Can You Eat Chocolate With Braces?

Braces are an orthodontic apparatus that straightens or moves teeth to achieve an improved appearance and/or function. Not only does wearing braces change the way you look, but it can change your diet too. If you’re the type of person who loves a chocolate bar or something sweet after your meal, this may be frustrating to hear. 

Certain foods can affect the time it takes for your braces to correct your teeth. Eating a well-balanced, soft food diet, along with proper dental hygiene, is the best bet at maintaining the effectiveness of your braces and achieving optimal results. 

Eating With Braces

When choosing food and beverages, you want to stick to the ones that will damage your braces the least. The short answer to the burning question is, yes, you can eat certain chocolates in moderation at mealtimes. 

The point is to avoid foods that can get stuck in your braces – this includes chewy foods like caramel. Foods high in sugar can wear down the enamel and lead to tooth decay, and this can weaken the braces. 

Foods that are safe to eat with braces:

• Soups
• Eggs
• Soft bread – generally all bread that isn’t toasted
• Dairy – yoghurt, soft cheeses, dessert pudding
• Spreads (try to keep the sweet ones to a minimum)
• Fruit 
• Rice, pasta, noodles
• Softened vegetables (through mashing or boiling methods)  
• Desserts (soft and low in sugar, e.g. ice cream, jelly, rice pudding)
• Easy-to-chew meat and seafood such as deli meats, salmon, tuna 

Now for the most important piece of knowledge in this post, what chocolates are safe to eat with braces? 

Chocolates that are safe to eat with braces:

• Reese’s pieces (most peanut butter cup chocolates)
• Mars
• Flake
• Galaxy
• Wispa
• Twirl
• Bounty
• MilkyWay
• Aero
• Maltesers
• Any dark chocolate that is not too hard to bite into

Chocolates that you should avoid with braces:

• Snickers
• Yorkie
• Munchies
• Crunchie
• Toffee Crisp
• Lion
• Daim
• Double Decker
• Chomp
• Curly Wurly
• Picnic
• M&Ms
• Revels

The list could go on, but the idea is this – chocolate that only requires gentle biting and has no sneaky caramel, toffee, or nuts is okay to eat. Biting down on these little pieces can pop off a bracket. 

On the odd occasion that you have a chocolate on the ‘avoid list’ or are just a frequent chocolate eater, it is advisable to brush your teeth afterwards with fluoride toothpaste.

What Can I Drink With Braces?

It’s no surprise that fizzy drinks and coffee are a no-go for brace-wearers. This is again due to the excessive sugar content that can erode your teeth and cause decay and gum disease.

• Water
• Milk 
• Smoothies (in moderation as they still contain sugar)
• Drinks made with sweeteners

A diet loaded with sugar and simple carbohydrates can lead to bad oral health and, combined with poor dental hygiene, the possibility of infection or disease rises. Not only that, reducing the number of meals you have in a day means there is less chance of bacteria creating acids and damaging your teeth and, subsequently, your braces.