Don’t Eat That: Foods to Avoid While Wearing Braces

Here are your braces’ biggest enemies:

• Apples: Don’t bite into a whole one! Cut it into thin wedges first.
• Bagels and hard rolls: Convicted culprits of bending wires and loosening brackets.
• Beef jerky: Your braces don’t stand a chance against this leathery food.
• Bubble gum: Trust us, there’s nothing worse than spending hours picking gum from your braces.
• Candy canes or suckers: You might weaken and take a bite!
• Caramels and chewy candies: And you thought bubble gum was messy.
• Chicken wings: You can enjoy these if you first cut the meat off the bone.
• Corn chips: Anything that crunches when you bite it is bad news for braces.
• Corn on the cob: If you must, remove the kernels from the cob with a knife, then enjoy!
  
• Fingernails: Now’s the perfect time to kick that bad habit.
• Fruit Roll-Ups: See bubble gum.
• Gummi anything: See bubble gum.
• Hard candies: Can loosen wires and dislodge brackets.
• Hard cookies: Good news: You can have these if you soften them with milk.
• Ice cubes: No crunching!
• Nuts: All varieties—including peanuts, cashews and almonds—are off limits.
• Pears: Just like you would with apples, cut them into thin wedges first.
  
• Peanut brittle: Anything that crunches when you bite it is bad news for braces. 
  
• Pens and pencils: Don’t laugh, a lot of students can’t stop chewing on these inedible school supplies.
  
• Pickles: If you have a craving, cut them into bite-sized pieces.
• Popcorn: Great with movies, bad with braces.
• Pizza Crust: Good news: the rest of the pie is fine!
• Pretzels: Bends wires, loosens bands and knocks off brackets
• Raw carrots: If have a Bugs Bunny-like adoration for these orange veggies, steam or boil them for a much less crunchy consistency.
• Ribs: Just like you would with chicken wings, take the meat off the bone first.
• Sugary candy: Can lodge beneath brackets and wires, leading to tooth decay.
• Taffy:: It’s best to avoid this stuff entirely—even if you don’t have braces!