What children can eat with braces (and what they can’t)
As soon as the braces are in, the question comes: “Can I still eat this?” How strict the answer is depends mainly on what kind of braces your child wears. With fixed braces there are genuine no-gos — with removable aligners there are practically none.
Fixed braces: avoid hard and sticky foods
While wearing fixed braces, children and teenagers should avoid hard and sticky foods that can damage the brackets or get caught in the braces. These include foods such as chewing gum, gummy sweets and nuts. Hard fruit and vegetables aren’t forbidden — but they’re better cut into small pieces.
Chewing gum should be avoided while wearing braces anyway, as our doctor Dr. Busche stresses. Anyone who reaches for sugar-free gum with xylitol instead is actually doing their teeth a favour: xylitol remineralises the teeth.
Invisible aligners: no bans
Unlike conventional brackets, which rule out certain foods, invisible aligners can be taken out at mealtimes. This means there are no restrictions on what your child can eat — they can enjoy all their favourite foods without worrying about anything getting stuck in their braces.
Two rules still apply: the aligners should be taken out before every meal or snack. And they must be put back in straight afterwards, so that the recommended wearing time of 20 to 22 hours a day is reached.
What’s really good for teeth
Regardless of braces: what children eat affects their health and their teeth for life. For parents, it’s therefore especially important to pay attention not only to oral hygiene but also to diet. Ideally, food is neither sweet nor sour — our teeth don’t like that. In general, foods that stimulate saliva flow are good, because saliva is a natural tooth cleaner.
- Leafy greens: Lettuce, spinach and other green leafy vegetables need plenty of chewing. This stimulates saliva flow; the saliva washes around the teeth and cleans them. It’s also the first step in neutralising acid that harms the teeth.
- Dairy products: Most cow’s milk products contain lots of calcium, which strengthens bones. Many dairy products also contain special proteins that strengthen tooth enamel.
- Raw food: Raw fruit and vegetables have to be well mixed with saliva and chewed a lot — which in turn stimulates the cleansing flow of saliva.
Tooth-friendly snacks for the school bag
When children chew sweets, slurp fizzy drinks and give their teeth no chance to remineralise, tooth decay quickly develops. Giving them pre-portioned snacks significantly reduces the chance of temptation striking.
- Fresh fruit: Strawberries with bananas, and later in the season fresh blueberries and raspberries. The water content of fresh fruit makes it a tooth-friendly choice. Watch out, however, for the sugar in dried fruit — it’s very concentrated, and dried fruit can stick to the teeth like sweets.
- Vegetable sticks: Carrots, celery or cherry tomatoes. If your child likes to experiment, try broccoli, cauliflower or kohlrabi — these can also be pre-cooked.
- Nuts: Almonds, cashews or pecans act as a buffer against sugar that sticks to the teeth. With fixed braces, however, the caveat above applies.
- Drinks: still water and mineral water, unsweetened tea — instead of fizzy soft drinks.
And a rule of thumb that does more good than any ban: constant snacking puts a strain on tooth enamel. If your child wants something sugary, it’s better to eat the portion all at once.
Recipes and advice
Simple, fresh dishes that put vegetables and fruit first are the best everyday contribution to healthy teeth. You’ll find ideas for this in our tooth-friendly recipes.
Would you like to know which braces will mean the fewest restrictions for your child? Book a detailed consultation with our experienced orthodontists — together we’ll find the best possible treatment option.