What foods work best with braces?

December 21, 2008 8:53 PM

All this metal is cramping our style: What foods work best with a new set of orthodontic braces?

My husband just got braces on Friday. He's been trying to find soft foods that work for him, but is getting frustrated with trial-and-error. For example, he thought rice would be good, but the rice kept getting caught in his braces. For those of you who've dealt with orthodontia in living memory, what foods work best? He doesn't need a liquid diet, just one that lets him eat comfortably. Thanks!

posted by debgpi to health & fitness (15 comments total)

The only thing to do is have a toothbrush, floss, and threaders handy after all meals. just stay away from taffy (including tootsie rolls!), because it can pop the adhesive right off.

it will take some time to get used to it.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 9:09 PM on December 21, 2008

When I had braces (about ten years ago, wow this makes me feel old) I was instructed to avoid sticky foods like salt-water toffee, and stuff that would really get stuck, like popcorn. Otherwise, brushing carefully was the only requirement. Putting sside from the question of aesthetics, stuff will inevitably get stuck, and if he's careful about brushing after every meal, it won't be a big deal.

Something like a grilled cheese sandwich might be good to start with. Hummus and pita. Pasta. Poached chicken tossed with a vinaigrette and served over salad. Sashimi. Basically nothing too hard or with too many small pieces at first.

My main memory was that the braces felt really weird for a few days, and then I mainly forgot about them. If he doesn't already have a Sonicare toothbrush or similar, that might be a great utilitarian gift. Also, a water-pik, interdental flossers, mouthwash, and wax to put on protruding pointy parts.
posted by charmcityblues at 9:10 PM on December 21, 2008

He might have better luck with things like stews or stuff with thick sauce for a few days. Just make sure any meats are tender.

He's going to be uncomfortable for a couple days after every adjustment (he'll get used to the adjustments after a while though.)

I had the best luck un-gunking my teeth with a water-pik. It's worth the money.

When I wanted to get out of school I would pop in a jolly rancher. That would pop off a bracket but the evidence would dissolve before I got to the orthodontist's office. (Going to the orthodontist's would get me a doctor's pass for the day.)
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 9:17 PM on December 21, 2008

I haven't had braces since the early 90s, but I didn't specifically have to avoid any foods, except chewy stuff - gum, soft caramel type candies....things of that texture. It'll get all gunked up in the metal, and can pop off/junk up the works. Even if it doesn't, it's still freakin' annoying (I may have snuck some caramels on Halloween one year! Delicious, but gunky.)

If he just got them on Friday, they're probably definitely still sore. He should feel better in a few days. I remember getting them tightened every month or so when I had them, and it stunk. Nothing debilitating (about on par with a headache that you can still function with, but won't go away), but it would make my gums/jaw sore for 4ish days, and the last thing I wanted to do was bite in to anything.

For the sore times, I remember my mom making me soft foods that I didn't have to chew too much - oatmeal for breakfast, PB&J/tuna sandwiches for lunch, etc. It's annoying at best, and it unfortunately will be trial and error (hopefully involving better food suggestions than mine!), but just know that he should feel better and be able to chew like a normal person in a day or two.

But yeah, stay away from the sticky stuff.
posted by AlisonM at 9:18 PM on December 21, 2008

I had braces twice plus a palate expander... It was notoriously difficult to eat the first few days after having them put on. Your whole mouth feels awkward and uncomfortable. He'll get used to it soon and will be able to eat just about all normal foods. Stay away from anything gummy or hard, as it can jar the adhesive loose. Also, keep in mind that getting bits of food stuck in the braces is an inevitability. It'll get easier to loosen that stuff with your tongue as you go on though.

For the first few days, the softer the better. Maybe bananas, or something doughy? Soon sandwiches will be no problem. There's really no sure-fire mealplan, but the differnce between the first few days and the rest of the time with braces is huge.
posted by JuiceBoxHero at 9:24 PM on December 21, 2008

Yep, a water-pik and threader floss are going to be essential, no matter what he eats. When I had braces a few years ago, I was surprised how pretty much everything with a texture more complicated than mashed potatoes would find a way to lodge in there. More soft food suggestions here.
posted by scody at 10:11 PM on December 21, 2008

For the first two weeks, I ate a lot of Carnation Instant Breakfast, mashed potatoes, and mac & cheese. After that, I ate anything (with the exceptions already mentioned: taffy, Sugar Daddies, etc.). You can't really avoid foods that stick in your braces, because they all do! One of the worst offenders is salad of any kind. I hated eating salad in a restaurant, but I just carried my little dental toolkit everywhere. Floss, threaders, etc.

