Foods to Avoid with Braces

Our mission is to help our patients achieve beautiful, radiant smiles through convenient orthodontic treatment. As a leading orthodontist serving North Potomac, Gaithersburg, Kentlands/Lakelands and the surrounding areas, we're proud to offer a wide range of treatment options from Invisalign to traditional metal braces. Modern braces are more comfortable and more convenient than those of the past, but you'll still need to make a number of adjustments to your life during treatment. And some of the most significant apply to your diet. 

Foods That Can Damage Braces

During treatment, you'll want to avoid any foods that could pose a risk of harming your braces or your teeth. Generally speaking, this includes hard foods, crunchy foods, sticky foods, gooey foods, and foods packed with sugar. Hard foods can break off brackets while sticky foods can get trapped under archwires and damage your braces. Sugary foods don't pose a direct threat to braces, but they do cause dental decay.  

Most of the time, you'll need to rely on common sense to determine which foods you should avoid. But to help you get an idea, here's a quick list of some of the most common foods you'll need to avoid while wearing braces:

Hard Foods That Can Hurt Braces:

• Bagels

• Hard pizza crust

• Chips

• Corn on the cob (ok when cut off the cob)

• Hard fruits & veggies like apples or raw carrots (ok if cut into bite-size pieces)

• Ice

• Bread with hard crust like French bread

• Hard taco shells

• Nuts

Sticky Foods That Can Hurt Braces:

• Bubble gum

• Toffee

• Caramels

• Starburst

• Tootsie Rolls

• Licorice

Sugary Foods to Minimize with Braces:

• Candy

• Soda

• Gatorade

• Any sugary drinks

Contact Your Kentlands/Lakelands Orthodontist

This list can tell you the types of foods you'll want to avoid during orthodontic treatment, but it's crucial to take a proactive approach and use common sense when deciding if a food is safe to eat with braces. And as always, we're here to help. If you have more questions about your diet during treatment or want to schedule an appointment at our orthodontic office, just reach out to us at our contact page. We can't wait to hear from you, and we look forward to helping you achieve a gorgeous new smile! For most situations, common sense will tell you what to avoid. Hard foods, sticky foods and foods high in sugar should be avoided. Hard foods can break or damage wires and brackets. Sticky foods can get caught between brackets and wires. Minimize sugary foods; they cause tooth decay and related problems. Nail biting, pencil and pen chewing and chewing on foreign objects should be avoided.