Foods and drinks to avoid with braces

Smart choices to protect your smile

April 4, 2025
Don’t worry, you’ll be back to your favorite foods in no time! However, before you can start enjoying some of the treats you love, you will need to avoid any foods that could damage your new appliances. The list below is designed to protect your braces, avoid discomfort and keep your treatment on schedule as much as possible. Anytime a bracket is broken or a wire is bent, it can require an appointment for repair; and during that time, the affected teeth may not be moving like we need them to and treatment can ultimately take longer. This is why protecting your braces is so important!
Blog Do Not Eat List
 

What about Sweets?

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Sweets can be eaten with braces, but it is VERY important to brush or rinse your mouth immediately after eating them. The sweets will not cause damage to your braces, but they will cause damage to your teeth. Brackets and bands create “hiding places” for sugar, acid and bacteria to get trapped. If not brushed away, these particles turn into hardened plaque around brackets. Plaque feeds on sugar and produces acid. The acid literally “eats away” at tooth enamel, creating white spots and eventually cavities on the tooth surface! That’s right, these “white spots” are actually the beginning of a cavity.

 

What about drinks?

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One of the biggest issues for dental health today is the frequent consumption of soft drinks (Coke, Pepsi, etc), energy drinks (Alani, Celcius, etc) and sports drinks (Gatorade, Propel, etc). It does not matter if the soft drink is diet or not, it will have the same effect on your teeth because of the high acid content. We are seeing an increasing number of patients with visible damage from these types of drinks, and many are our younger patients. We cannot emphasize enough the need to avoid them, especially during orthodontic treatment. 

We want your orthodontic journey to be a positive experience, and we are committed to achieving the best results as efficiently as possible. However, your cooperation is essential in making that happen. By working together, we can help you achieve a healthy and confident smile in the shortest time possible. As always, contact us with your questions and concerns. We are here to support you!