Eating Thanksgiving Dinner with Braces

Thanksgiving is a day of friends, family, and food! Those of us who enjoy a good meal get especially excited for this holiday, but when one has braces, feasting festivities become much more daunting! You need to do everything you can in order to take good care of your braces, which may require some pre-Thanksgiving planning.

What Foods Should You Eat While Wearing Braces?

While you have your braces on, there are still a lot of foods that you can eat without a problem. In fact, many of the most popular Thanksgiving foods can still be enjoyed. You can comfortably eat jello salad, turkey or ham removed from the bone, stuffing, green beans, sweet potatoes, yams, pies that have a soft filling, steamed veggies, and so on.

Even if you might not be a fan of all of these foods, it’s still nice to have so many options, even with braces! However, you do need to protect your braces as much as possible, so clean your teeth and remove any meat or veggies that get stuck in your braces after eating.

What Foods Should You Avoid While Wearing Braces?

As we mentioned earlier, there are also some foods that aren’t exactly the best option for you to indulge in if you have braces. These include popcorn, crispy potato dishes, pies that have crunchy items, foods with nuts, caramel as well as raw carrots and raw apples, corn on the cob, and any food with crunchy or sticky ingredients.

Basically everything that’s crunchy should be avoided. The last thing you want is to damage your braces or teeth during the holidays. Ask ahead about which dishes your family is planning on serving and figure out which ones you will not be able to eat ahead of time.

Remember to floss and brush after every meal. Even though braces can be more difficult to keep clean, you still have to focus on keeping great oral hygiene if you want to stay healthy in the long run. Even if it does take time from your schedule, dental care is very important.

So, should you be worried that you won’t be able to eat anything during the Thanksgiving meal if you have braces? Not at all! That being said, if something were to go wrong the team at Engage Orthodontics is always here to help. If you keep these precautions in mind, you’ll be able to have a great Thanksgiving day without any worries. Having healthy teeth is something you’ll always be thankful for in the long run!