What can't you eat with braces? The foods to avoid, swap and enjoy

The food rules with braces come down to one principle: anything hard enough or sticky enough to pull a bracket off or bend a wire is off the menu until the braces come off. That rules out a surprising number of Australian staples, from Minties to crusty rolls, and it is the reason orthodontists hand new patients a list. This guide covers that list, the swaps that make it painless, and the answer to the question every teenager asks first: can I chew gum?

Foods to avoid with braces

The Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne’s advice to orthodontic patients is a good baseline. It lists hard and sticky sweets, crusty bread, rolls and pizza crusts, muesli bars, ice, nuts and chewing gum as foods to avoid, and warns against nail biting and chewing pens or pencils. Hard, crunchy or sticky foods can break or dislodge the brackets and wires. Expanding on that:

• Chewing gum: sticks to brackets and wires and can pull them loose. See below.
• Sticky lollies: toffees, caramels, Minties, Fantales, Redskins, Starburst, jelly lollies that cling. These are the single biggest cause of brackets coming off.
• Hard lollies: boiled lollies, Jaffas, lollipops. Sucking is fine; biting is not, and most people end up biting.
• Nuts and seeds: whole almonds, peanuts, cashews and the like. Nut butters are fine.
• Popcorn: kernels and husks wedge under wires and between brackets and gums.
• Ice: chewing it cracks brackets and can crack teeth, braces or not.
• Crusty bread and pizza crust: baguettes, sourdough crust, Turkish bread, hard rolls. Soft bread is fine.
• Hard crackers and chips: Corn chips are a common bracket-breaker. Softer chips eaten carefully are usually tolerated.
• Muesli bars and granola: hard, sticky and full of nuts, so they fail on every count.
• Whole apples and raw carrots: biting into them with the front teeth is how most brackets on the front teeth are lost. Sliced thin, both are fine.
• Corn on the cob and ribs: anything you gnaw off the bone or cob. Cut the corn off; take the meat off the rib.
• Tough or chewy meat: jerky, biltong, overcooked steak, chicken wings.

None of these will ruin your teeth if eaten once. The problem is mechanical: a broken bracket means a repair visit, often a fee after the first couple, and a wire that is not doing its job until it is fixed. Across a treatment that costs an indicative $5,000–$9,000 in 2026, repeated breakages add months and money. Our guide to braces cost in Australia covers what practices charge for repairs.

Category	Avoid	Eat with care (cut, cook or soften)	Fine as is
Bread and grains	Crusty rolls, baguettes, pizza crust, hard crackers, popcorn	Soft rolls torn into pieces; pizza with the crust left behind	Soft bread, wraps, pasta, rice, noodles, porridge, soft cereal
Fruit and veg	Whole apples, raw carrot sticks, corn on the cob	Apples and pears cut into thin slices; carrots cooked or grated; corn cut off the cob	Bananas, berries, melon, mango, cooked vegetables, mashed potato
Meat and protein	Jerky, biltong, tough steak, ribs eaten off the bone, chicken wings	Steak and chicken cut into small pieces; meat off the bone	Mince dishes, soft fish, eggs, tofu, slow-cooked meat, legumes
Snacks and lollies	Chewing gum, toffees, Minties, Fantales, Redskins, hard boiled lollies, nuts, muesli bars	Chocolate without nuts or caramel, left to soften	Yoghurt, cheese, smoothies, soft cake, custard, jelly
Drinks	Chewing ice; frequent soft drink, sports drinks and juice	Fizzy or sugary drinks occasionally, with a straw, then water	Water, milk, unsweetened tea
Habits	Biting nails, chewing pens and pencils, opening packets with teeth

Can you chew gum with braces?

The standard Australian advice, including from the Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne, is no. Gum sticks to brackets, wraps around wires and can pull both out of position, and getting it out of braces is tedious. That advice applies to all gum, sugar-free included.

You may read that sugar-free gum is acceptable with braces, and some orthodontists do permit it for patients with self-ligating brackets or once treatment is well established, on the grounds that modern sugar-free gum is less sticky and chewing stimulates saliva. That is a conversation to have with your own orthodontist, not a general rule. If yours says no, the safe answer is no. If you are given the go-ahead, choose a sugar-free gum, chew gently with your back teeth and stop at the first sign of it catching.

Clear aligner wearers have a simpler rule: take the aligners out to chew gum, as you would to eat, and brush before putting them back in. Our guide to Invisalign vs braces compares the lifestyle differences.

Foods to cut up, cook or soften

Most foods on the ‘avoid’ list are really ‘avoid in that form’. The Royal Dental Hospital’s own advice is to cut apples into small pieces and to cook or grate carrots. The same logic covers:

• Apples, pears, peaches: slice thinly and chew with the back teeth, or stew them.
• Carrots, celery, capsicum: cook, grate or cut into matchsticks.
• Corn: cut off the cob.
• Steak and chicken: cut into small pieces; slow-cooked or minced meat is easier still.
• Pizza: eat the topping and soft base; leave the crust.
• Burgers and sandwiches: cut into quarters rather than biting through with the front teeth.
• Chocolate: plain or soft-centred, left to warm slightly; skip nuts, toffee and caramel versions.
• Bread rolls: tear off pieces rather than biting.

The habit to build is chewing with the back teeth and keeping the front teeth, where brackets are most exposed, out of the heavy work.

Foods you can eat with braces

Plenty. Soft, non-sticky foods are completely fine from day one:

• Pasta, rice, noodles, couscous, polenta, soft bread, wraps
• Scrambled, boiled and poached eggs, omelettes
• Soft fish, mince dishes, meatballs, slow-cooked and shredded meat, tofu, lentils
• Mashed, roasted and steamed vegetables, soups
• Bananas, berries, melon, mango, kiwifruit, stewed fruit
• Yoghurt, cheese, custard, milk, smoothies
• Soft cakes, muffins, pancakes, ice cream
• Soft chocolate, marshmallows (in moderation; see below)

One caution that applies to everything: sugar. Braces create dozens of new places for plaque to collect, and the Australian Dental Association notes that frequent sugary or acidic drinks damage teeth whether or not you wear braces. With braces, that damage shows up as white marks around each bracket when they come off, which are permanent. Keep soft drink, sports drinks, cordial and juice to occasional, drink water afterwards and brush after meals. Our guides to the best electric toothbrushes and best water flossers cover cleaning around brackets.

A first-week menu while your teeth are sore

For the first few days after fitting, and for a day or two after each adjustment, teeth are tender and even soft food can feel like work. A realistic first-week menu:

• Breakfast: porridge, Weet-Bix soaked soft, yoghurt with soft fruit, smoothies, scrambled eggs
• Lunch: soup, mashed avocado on soft bread, pasta, soft omelette, mac and cheese
• Dinner: risotto, mince and mash, slow-cooked casserole, fish pie, soft curry with rice, dahl
• Snacks: custard, jelly, cheese, banana, ice cream, milk

Cold foods help with soreness, which is why ice cream and smoothies appear on every orthodontist’s list. Our guide to how to stop braces pain covers the rest of the first-week toolkit, including orthodontic wax and salt-water rinses.

If you do break something

It happens to almost everyone at least once. A loose bracket that is still on the wire can usually wait a few days; cover it with wax if it rubs and call the practice for a repair appointment. A wire poking the cheek can be covered with wax; ask your orthodontist before trying to trim or bend it. Do not wait for your next scheduled visit, as a broken bracket means that tooth is not moving and treatment is delayed. If you cannot reach your orthodontist and something is causing real pain or has been swallowed, see a registered dentist. For general treatment questions, see our guides to the types of braces and braces for kids.

Common questions