Food to avoid with braces

Getting braces is an exciting step toward a straighter, healthier smile. Whether you’re wearing traditional metal braces or clear options, orthodontic treatment requires some dietary adjustments to protect your brackets and wires.

At our clinic, we always tell patients: what you eat directly affects your treatment progress. Eating the wrong foods can break brackets, bend wires, cause pain, or even delay your results.

Here’s a complete guide to the foods you should avoid while wearing braces — and safer alternatives to enjoy instead.

🍬 1. Sticky & Chewy Foods

❌ Avoid:

• Caramel

• Chewing gum

• Taffy

• Gummy candies

• Toffee

Why?

Sticky foods cling to brackets and wires, making them extremely difficult to clean. This increases the risk of plaque buildup, cavities, and white spots around the brackets. They can also pull brackets off your teeth.

🥜 2. Hard & Crunchy Foods

❌ Avoid:

• Hard candies

• Ice cubes (never chew ice!)

• Nuts

• Popcorn (especially unpopped kernels)

• Hard chips

  
  

Why?

Hard foods can crack brackets and bend archwires. Even a small break can interrupt your treatment timeline and require an emergency orthodontic visit.

🍎 3. Hard Fruits & Raw Vegetables (Unless Cut Properly)

❌ Avoid biting directly into:

• Whole apples

• Raw carrots

• Corn on the cob

Why?

Biting into hard foods puts pressure on front brackets, increasing the risk of breakage.

🍕 4. Foods You Should Eat Carefully

⚠ Be cautious with:

• Pizza crust

• Bagels

• Burgers

• Hard sandwich bread

These foods are not completely forbidden — just eat them carefully and avoid biting aggressively with your front teeth.

🦷 Why Following These Rules Is Important

Wearing braces (whether traditional metal braces or systems like Invisalign clear aligners) requires discipline. Damaging brackets can:

• Extend your treatment time

• Increase treatment cost

• Cause discomfort

• Affect your final results

Orthodontic treatment works best when appliances remain intact and oral hygiene is maintained properly.

Oral Hygiene Is Even More Important

Food particles easily get trapped around brackets and wires. To prevent cavities and gum inflammation:

• Brush after every meal

• Use orthodontic floss or a water flosser

• Avoid sugary snacks between meals

Braces are temporary — but your smile is forever. Making small adjustments to your diet now will protect your investment and help you achieve faster, better results.

If you have any questions about your braces care or need guidance on what you can safely eat, our team is always here to help.