What To Eat And What Not To Eat In Your First Week Of Braces
Congratulations on getting your braces on! This is the first step in getting your teeth to become as close to perfect as possible. Along with getting your teeth looking perfect and having a beautiful smile comes along with having some rules on what to eat with braces and what not to eat with braces. Let’s have a look at what we can and cannot eat with braces.
Disclaimer: We cannot provide professional advice to you and anything mentioned in the articles should be verified by your dentist or orthodontist first since this is just general educational information that cannot apply to every person in every case.
What you can eat with braces (this includes the first week of braces):
We won’t be able to list every single food in existence that you can eat but this will give you a general direction on what to eat with braces. Basically anything that won’t break your brackets off of your teeth is good and keep to the softer side of food but if it’s hard rather cut it up into smaller pieces so that it can be easily chewed and not place stress on your braces.
Soft foods in general
Mashed potatoes
Yoghurts and cheese (dairy products that aren’t hard)
Sandwiches (these need to be cut up into pieces!)
Cooked pastas and pancakes
Scrambled eggs
Cut up chicken pieces (not eating chicken off the bone)
Berries, cooked vegetables that are soft
Jell-O and any sort of soft cakes
Any sort of steaks and chewy meats need to be cut up into small pieces
What foods to eat with braces in the first week:
When you first get your braces, your teeth will be quite sore. Therefore you’ll want to stick to foods that are on the softer side of things just initially not to cause too much pain to your teeth. Once you get through the initial pain of braces (usually after the first week of having braces) then you can start eating foods that are a bit more complex such as the above foods listed but usually cut them up before eating.
Jell-O
Soup
Mashed potatoes
Drinkable yoghurts
Smoothies
Fruits that are soft such as banana and watermelon
Muffins
Soft cheese
Soft bread with no crusts
Pasta
Fish that is broken up
Shredded meats that are not tough to chew on such as pulled pork or shredded chicken
What foods not to eat with braces in the first week:
Your teeth will likely be sore in the first week. It’s therefore advisable to stay away from hard foods (in general hard foods are a no no for braces anyways due to the change of breaking a bracket off) even if they are cut up in the first week.
Toffee (this in general can’t be eaten with braces)
Hard meats even if they are cut up such as steak
Hard fruits even if they are cut up such as apple or cucumber
Raw vegetables such as carrots
Popcorn especially breaks brackets and can be a big pain in the first week
Any sort of candy that can be chewed
Chips and crackers that are hard enough to make the teeth sore
Hard breads we want to stay away from in the first week of braces
What foods to avoid eating when you have braces:
You want to avoid foods that will get stuck between your braces or that will cause the brackets to break off the braces.
Nut nut nuts, these break brackets like crazy because your teeth are used to break them in half when chewing but instead a bracket on the braces breaks off
Popcorn is also a big culprit of breaking brackets
Hard breads that have chances to break or put strain on your braces
Frozen chocolates not only break teeth but also break braces
Frozen chewies and ice lollies
Corn on a cob
Chicken off a bone or any meat off a bone that requires pulling to tear meat off
For all our school going students we look at what can be eaten the first week of school with braces:
Again this will include anything that isn’t hard or extremely sticky.
Cut up sandwiches such as peanut butter sandwiches
Cut up fruits that are softer such as watermelon, ripe pears and cut up banana.
Smoothies that don’t contain anything hard inside
Muffins without hard pieces inside
Yoghurts that are drinkable or which don’t contain any hard fruits inside
How Long After Braces Can You Eat Solid Foods?
On the first day of getting braces teeth are usually very sore and take some time to adapt to the wires, brackets and elastics. During this time of the adaptation to newly placed braces the best thing to do is avoid food for the next few days.
You should usually stay away from solid foods in the first couple of days with braces due to the teeth moving which causes pain, especially when eating. Around day 2 or 3 if you can feel that solid foods are not that painful to it’s a good sign to move onto eating solid foods but some people take longer than others to start eating solid foods after getting braces.
It all depends on how much pain you are experiencing.
In general with braces one needs to avoid very hard foods and taking in large amounts of food at one time. This will prevent you from breaking brackets and damaging the braces.
If you’re interested in getting braces or just thinking about getting braces, stop by our practice at 33 Claribel Road, Windermere, Durban, South Africa where we can assist you in getting your dream straight teeth with Dr Gray!