In the first days after braces are fitted, your teeth are tender and your mouth is getting used to the hardware. Soft, easy-to-chew food makes eating comfortable and protects freshly placed brackets. It does not have to be a week of soup — with a little planning you can eat well and take care of your braces.
Rule of thumb for week one: if it is hard, crunchy, sticky or very chewy, leave it for later. Cut everything into smaller pieces and chew slowly — and on both sides where you can.
Food ideas for the first week
Breakfast
- Porridge or oatmeal
- Scrambled or poached eggs
- Yoghurt with soft fruit
- Pancakes or soft bread cut into small pieces
Lunch and dinner
- Pasta with soft sauces
- Mashed potato, sweet potato or pumpkin
- Soft-cooked chicken or fish cut into small pieces
- Soups and broths
- Soft-cooked vegetables
- Rice dishes
Snacks
- Bananas and soft fruit
- Cheese slices or soft cheese
- Puddings and custard
- Smoothies (watch the sugar — see below)
Foods to avoid throughout treatment
- Hard foods: nuts, hard lollies, ice, crusty bread
- Sticky foods: caramel, toffee, chewy sweets, chewing gum
- Crunchy foods: chips, popcorn, raw carrots and apples unless cut small
- Chewy foods: bagels, tough meat, liquorice
- Biting into whole fruit, corn on the cob or ribs — cut it off the bone and into pieces first
Ceramic brackets are more brittle than metal, so extra care with hard foods helps prevent a bracket from cracking — see ceramic versus metal braces for the practical differences.
Watch the sugar
Soft foods can be easy on the teeth but high in sugar — smoothies, juices and flavoured yoghurts in particular. Sugary and acidic drinks sit against brackets for long periods and increase the risk of white marks and decay. Plain water is the best drink between meals, and cleaning between the teeth should not be skipped, even in the first week.
When to call the clinic
Contact us if a bracket comes loose or off, a wire is poking or cutting into your cheek, or pain is not easing or is getting worse rather than better. Some soreness is expected; an appliance that is broken is not.
Our first-month guide explains what to expect week by week, and cleaning between your teeth with braces covers the tools that make cleaning around brackets easier.
Getting braces soon?
We can talk through what to expect in the first days, how to protect your braces and when to call.
Related: orthodontics, ceramic braces, how long braces take.