What Foods to Avoid With Braces (and Why)

Every orthodontic office hands out a version of this list, and there's a reason it's not just being cautious — broken brackets are one of the most common (and most preventable) reasons treatment runs longer than planned.

The two real risks: force and stick

Hard foods can snap a bracket clean off with a single bite. Sticky foods pull at brackets and wires with the same force, just more slowly. Both end up costing you an unplanned repair visit.

Worth cutting out or modifying for the full treatment period:

• Ice, hard candy, and nuts

• Caramel, taffy, and other sticky candies

• Corn on the cob (cut it off the cob instead)

• Whole apples and carrots (slice them thin)

What happens if something breaks anyway

A broken bracket isn't an emergency, but it shouldn't wait either. Call your office to get it re-bonded — a bracket that's off the tooth but still on the wire can slide and cause irritation, and time without an active bracket is time without progress on that tooth.