Keeping Summer Sweet: Foods to Enjoy and Avoid While Wearing Braces

Summer is a wonderful time to enjoy many flavorful treats, but wearing braces can limit your snacking options. Foods that are too hard or sticky can damage your wires and brackets, and items that are high in sugar can lead to plaque accumulation and nasty oral infections that cause delays in treatment. Here’s a brief overview of the seasonal favorites of summer along with a guide to which foods and beverages are safe for braces and which are not.

Foods to Skip

Unfortunately, many summertime favorites are too tough, sweet, acidic, or crunchy for braces to handle. A few items to avoid include:

• Corn on the cob: This sweet and smokey treat is great off the grill, but eating it directly off the cob can damage your brackets and bend your wires out of shape. Thankfully, it’s perfectly safe to cut the kernels off the cob and enjoy them off a plate. While you’ll still have to be wary about getting corn stuck in your teeth, this can be easily managed with an oral hygiene session after you eat.
• Tough meats: Meats that are tough or stringy can easily get caught in braces. A few items to be careful of include ribs, steak, and pulled pork or chicken. Try cutting your meat off the bone or into small pieces to make it more manageable.
• Crunchy snacks: Chips, pretzels, popcorn, and other crunchy snacks are quite popular during the summer, but they can easily bend your wires. If you indulge in these items, be sure to eat them slowly, preferably one at a time.
• Raw veggies: While celery, carrot sticks, and the like are common on veggie trays, they are often too crunchy for braces to chew safely. You can mitigate this issue by cutting them into small pieces and chewing them with your back teeth.
• Sticky and sugary treats: Ice cream, snow cones, popsicles, candy, and soda are heavy with sugar that can lead to tooth decay or gum disease. Avoid these to prevent oral infections and delays in treatment.

Foods to Enjoy

Luckily, there are many traditional summer foods that are easy to enjoy while you’re wearing braces. Be sure to treat yourself to favorites like:

• French fries
• Macaroni salad
• Beans
• Deviled eggs
• Chili
• Jello
• Hot dogs and burgers

Summer is a wonderful time to relax, have fun, and create memories. If you keep your braces in mind when making your eating decisions, you can prevent frustrating orthodontic emergencies and delays in treatment.

About the Practice

Serenity Orthodontics offers exemplary oral health services from six locations in Cumming, Braselton, Roswell, Jonesboro, and Suwanee, GA. Led by Drs. Susan Podray-Donovan, Kylie Lewis, and Karolina Grochowska, the staff ensures that each patient receives effective treatments designed to address their needs. Areas of expertise include traditional braces, clear aligners, and orthodontic emergency services. For more tips on eating right while wearing braces, contact the practice online.