Eating with Braces

Having braces doesn't mean you can't eat a wide variety of foods! If you're careful, and keep a few limitations in mind, you'll be able to eat most of the foods you usually do.

What can you eat?

The first few weeks of wearing braces can be a bit difficult in terms of eating. For the first day or so, stick to softer foods. Avoid tough meats, hard breads, and raw vegetables.

Eventually, you'll be able to bring more food back into your diet, but you'll need to carefully protect your orthodontic appliances when you eat for the duration of your treatment.

Foods to Avoid

When wearing braces, you should try to avoid, or be extremely careful with, the following types of food:

• Chewy foods: bagels, hard rolls, licorice
• Crunchy foods: popcorn, ice, chips.
• Sticky foods: caramels, gum.
• Hard foods: nuts, candy
• Foods you have to bite into: corn on the cob, apples, carrots

Also try to avoid chewing on hard things (for example, pens, pencils or fingernails), as this can also damage your braces. Damaged braces will cause treatment to take longer.

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