From BBQs with friends to vacations with loved ones, many summer activities involve food. Naturally, this can make navigating your social calendar a bit tricky when you first get braces. Not to worry – there are plenty of delicious, satisfying, and refreshing meals and snacks on the list of foods you can eat. To learn what they are, read on!
8 Summer Foods That Are Also Braces-Friendly
Whether you’re looking through your fridge or surveying a buffet table at a family get-together, it’s best to avoid sticky, hard, and crunchy foods that can potentially damage a bracket, wire, or tooth. Instead, opt for foods like:
- Soft fruits (i.e., kiwi, watermelon, blueberries)
- Cooked vegetables (i.e., zucchini, broccoli, squash)
- Lean protein, like fish and chicken
- Mashed potatoes
- Pasta salad
- Macaroni and cheese
- Ice cream
- Rice
5 Foods to Avoid This Summer
It’s true: there are some summer foods you will have to pass on due to your braces. Although this may seem inconvenient, dealing with a broken bracket or loose wire is considerably worse. For this reason, you shouldn’t fill your plate with hard, crunchy, and sticky foods, including:
- Caramel apples
- Popcorn
- Meat on the bone
- Raw vegetables
- Chips
A Few Additional Poor Dental Habits to Avoid
This blog wouldn’t be complete without a few other summer-related dos and don’ts. For example, chewing on ice is not recommended, no matter how high the temperature gets! Doing so can break a bracket or, worse, a tooth. You should also avoid using your teeth as tools to open things, consuming too much sugar, nail-biting, and the like.
Summer is a season that should be filled with days by the pool, traveling, and catching up on R&R, not dealing with an orthodontic emergency. One of the best ways to avoid a broken bracket or loose wire this summer is by filling your plate with plenty of braces-friendly foods!
About the Practice
At first, navigating the dietary restrictions that come with braces might seem overwhelming. That’s why our team at Simply Orthodontics happily shares all of our tips and tricks! Whether you just started braces or this is simply your first summer with them, we go above and beyond to make achieving your smile goals as seamless as possible. If you have a question about what you can and can’t eat with braces or you need to schedule an appointment, don’t hesitate to visit our website or call (508) 281-5188.