise you to limit or avoid during the period of your orthodontic treatment. Certain hardware components may look strong, but can actually be quite easily damaged with the wrong eating and oral habits.

As well, some foods are so sticky they can adhere to the hardware and require intensive cleaning of the hardware to avoid the risk of decay during treatment. Your first week with braces is probably the most important, as there will be some trail and error.

In a nutshell, no-no foods fall into three major categories: hard, sticky and sugary.

Foods To Avoid With Braces

Hard Foods

Sugary Foods

No one likes to be told, “you can’t eat this.” But you are making an investment into your orthodontic care, either for your own benefit or on behalf of a loved one, and you want the end result to meet all your expectations and goals.

Of course, it is your choice (or your child’s choice) whether or not to follow your orthodontist’s recommendations for foods to avoid during treatment, but your results are likely to improve if you do.

For younger patients (tweens, teens) in particular, they may feel understandably tempted when they see friends chomping on hard candy or chewing on taffy. Young people, in particular, can often err on the side of too-positive during treatment, thinking none of the food-related damages they’ve been warned about could possibly happen to them.

If you think your child may be tempted to “cheat” during treatment due to peer pressure, too-positive thinking or other reasons, consider trying out these ideas to help them stay focused and committed to achieving the best possible end result:

• Send them off to group events with other favorite snacks that won’t damage orthodontic hardware.
• Brainstorm a big reward treat for getting all the way through treatment without a food-related hardware damage incident.
• Impart consequences (such as taking fees for food-related hardware repair) out of their allowance or taking away privileges.
• Emphasize daily motivation, such as printing out a favorite celebrity’s picture smiling widely and showing off perfect white teeth, and post it where your child can see it daily.
• Put on your own creative thinking cap for other motivational ideas!
• It can be especially helpful here for the whole family to support the patient(s) by making a joint commitment to avoid eating these foods during the patient’s treatment.

Other No-Nos to Avoid During Orthodontic Care

Many adults and teens, in particular, cope with stress by chewing on pencil erasers or pen caps or biting their nails.

Life sure can be stressful, and it is important to have ready outlets for relief. But chewing on caps, erasers or your own nails during treatment can not just damage but actually, break your orthodontic hardware.

For a child that has trouble remembering not to chomp down on a favorite toy or accessory or bite their nails when stressed, coating the tempting item with a bit of bitter apple (yup, the same stuff you probably use with the family dog and the household furnishings) usually works to swiftly eliminate this habit.

For older tweens and teens and adults, finding other creative ideas to relieve stress, such as bouncing a stress ball, adding a tiny desk-side Zen garden, trying out the adult coloring book fad or even shaking a Slinky are all fun ways to redirect that stress energy.

Your orthodontist will definitely thank you for committing to avoid both food and non-food no-nos during your treatment, but it is your own mouth that will thank you the most!