I did have braces as an adult, and it's supposed to be more painful because your jaw bone is harder. One thing you can do that helps immensely is to chew gum immediately after getting your bands tightened. Carefree is nonstick, but I would chew anything, just being careful to keep the gum on the surfaces of my teeth. Chew it for about 30 minutes. Also, take ibuprofen about 2 hours before the appointment.
posted by peep at 10:21 PM on December 21, 2008

Sorry - He's still in the new, sucky phase of orthodontia. Right now all food is a problem, but within a week or two it'll be better.

One thing that will help now is drinking more and giving a little swish. It'll loosen all the stuff that manages to get in there.
posted by 26.2 at 11:16 PM on December 21, 2008

My little brother (14) got braces earlier this year. He says he mostly ate soup and icecream and soft pasta that he mashed against the roof of his mouth instead of chewing, and then expanded to anything else soft enough to mash in his mouth instead of chewing.
posted by jacalata at 1:16 AM on December 22, 2008

I don't know about best, but enoki mushrooms are the absolute worst.
posted by juv3nal at 2:06 AM on December 22, 2008

I had braces for 7 (!) years, beginning with a palate expander for 2 (!) years.

At first, it was painful to even eat a cheese doodle. But weeks later was better. If something was stuck in front - rarely, I'd just lick it off or rinse with water until I got home.

About a year into my braces I was able to eat anything including gum, taffy, caramel, etc.

But this did come at a price because I hadn't had a cleaning the entire time I had braces and when I finally did visit the dentist, they found cavities galore. So I recommend regular dentist appointments/ sonic toothbrush. It's very hard to floss.
posted by glenno86 at 6:09 AM on December 22, 2008

As an adult, the pain from braces sometimes lasted A LOT longer for me (we're talking 2-3 weeks, rather than 2-3 days) than it did when I was a teenager. My malpractice-worthy orthodontist tells me this is "perfectly normal," for what it's worth. So if you're sick of making soft foods at home, I'll share my secret:

Cracker Barrel and Boston Market

Oh sure, it's not the finest of cuisine, but for the first few days, you can get a "side dish plate" that gives you a better collection of foods than you could make for yourself.

Cracker Barrel: Mashed potatoes, Dumplings, Mac and Cheese, Hashbrown Casserole.
In the soft food to normal food transition period, you can try their roast beef dinner. It's fork tender and you don't need to chew much to get it down.

Boston Market: Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Creamed Spinach, Sweet Potato Casserole.

Chicken, any kind of bread, and salad will probably be too much for him until he is out of the painful adjustment phase.
posted by Gable Oak at 7:11 AM on December 22, 2008

Lots of people have addressed pain, so I'll just add one other thing about that: My ortho gave me a rubber U-shaped thing to chew on after adjustments. A bit like a mouthguard, but it's completely flat. They said chewing on that would help my teeth "settle" and make the pain go away faster. I can't say that it made a huge difference one way or the other, but that sort of thing would be WAY better than gum. No offense to those that suggested gum, but when you're an adult and you're paying for stuff yourself, having to get an emergency appointment because a brace popped off isn't so fun.

As to food, it all gets stuck up there. You kinda just have to get used to it and not smile much when you're eating. :) On a related note, just about the best product ever, are these little "interdental brushes"(google for pictures). They're just a small brush designed to fit between the wire and your teeth, allowing you to clean the braces quickly and easily. They sell pocket-sized versions that are about 2-3" long. I got them at the local drugstore...Walgreens, if you're in the U.S. I carried one of those and a pocket mirror wherever I went, so I could get rid of any food bits no matter where I was or what I was doing. They really made life MUCH easier.
posted by specialnobodie at 11:31 AM on December 22, 2008

Yogurt. If you get fruit yogurt, the fruit might get stuck in the braces, but a good water swish should loosen them.

When I had braces in middle school, for a good week or so after every appointment, all I could eat was soup, rice porridge, yogurt, and those Chinese instant liquid breakfasts like Carnation, in addition to drinks. Anything mashable in my mouth like mashed potatoes, popcorn, crackers, and such, came after those days. And then I went all out with candy. Taffy and caramel were no problem in very small pieces; I could smish them on the roof of my mouth and rub my tongue on them up there, and that (and saliva) will eventually wear down the candies. Makes them last longer than usual, too :).
posted by curagea at 12:55 PM on December 22, 2008

specialnobodie: No offense to those that suggested gum, but when you're an adult and you're paying for stuff yourself, having to get an emergency appointment because a brace popped off isn't so fun.

Gum is not going to pop off a bracket. Adults can chew properly, and if you're not rolling the gum around in your mouth and chewing like a jackass, it's not going to get stuck, either. Every single bracket that ever popped off in my case either happened spontaneously (I was sitting and watching TV, and - PING! - a bracket popped.) Usually the result of a bracket not being properly glued on.

The other big bracket popper was crusty bread. I had to give it up, because even torn into the tiniest chunks, biting into it can break brackets or permanent retainers.
posted by peep at 1:07 PM on December 22, 2008