Foods to Avoid With Braces: The Complete UK Guide

With fixed braces you should avoid three categories of food: hard foods that snap brackets (ice, hard sweets, whole nuts, popcorn, raw whole carrots, hard crusty bread, biting directly from a bone); sticky and chewy foods that pull brackets and wires off (toffee, chewing gum, chewy sweets, dried fruit, very chewy bread); and frequent sugary and acidic foods and drinks that promote decay around the brackets (fizzy drinks, fruit juice sipped throughout the day, frequent sweet snacks). Of these, the hardest to avoid for most patients are chewy sweets and fizzy drinks.

Yes, most pizza is fine with braces. The main thing to avoid is very chewy or very hard pizza crust — the doughy centre of most pizza bases is soft enough to eat without bracket damage risk. Cut your pizza into smaller pieces rather than biting into a large slice with your front teeth, which puts more force on the brackets. Avoid pizza toppings that are very hard or very chewy (for example, very crispy bacon or very chewy dried meat toppings).

Yes — plain soft chocolate is one of the more brace-friendly sweet treats. It dissolves quickly and does not require the sustained hard biting or chewing force that damages brackets. Avoid chocolate bars that contain hard nuts, hard toffee, caramel, or very chewy centres. As with all sugary foods during brace treatment, keep chocolate to mealtimes rather than snacking on it throughout the day, to reduce the frequency of acid exposure to the teeth around the brackets.

No — fizzy drinks are one of the most important things to avoid during fixed brace treatment. The combination of high sugar content and high acidity attacks the enamel around the brackets, making the teeth highly susceptible to decalcification — the permanent white spot lesions that can be left on the teeth after brackets are removed. This applies to diet fizzy drinks as well as regular ones: the acid is present regardless of the sugar content. Switch to still water (the best option) or milk during your orthodontic treatment. If you do drink something acidic, drink it quickly through a straw rather than sipping it over an extended period.

With fixed braces you should avoid three categories of food: hard foods that snap brackets (ice, hard sweets, whole nuts, popcorn, raw whole carrots, hard crusty bread, biting directly from a bone); sticky and chewy foods that pull brackets and wires off (toffee, chewing gum, chewy sweets, dried fruit, very chewy bread); and frequent sugary and acidic foods and drinks that promote decay around the brackets (fizzy drinks, fruit juice sipped throughout the day, frequent sweet snacks). Of these, the hardest to avoid for most patients are chewy sweets and fizzy drinks.

Yes, most pizza is fine with braces. The main thing to avoid is very chewy or very hard pizza crust — the doughy centre of most pizza bases is soft enough to eat without bracket damage risk. Cut your pizza into smaller pieces rather than biting into a large slice with your front teeth, which puts more force on the brackets. Avoid pizza toppings that are very hard or very chewy (for example, very crispy bacon or very chewy dried meat toppings).

Yes — plain soft chocolate is one of the more brace-friendly sweet treats. It dissolves quickly and does not require the sustained hard biting or chewing force that damages brackets. Avoid chocolate bars that contain hard nuts, hard toffee, caramel, or very chewy centres. As with all sugary foods during brace treatment, keep chocolate to mealtimes rather than snacking on it throughout the day, to reduce the frequency of acid exposure to the teeth around the brackets.

No — fizzy drinks are one of the most important things to avoid during fixed brace treatment. The combination of high sugar content and high acidity attacks the enamel around the brackets, making the teeth highly susceptible to decalcification — the permanent white spot lesions that can be left on the teeth after brackets are removed. This applies to diet fizzy drinks as well as regular ones: the acid is present regardless of the sugar content. Switch to still water (the best option) or milk during your orthodontic treatment. If you do drink something acidic, drink it quickly through a straw rather than sipping it over an extended period.