Once you’ve gotten your braces on, your orthodontist will probably give you a list of foods to avoid. Your goal while wearing braces should be to prevent damage to the brackets, bands, and wires, not to mention keeping your teeth healthy and clean during treatment. Try to stick to the following food guidelines while wearing your braces so that you reach the best results at the end of treatment.
Raw vegetables
Veggies like raw carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower are hard to bite into while wearing brackets on your teeth. Cut vegetables like these into bite-sized pieces that can be chewed easily with your back teeth. Or, cook your vegetables before eating them.
Hard fruits
The brackets on your teeth also may break by biting into hard fruits, such as apples and unripe pears. Cut hard fruits into smaller pieces to be chewed with your back teeth.
Meat
Meat causes problems for braces patients because it may be fibrous and hard to chew. Stringy meat gets stuck in your braces or between your teeth. Tough meat may loosen the bands around your molars. You can pop off a bracket by eating meat from the bone, like ribs or chicken wings. Select tender, lean cuts of meat, cut it into bite-sized pieces, and remove meat from the bone before eating it.
Hard breads
Hard crusted breads like bagels can be very hard to bite. Either break breads into small pieces or soften them by warming them before eating.
Nuts and seeds
The problem with nuts and seeds is that they can be hard and small, both problems for braces patients. You might break a band or bracket, or bend a wire that can delay your treatment.
Candy
Avoid both hard and sticky candy. Biting or chewing hard candy can break your braces, and sticky candy like gummies or caramel can get stuck in your braces or bend wires. Also, any type of candy is sugary and should be avoided because your teeth are more susceptible to decay while in braces.
