New braces take some getting used to. Your mouth may be sore for the first few days. It can be very helpful to manage the discomfort by taking Ibuprofen or Tylenol before your initial bonding appointment and then every 6 hours after your appointment for a couple days. You’ll want to eat soft foods and take good care of your teeth to avoid any complications. After a while, you’ll find you can eat just about the same foods as before, but you’ll want to avoid anything that may be too hard or sticky to prevent popping off brackets or bending the wires between them. You’ll find a list of friendly and unfriendly foods below. Be sure to keep your teeth clean! Brushing, flossing and keeping any food out of your braces after meals will help keep you on track with your oral health.
- Dairy — soft cheese, pudding, milk-based drinks
- Breads — soft tortillas, pancakes, muffins without nuts
- Grains — pasta, soft cooked rice
- Meats/poultry — soft cooked chicken, meatballs, lunch meats
- Seafood — tuna, salmon, crab cakes
- Vegetables — mashed potatoes, steamed spinach, beans
- Fruits — applesauce, bananas, fruit juice
- Treats — ice cream without nuts, milkshakes, Jell-O, soft cakes
- Chewy foods — bagels, licorice
- Crunchy foods — popcorn, chips, ice
- Sticky foods — caramel candies, chewing gum
- Hard foods — nuts, hard candies
- Foods that require biting into — corn on the cob, apples, carrots
