The Orthodontic Diet

Eating with Braces

Don't worry, you'll be eating and snacking again in no time! However, before you can start enjoying some of the treats you love, you will need to take special care to avoid any foods that could damage your new appliances.
 

Foods to avoid with braces:

• Hard foods such as:   Jolly Ranchers, frozen candy, lollipops, candy apples, crunchy cereals, bagels, croutons, nuts, popcorn, celery (unless cooked or cut into small pieces), carrots (unless cooked or cut into small pieces), Doritos®, nachos, nacho chips, hard shell tacos, sub sandwiches, bacon bits, jerky, Slim Jims®, pizza crust, hard pretzels, large pieces of meat, wings (must cut the meat off the bone)

• Sticky foods such as:  Caramels, caramel apples, Starbursts®, Tootsie Rolls®, Now & Laters®, Skittles®, Sugar daddies®, Sugar babies®, licorice, taffy, toffee, Snickers®, gummy bears or gummy candy of any kind

• Hard chewy candy such as:  Heath®, Milk Duds®, Almond Joy®, Peanut M&M's®, Malted Milk Balls®, Milky Way®, Rolos®

• Sugary Foods such as:  high sugar or high acidic foods, soda pop, and gum

• Foods that require biting into such as:   uncut apples, plums, peaches, nectarines, pears and corn on the cob. You can eat these as long as you cut them up into small pieces or cut the corn off the cob.

• Avoid chewing on pens, pencils, fingernails, spout on water bottles, ice, plastic ring on water bottle, bottle caps, straws and eating utensils

 

 

​Foods you CAN eat with braces:

• Dairy — soft cheese, pudding, milk-based drinks

• Breads — soft tortillas, pancakes, muffins without nuts, bread, soft rolls

• Grains — pasta, cooked rice, 

• Meats/poultry — soft cooked chicken, meatballs, lunch meats, sloppy joes, small pieces of meat, hot dogs, hamburgers

• Seafood — fish, crab cakes, sushi, shrimp, crab, lobster

• Vegetables — cooked potatoes, steamed vegetables, cooked beans, canned vegetables, raw vegetables as long as they are cut into small thin pieces

• Fruits — applesauce, bananas, canned fruits, fresh fruits that are cut up into small pieces, melon, 

• Treats — ice cream without nuts or candies, milkshakes, Jell-O, soft cake, whipped cream, creamy peanut butter