What you can and can't eat with braces

Page updated October 14, 2026. Medically reviewed by Dr. Abraham Thomas and Dr. Jennifer Loucks-Buren.

With braces you can eat most soft and normal foods, but you should avoid anything hard, sticky or crunchy, such as popcorn, nuts, hard candy, caramel, ice, chips and pretzels, because it can break brackets or bend wires. For the first few days after braces go on or are tightened, soft foods like yogurt, soup, eggs and mashed potatoes are easiest.

Why food matters with braces

Braces are made of delicate parts. They're built to handle normal eating, but some foods can damage them, and each time a bracket breaks or a wire comes loose your treatment can be set back (AAO). Braces also add nooks and crannies where food gets trapped, which raises the risk of decay (AAO). Sugar adds to that: it mixes with saliva into plaque that's harder to brush away with braces on (Healthline).

A broken bracket can also cost money, since repairs may not be included in your fee. Ask when you get your quote, and see types of braces for which designs are more fragile.

Foods to avoid with braces

Healthline's list also includes chewing gum, chewy candy and hard crackers (Healthline), and Healthline cites the American Dental Association for celery and carrot sticks, fried potato chips and crispy french fries (Healthline). If you really need to eat something hard, cut it into small pieces (Healthline), or cook, steam or bake it softer (AAO).

Foods that are safe with braces

You might be surprised how much you can still eat (AAO). The AAO's list of braces-safe foods (AAO):

Cold treats like ice cream can also help relieve some of the pressure from the wires (AAO).

What to eat the first week

Getting braces put on doesn't hurt, but your mouth may be sensitive for days afterward, so your orthodontist will probably suggest soft foods for the first few days (Healthline). Good choices: mashed potatoes, yogurt, soups, scrambled eggs, oatmeal, soft grains, seafood, soft fruit, soft cheese, cooked vegetables, moist desserts and pasta (Healthline). Healthline also suggests putting off thick breads, thick cuts of meat, spicy foods and citrus foods until your teeth adjust (Healthline).

Sensitivity usually improves within a few days to a week (Healthline). The same soft-food approach helps after each tightening (AAO), and the AAO's pain guide puts the worst soreness in the first 24 to 48 hours (AAO). More in do braces hurt?

Can you eat popcorn, gum, chips or pizza with braces?

Snack swaps from Healthline: soft baked cookies and muffins, soft crackers, cheese slices, yogurt, soft fruit slices, hard-boiled eggs, soft pretzels and soft chocolate (Healthline).

Drinks with braces

Water is best. The AAO suggests skipping or limiting sugary drinks such as sports drinks and soda (AAO), and Healthline suggests keeping sugary foods and drinks to a few a week (Healthline). If you have ceramic braces, coffee, tea and red wine can stain the clear ties (Cleveland Clinic). With clear aligners the rules are different: you take them out to eat and drink anything but water (AAO).

Cleaning up after you eat

Braces create hard-to-reach spaces where food, plaque and bacteria hide, and if they aren't kept clean you can find cavities or white marks when the braces come off (AAO). The AAO's routine (AAO) (step by step in how to take care of braces):

• Brush after every meal, ideally, with toothpaste
• Use the interproximal brush from your orthodontist for hard-to-reach spots
• Floss at least once a day
• Rinse with water after any sugary snack or drink

For school or work, pack a toothbrush, interproximal brush, floss, toothpaste, spare elastics and some orthodontic wax (AAO).

Eating well with braces

Cutting out crunchy foods shouldn't mean cutting out nutrition. Healthline mentions a small 1997 study suggesting braces may affect nutrient intake, so keep getting fiber and whole grains where you can (Healthline). Cooked or steamed vegetables, berries, bananas, eggs, fish and oatmeal from the safe list cover a lot of ground (AAO).

Eating with clear aligners or a retainer

Clear aligners don't have food rules in the same way, because they come out: the AAO says to remove them before eating or drinking anything other than water, and to clean them as well as your teeth before putting them back (AAO). They only work when worn at least 22 hours a day (AAO), so long meals and snacking eat into that time. A removable retainer also comes out for meals and goes back in after you've cleaned it (Healthline). More on Invisalign vs braces.

Tips for eating with braces

• Cut food small, so you don't bite with sensitive front teeth (AAO).
• Chew slowly and gently, and use your back teeth (AAO) (Healthline).
• Rinse with water after eating to dislodge food and prevent plaque and staining (AAO).
• Carry a travel toothbrush, or use a water flosser (AAO).
• Drink water through the day to rinse away debris (AAO).
• Follow your orthodontist's list, which may differ for your appliance (AAO).

If you break a bracket or wire

Wires and bands can come loose from sticky or crunchy food, from picking at your braces, or from an injury. Make an appointment with your orthodontist right away, because delaying a repair can slow treatment (Healthline). Orthodontic wax over a rough spot helps in the meantime (AAO); see how to use orthodontic wax. If a bracket is sliding on the wire, the AAO suggests gently sliding it back toward the center of the tooth, holding it with wax, and avoiding hard, chewy or sticky foods until it's fixed (AAO).

The same food rules apply after braces if you have a bonded retainer: the AAO recommends avoiding foods that aren't braces-friendly, because a fixed retainer can still break (AAO).