The Best Brace-Friendly Snacks To Eat

Wearing braces can often be seen as a chore, especially if you have a sweet tooth. But giving in to your snack-eating temptations is often a bad idea and can often lead to damaging your braces.

However, wearing braces shouldn’t limit you from eating delicious snacks during your treatment.

Besides, like many foods, there are plenty of healthy, brace-friendly alternative snacks that are approved by orthodontists and are just as tasty and cause no harm to your teeth.

Find out what brace-friendly snacks you can enjoy in our article and what snacks to keep away from.

What Snacks You Can Eat Whilst Wearing Braces?

 
At the beginning of your treatment, you will have an incredible urge to go back to the snacks you used to eat before you had braces. Despite this, it’s important to keep in mind that your diet will need to change to help keep your braces effective at adjusting and shifting your teeth into their desired position. So, making sure you eat brace-friendly snacks will be vital to looking after your teeth during the entire procedure.

To ensure you eat the right snacks that won’t break and apply pressure to your braces, here is our list of approved brace-friendly snacks:

• Cheese strings
• Peanut butter spread
• Steamed vegetables
• Smoothies
• Soft fruit
• Yoghurt
• Soft baked goods such as cookies and muffins
• Scrambled or hard-boiled eggs
• Soft pretzels
• Baked kale or carrot crisps

Can You Eat Crisps With Braces?

 
Reaching for your favourite packet of crisps can be extremely enticing. Knowing which types of crisps to eat is key as some certain crisps are completely fine to eat, whereas fried crisps can often lead you to accidentally breaking a brace bracket.

Crisps that tend to be baked rather than fried are more suitable as they have a softer consistency and less crunchy texture. The best types of crisps that are safe to eat are snacks like pringles and cheese puffs.

We recommend staying away from most types of fried crisps, kettle-cooked and tortilla crisps which can get stuck in between your brace wires and bend them.

Can You Eat Popcorn With Braces?

 
Unfortunately, popcorn is on the list of snacks you shouldn’t eat when wearing braces. The hulls and kernels contained in popcorn can become easily trapped in between your braces and teeth – making it extremely difficult to remove them even with a toothpick or floss!

Due to their sharp edges, popcorn hulls can often get pushed against your gums and get trapped under your brace wires. Popcorn hulls are also almost transparent, again, this makes it harder for you to remove them.

What Snacks Should You Avoid When Wearing Braces?

 
To help you protect your teeth in your orthodontic treatment journey, here’s a list of other snacks you’ll want to avoid:

• Sweets
• Bagels
• Hard bread
• Thick pretzels
• Granola bars
• Nuts
• Carrots
• Corn on the cob
• Apples

How Can We Help

 
To avoid any discomfort at the beginning of your orthodontic treatment, we highly advise eating soft and non-sugary snacks.

Wearing braces doesn’t have to be a burden, you can still eat healthy and delicious foods to make your experience bearable.

If you’re considering receiving orthodontic treatment, get in touch with our team of orthodontic experts and book a free consultation with us today. Or alternatively, call us on 020 3733 4187.