What To Eat When You Have Braces

Braces are pretty utilitarian to align and straighten your gnarly teeth. A pretty smile is a precious thing, and braces can give back that opportunity to smile confidently. Orthodontists may insert braces in your teeth, but the ultimate result is mainly in your hand. You’ve to be careful about what to eat with braces. And you need to keep a tab on practicing good oral hygiene, avoiding grinding of teeth, regular follow-up with your dentists, etc. These precautions during the treatment will yield the most feasible outcomes.

Putting on braces might seem hard for you in the first few days. You’ve to adjust a whole bunch of metallic bands, brackets, and wires, which needs a little time and patience. Eating poses a challenge due to new conditions in the mouth. If you gnash and gnaw at anything wearing the braces, you’ll fail the treatment. Even the teeth won’t be at your desired position and alignment. Moreover, sensitivity may build up after inserting braces which need extra curation of foods at this condition.

But what to eat when you have braces on your teeth? Do you need to cut out your favorite meals to eat with braces? Do you have the permission to bite on your favorite fast foods, candy, doughnuts, and others?

All the questions need answers, and we’re now going to guide you on these aspects. It’s necessary to know if you don’t want to miss out on your favorite foods, thinking they are not edible with braces. Some of you may want to avoid everything for fear of sensitivity. That might lead to unwanted weight loss. So maintaining a healthy and balanced diet is necessary to adjust and recover from such orthodontic treatment like root canal or teeth cleaning. 

And that’s why you should have a clear knowledge about what to eat when you get braces. Only then you can be confident enough to choose the right foods for you. 

Without further ado, let’s see if we can save your favorite foods from being cut off from your diet.

What to eat with braces, the first week

The first few days are most challenging when you get your braces. It’s understandable that you’ll ask, what can you eat in the first week of braces? It’s essential to make the right choices of foods during the first week with braces. Otherwise, you may develop unbearable tooth sensitivity and risks of damaging braces. But the biggest discomfort is when you can’t perfectly bite or chew any food in your mouth. Eventually, you’ll learn the ideal tactics to bite and chew foods differently in the following days.

You shouldn’t expect to gnash at any food during the first week. You’ve to abstain from eating hard, big-sized, crunchy, cold, and chewy foods. Rather you need to cling to a certain diet to eliminate the risks of being unbearably sensitized. The first week with braces is characterized by, first and foremost, sensitivity and, secondly, adjustment problems. You’ve to make sacrifices in the first week with braces. 

Dentists suggest soft things to eat in the first week with braces. You won’t have to worry about brace damage, chewing, or even sensitivity. As the teeth loosen and start to change their position, you might feel pain and soreness in the gums and teeth. Soft food is the best option to avoid any possible complications after any oral treatment, such as with braces.

When teeth sensitivity precipitates and you become adapted to the new metallic teeth in your mouth, you can have the ‘safe foods.’ You can start eating these foods with the soft things after the first week with braces. But are you wondering what are the best foods for beginners with braces?

Of course, soft foods are the best foods for beginners with braces. Soft foods ensure that your treatment starts well and ends in success by fending off further oral complications. But what are the soft foods to eat with braces? 

Soft things to eat with braces

As soft things are your savior in the first week with braces, you should indulge creativity in making soft foods. Besides some most common soft foods like soup, smoothie, or juice, you can easily get more ideas from your family and friends. Or try online, where you’ll find a plethora of resources to start eating soft food with braces. But you know in which foods lie your satisfaction. So you need to indulge some ideas and creativity in your culinary arts to get personalized satisfaction.

However, we’ve some astounding soft food ideas to ease your diet planning. Here are some of the best soft foods you can eat with braces.

Some things you’ll like to keep in mind when preparing soft foods are stated in this section. 

• Keep the foods moist as dry foods are harder to swallow. Moist foods can easily pass through. You can start by adding gravies to make foods soft. Also, add milk, oil, or butter to soften bread or cakes. 
• Cook slowly and for a longer period. Well-cooked cauliflower, broccoli, or cabbage are good options as soft foods.
• Cook, mash, and blend to get the softest texture of foods.
• Take high-calorie foods as most people don’t want to have as many soft foods as the average meal. You need to fill up the calorie quota with these soft foods.

However, here are some soft foods you can try in the first week with braces. You can also carry on your soft food diet for the rest of the treatment period.

