Foods You Can and Can’t Eat with Braces: Here’s Everything You Need to Know

TL;DR:

This blog will guide you through:

• Foods to avoid with braces
• Braces-friendly junk food, snacks, and fast food
• What to eat after adjustments
• Common questions like: Can I bite into pizza with braces?, Do braces cause indigestion?, and What is the best food to eat with braces?

Let’s dig into the best foods to enjoy (and what to avoid) during your smile journey.

Braces help us achieve healthy, straight smiles. But they do come with some lifestyle modifications, including dietary dos and don’ts. So what are the foods you can and can’t eat with braces, exactly? Here’s what you need to know so you can protect your investment, decrease your chances of feeling pain or discomfort, and avoid prolonging your treatment longer than necessary.

What Can You Not Eat with Braces?

Hard, sticky, and chewy foods can all too easily damage the delicate wires of braces or even worse, dislodge brackets, increasing treatment time and discomfort.

While some of these foods can still be enjoyed if you make sure to cut them into small, manageable bites (noted below), others are simply best avoided altogether to be safe.

As MouthHealthy.org, an ADA site, notes, here’s what you should avoid:

• Ice
• Popcorn
• Hard pretzels
• Nuts
• Chewy candies like caramel or gummi bears
• Gum
• Whole apples and pears (unless sliced)
• Raw carrots (unless chopped or steamed)
• Corn on the cob
• Pizza crust
• Bagels and hard rolls
• Ribs (unless meat is cut off the bone)
• Peanut brittle and sticky snack bars

Why should you avoid these trigger foods, exactly? Because they can break or loosen your brackets or wires, leading to dental emergencies and setting the course of treatment back, meaning it takes longer (and costs more)

What’s more, these foods tend to get stuck between brackets, increasing the risk of plaque buildup and decay, while also potentially causing pressure or pain.

Speaking of pain, eating especially crunchy foods like raw carrots or peanut brittle—especially right after adjustments—can aggravate soreness. What’s more, chewy foods like pizza crust or gummi bears carry the same risk.

After all, avoiding the foods listed above is about more than just reducing the chance of causing damage. It’s also about keeping you as comfortable as possible and reducing braces-related pain/discomfort!

The Best Braces-Friendly Snacks and Fast Food

Don’t be dismayed too much! There are plenty of tasty treats you can enjoy that are soft (and safe!) for your braces.

For instance, Penn Dental Medicine outlines a wide range of safe foods in their article, What You Can Eat With Braces. Here are some highlights:

Soft Fruits

Bananas, melons, grapes, blueberries, ripe pears, mangoes, and peaches are all braces-safe and loaded with nutrients. Choose fresh fruit over dried varieties, which tend to be sticky and sugary.

Cooked Vegetables

Steamed or roasted carrots, green beans, squash, and broccoli are easier to chew and won’t damage your brackets. If you’re craving crunch, try baking thin veggie slices into soft chips.

Grains and Breads

Soft tortillas, white or whole wheat sandwich bread, pancakes, rice, pasta, and couscous are all safe choices. Avoid crusty bread or bagels unless they’re steamed or very soft.

Proteins

Soft-cooked meats like shredded chicken, meatloaf, scrambled eggs, tofu, and tuna or chicken salad are easy to chew and offer valuable protein.

Braces-Friendly Fast-Food Options

Here are some real-world fast food picks that are typically safe for braces.

Note: these are not recommended choices, as they’re not necessarily the healthiest options from both a nutrition and whole health perspective. The point is that while there’s plenty you can’t eat with braces because of the consistency of the food, there are still plenty of soft/safe “braces friendly junk food options” that you can enjoy occasionally in limited quantities, including:

• McDonald’s: Filet-O-Fish (soft bun), soft cheeseburgers (no pickles or crunchy lettuce), plain pancakes, applesauce
• Chick-fil-A: Grilled nuggets, mac and cheese, chicken noodle soup, soft biscuits
• Subway: Meatball marinara or tuna sub on soft bread (cut into small bites, skip the toasted option)
• Taco Bell: Soft tacos, bean burritos, cheesy roll-ups, cheesy rice and beans
• Starbucks: Egg bites, yogurt parfaits, soft banana bread
• Panera Bread: Creamy mac & cheese, soups, soft sandwiches (no crusty ciabatta), fruit cups

Snacks for People with Braces

Looking for something quick to gnosh on between meals? Try some of these healthier alternatives:

• Yogurt
• Applesauce
• Mashed avocado
• Cottage cheese
• Pudding
• Refried beans
• Soft cheeses.

These foods are nutrient-dense and gentle on sore teeth.

Pro Tip: When snacking, aim to eat at regular mealtimes or rinse and brush afterward to avoid constant sugar exposure, which can harm both your teeth and your braces.

Conclusion

Figuring out what you can and can’t eat with braces doesn’t have to feel daunting. As you probably are beginning to realize, although braces do necessitate some lifestyle adjustments, they hardly require a total dietary overhaul.

That’s especially true if you choose clear aligners, which are removable!

Curious to learn more about the dos and don’ts of life with braces? Read our blog post “How to Take Care of Braces: Most Important Tips” now for additional tips related to diet and oral care.