Top Ten Foods to Avoid at Christmas Dinner If You Have Braces

Enjoy The Holidays Without Damaging Your Braces

The holidays are in full swing now and we are sure many patients are counting down the days to Thanksgiving and Christmas. As the leading provider of pediatric dentistry services, Aesthetic Dentistry of Arrowhead knows that many of our patients are wearing braces right now, which can be a bit of a challenge for these holidays. Unfortunately for anyone wearing braces, there are many foods in general to be avoided, and especially at the holidays when meals are a large part of the festivities. To make things easier on our patients, our Glendale dental team has compiled a list of the top ten foods to avoid at holiday meals when you are wearing braces.

Candy Canes – Not only are candy canes hard, but they are also sticky, so they are a big NO to anyone wearing braces. Hard food can potentially break or bend the wires of your braces and risk ruining all the hard work you have put into straightening your teeth.

Caramel Apples – Caramel apples are an extremely sticky food. Anything sticky can easily get stuck in your braces and tug on them or dislodge them. Caramel apples also have the potential to loosen or even completely remove your braces from your teeth.

Gingerbread Cookies – While they are delicious, gingerbread cookies are typically hard and crunchy. They are also generally quite large and must be bitten off in pieces for eating. Biting off hard foods can easily dislodge or bend your braces.

Anything with Nuts – Nuts are a big NO anytime a person is wearing braces. They can easily get lodged in between the wires and your teeth, causing extensive damage to your braces.

Peanut Brittle – Peanut brittle is just that: hard and brittle. Foods with this consistency have potential to break brackets or wires, causing damage to your braces and your teeth.

Pecan Pie – Pecan pie falls under the nuts category, but is such a popular holiday dish that it is worth mentioning on its own. It is also sticky, with great potential to get stuck in braces and ruin the wiring. It is not worth the risk! Stick to the pumpkin and apple pie, and keep your braces happy.

Toffee – Desserts with toffee are extremely popular around the holidays, but it is important that they be avoided. The sticky, hard consistency will cause your braces to be dislodged and tugged out of place, causing pain and the need for expensive repairs.

Anything else with Caramel – Along with caramel apples, any other dessert with caramel is a big NO and must be avoided. The stickiness of caramel, no matter how it is cooked, will loosen the brackets and wiring on your braces, and cause great damage.

Sticky Pudding – Sticky puddings are commonly found around Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, and should be avoided by anyone wearing braces. As mentioned with caramel and toffee, sticky foods should never be consumed with braces, as they will cause the wires to bend and break.

Hard Candies – Candy is highly popular around the holidays, especially peppermints and other hard candies. These should never be consumed by braces-wearers, even if they are not chewed, as the stickiness and hard texture has the potential to dislodge brackets and pull wires apart.

Contact Your Local Dentist

While this list may seem overwhelming and put a damper on your holidays, remember that there are still plenty of yummy seasonal foods that are completely okay to eat with braces! Turkey, ham, dinner rolls, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, fruit, green bean casserole, and so many more foods are available at Thanksgiving dinner, and should be fully enjoyed by all, with or without braces. If you have a slip-up and accidentally eat something that dislodges your braces, do not be too embarrassed to contact your dentist right away. Aesthetic Dentistry of Arrowhead is an excellent dentist that has years of experience in cosmetic and corrective dentistry. We can easily fix any issues you may have that result from eating a food on the NO list, and will get your braces back up and running again quickly and smoothly. To setup an appointment, contact us today at (623) 400-6030.