Food Center
(Foods to Avoid)
Choosing to get braces can be one of the best decisions you can make. Once started on the road to loving your new smile there are a few things you need to know and helpful ways to avoid any bumps during your treatment. Keeping good oral hygiene and eating well balanced healthy meals should keep you on track of success and the beautiful new smile you deserve. (Download PDF of all information, including recipes)
Anything Hard, Chewy, and Sticky such as Taffy and Gum. If you should need a cough drop, try to suck on it and avoid crunching into it.
Hard Breads including Cuban, Italian, Sub rolls, Pizza crust, Bagels, and Croissants. You can rip these types into smaller pieces and chew on your back teeth.
If you eat any type of meat on the bone such as ribs, chicken, etc., pull the meat off the bone to prevent from biting the bone and knocking and brackets loose.
Stay away from eating any type of Jerky or Popcorn. Popcorn shells are known to cause gum infections and kernels can be an easy way to break a bracket.
Make sure to cut all fruits and vegetables into smaller pieces. Do not bite into an apple or carrot, and cut all corn of the cob.
Keep away from bad habits, such as chewing on ice, biting on pens, pencils, and finger nails. Yuck!
Better Choice Breakfasts
- Strawberry Bread
- Banana Bread
- Strawberry Banana Smoothie
- Scrambled Eggs
Lots of TLC Lunches
- Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
- Ham and Turkey Tortilla Roll Ups
- Easy Egg Salad Sandwiches
- Crust less Pizza Squares
- Peanut Butter and Jelly Pinwheels
Super Snacks for Sore Teeth
- Soft Pretzels
- Strawberry Jell-O Mousse Cup
- Fresh Fruit Cup Sorbet
- Apple Sauce Bars
- Fruit and yogurt Parfait
Don’t Be Hard on yourself Dinners
- Baked Spaghetti
- Sheppard’s Pie
- Mashed Potatoes
- Tuna Casserole
- Tator Tot Bake
- Ham and Cheese Bowties
- Black Beans and Rice
Do-able Desserts
- Soft Baked Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Peanut Butter Fudge
- Warm Chocolate Fudge Brownies a la mode
- Fruit Cobbler – with or without ice cream
- Banana Pudding
- Orange Cream Milkshake
Example Recipes
Ingredients
4 slices of bread
4 tablespoons of (your choice of) creamy peanut butter
4 tablespoons of (your choice of) jelly or jam
Rolling pin or coffee cup
Butter knife
Directions
- 1: Take each slice of bread and roll it flat with a rolling pin or coffee cup.
- 2: Take a knife and trim off all crust.
- 3: Take two slices of bread and spread a tablespoon of peanut butter on each with a butter knife.
- 4: Take the other two slices of bread and spread a tablespoon of jelly or jam on each with a butter knife.
- 5: Take each slice of bread and roll it tightly horizontally and cut up to 3-4 slices.
- 6: After eating brush, rinse, and floss around all your braces 🙂
Ingredients
4 slices of bread
4 eggs
3 cups of water
1/3 cup of mayonnaise
1 tablespoon of mustard
1 tablespoon of relish
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
Directions
- 1: Take a pot and bring three cups of water to a boil.
- 2: Place carefully each egg into boiling water and cook on medium high for ten minutes.
- 3: Remove eggs from pot and allow to cool five to ten minutes.
- 4: Peel each egg, rinse, and slice into several layers in a bowl.
- 5: Add mayonnaise, mustard, relish, salt, pepper, and mix well.
- 6: Take each slice of bread and spread two tablespoons of the egg mixture. Combine the bread into two separate sandwiches (two slices each) and cut into triangles.
- 7: Serve warm or cold (refrigerate mixture before making sandwiches).
- 8: After eating brush, rinse, and floss around all your braces 🙂
Ingredients
1 cup of plain yogurt
2 bananas
2 cups of fresh strawberries
2 tablespoons of honey
1 cup of ice
1 tablespoon of wheat germ (if desired)
Directions
- 1: Combine yogurt, bananas, strawberries, honey, ice, and wheat germ into blender.
- 2: Blend for two minutes or until blended smooth.
- 3: After eating brush, rinse, and floss around all your braces 🙂
Ingredients
4 over-ripe bananas, mashed
2 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 cup of butter
1/2 cup of brown sugar
3 eggs
1/4 cup of walnuts finely chopped (if desired)
Directions
- 1: Preheat oven to 375 and grease loaf pan.
- 2: In a large bowl combine flour, and baking soda.
- 3: In a separate smaller bowl cream butter, brown sugar, and eggs. Slowly add together bananas and combine everything into the flour combination mixing completely.
- 4: Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for an hour or until done.
- 5: Place bread onto cooling rack.
- 6: Slice and serve.
- 7: After eating brush, rinse, and floss around all your braces 🙂
Ingredients
1 pound of ground beef or turkey
5 medium potatoes (peeled and cut into small pieces)
4-5 cups of water
1 cup of (frozen or canned) carrots
1 cup of (frozen or canned) corn
1 cup of (frozen or canned) peas
1 can of turkey gravy
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
1 cup of mild shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup of milk
3 tablespoons of butter
Directions
- 1: Take 4-5 cups of water and bring to boil. Add all cut up potatoes and cook for twenty minutes or until tender.
- 2: Strain potatoes and place into a separate bowl.
- 3: Add milk, butter, salt, and pepper and blend until smooth with no lumps.
- 4: Preheat oven at 350 degrees.
- 5: Take 1 pound of ground beef or turkey and brown in a frying pan and drain all extra oil.
- 6: In a fairy sized casserole dish start layering starting with a layer of mashed potatoes, followed by cheese, meat, vegetables, and gravy. Repeat layers until casserole dish is filled. You can top it off with shredded cheese if you desire.
- 7: Place in oven and bake for 30-35 minutes.
- 8: After eating brush, rinse, and floss around all your braces 🙂
Ingredients
1 package of spaghetti noodles cooked
Aluminum foil (non stick)
3 tablespoons of butter
1-1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese (divided)
1 package of ricotta cheese
1 pound of ground beef or turkey
1 jar of Italian tomato sauce
1 package or a block of mozzarella cheese
Directions
- 1: Take a 13x9x2 inch baking dish and line with non stick aluminum foil.
- 2: Combine cooked spaghetti noodles, butter, and parmesan cheese mix well and evenly spread the noodles.
- 3: Add the ricotta by spreading a layer over the noodles trying to cover completely and add remaining parmesan.
- 4: Use a frying pan on medium high heat and brown the beef or turkey (drain remaining oil) and make a layer over the ricotta. Add the jar of Italian tomato sauce and top everything with mozzarella.
- 5: Cover with the non stick foil and bake everything for 30 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
- 6: After eating brush, rinse, and floss around all your braces 🙂
Ingredients
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup of white sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 cup applesauce
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon apple pie spice
1-1/2 cups confectioners sugar
3 tablespoons margarine, melted
2 tablespoon milk
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
- 1: Preheat oven to 350 and grease baking pan.
- 2: In a bowl mix until smooth butter, brown sugar, white sugar, and eggs.
- 3: In a separate large bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, and apple pie spice.
- 4: Slowly mix together sugar mixture to the flour and spread evenly into baking pan.
- 5: Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown and set on cooling rack.
- 6: In a small bowl add confectioners sugar, melted butter, milk, and vanilla extract beating until you see a nice whipped texture.
- 7: Spread icing over the cooled cake, cut into bar shapes, and serve.
- 8: After eating brush, rinse, and floss around all your braces 🙂