1. Bone broth
2. Scrambled eggs
3. Mashed bananas
4. Soft dairies like yogurt and cottage cheese
5. Well cooked grains like pasta or oatmeal
6. Mashed potatoes
7. Applesauce
8. Protein shakes
9. Polenta
10. Baked, broiled fishes
11. Silky seafood like mussels and scallops
12. Cakes with different flavors like vanilla, Neapolitan, or chocolate one
13. Pancakes
14. Creamed and steamed spinach
15. Soups like lentil soup, chicken soup
16. Smoothies
17. Pudding
18. Smooth dips of guacamole or hummus
19. Soft bread like tortillas, muffins, etc.
20. Jell-O

What to eat when you have braces

After careful eating in the first week with braces, you can now chow down something bigger and harder. But still, you need to be cautious about gnashing at anything. That also means you shouldn’t-

• Chew on pens or pencils
• Bite your nails
• Cut anything like threads with teeth
• Use teeth as scissors or wire cutters

If you chew on any hard food, the braces may get damaged. The sticky foods can stick to the brackets and damage the mechanism. So you’ve to stay away from these types of foods. However, you can still carry on eating soft foods while opting for other options. But you may wonder, what to eat when you get braces? After a week with braces, you’ll be free to eat almost every food. You don’t have to ask yourself again and again about what to eat when you have braces.

The sensitivity should be gone by the first week, and by this time, you should learn how to chew foods. But don’t forget to avoid using your front teeth. You should use the teeth of the backside when chomping on crunchy foods. If these foods like hamburgers or pizza are too, you can cut them into pieces and enjoy them. Bite-sized foods are always easy to chew on. 

Eating foods with braces can seem entirely normal after some weeks. But you shouldn’t do anything that affects braces that might stay on your teeth for the next few months or years. Selecting the right foods and preparing them in the right way should reduce the risks of damage to the braces. But what should you eat with braces, and how should you eat? Besides soft foods, here are some ideas about what to eat when you have braces.

We’ve outlined the meals to eat when you have braces. This is just a push to your brain to think more about your personalized choices and about what to eat when you have braces. Also include some pink, yellow, green, or even gray fruits and veggies to enhance the recovery rate.

Snacks to eat with braces

Small meals are effective in completing the calorie quota during oral treatment. Patients don’t want to eat many at a time. So snacking comes in handy. Fruits should consist of a good portion of your snacks. You can include banana, applesauce, pieces of watermelon, blueberry, grapes, etc. Always slice the foods into pieces and have them in bite sizes. You can also have these snacks to eat with braces.

• Cottage cheese
• Baked chips
• Muffins
• Pudding
• Jell-O
• Scrambled eggs

These are the best snacks you can eat with braces.

What kind of breakfast can I eat with braces?

If you’re new to a brace, you might wonder about the limited choice of foods for breakfast. You’ll learn what to eat and how to eat certain foods eventually. Here are some breakfast ideas you can try for yourself. 

• Scrambled eggs
• Mashed potatoes
• Mashed bananas
• Flavorful yogurt
• Cottage cheese
• Oatmeal
• French toast
• Muffins
• Cereal
• Soft bread and pastries
• Ripe fruits

What can I eat for lunch with braces

You’ll find a plethora of options for lunch. However, put on a balanced proportion of the food nutrients, including carbohydrates, proteins, or fat.

• Well cooked grains
• Slow-cooked cauliflower or broccoli
• Shredded chicken
• Boneless piece of meat
• Broiled, baked, or boiled fish
• Hard-boiled eggs
• Sandwiches with thinner slices and soft fillings
• Hummus
• Boiled beans and lentil
• Quinoa
• Avocados
• Pudding
• Yogurt

What can u eat for dinner with braces

You can choose options from the lunch menu. However, you can switch between the lunch and dinner menu as they fit in both times. You shouldn’t eat anything that can stick to your teeth and eventually braces. Braces can get loosened due to crunchy foods, which might prolong the treatment. However, here is some dinner menu you can eat wearing braces.

• Fruits like berries, smoothies, juices, bananas, applesauce
• Vegetables like peas, creamed spinach, yams, etc
• Meatballs
• Soft cooked chicken
• Soft cooked rice, oatmeal, pasta
• Filet fish, salmon, tuna
• Soft bread, tortillas
• Milkshake, jelly, cakes 
• Hamburger
• Hot dogs
• Slow-cooked vegetables

How long after getting braces can you eat solid food

You should completely avoid solid foods during the first week after putting on braces on your teeth. When the irritation and pain precipitates, you can gradually increase the consistency of your foods. So it should take at least a week when you can eat solid food. But the foods shouldn’t be crunchy and sticky like nuts or candies. Such foods pose a great threat to the efficiency of the treatment.

You can eat a hamburger, pizza, meatballs which are hard in consistency but don’t put much pressure on the braces. They should be bite sizes and easily chewable. Solid foods are ok to eat after the first week with braces. But they shouldn’t be too hard to crack and sticky like glue. Otherwise, you can enjoy chowing down your favorite solid foods.

Wrap Up

A pretty smile is a part of good health. It’s important to know what to eat when you have braces, but it’s more important to follow the eating guidelines. If you don’t follow it correctly, your treatment may be prolonged from 3 months to 6 months. There are enough foods choices that will keep off monotony with foods. Try to bring creativity to add to your diet. That will help you build good dietary habits.

Do you have any food ideas to share with us? We can further discuss it. Let us know in the comment section.