Are you currently undergoing braces treatment and wondering what to eat to get adequate nutrition without affecting your orthodontic process? Do you desire a scientific, delicious, and easy-to-digest meal plan? Don’t worry! In this article, the team of doctors at My Auris Dental Clinic will suggest a 7-day menu for braces wearers – designed to suit all stages of orthodontic treatment, helping you eat comfortably while effectively protecting your oral health.
Standards for Building a Menu for Braces Wearers
When you first get braces, you might feel uncomfortable, so it’s crucial to pay special attention to the principles of building a menu for braces wearers. This ensures that eating doesn’t affect your brackets, while still providing sufficient nutrition and supporting a smooth treatment process.
Foods to Eat When Wearing Braces
Eat soft, liquid foods
In the initial phase, you should prioritize foods that are easy to chew, with sufficient softness and liquidity, to avoid damaging your teeth or putting pressure on your brackets. Some suggestions include:
- Porridge for braces wearers, soup for braces wearers, soft rice for braces wearers: These are starchy dishes that provide energy, while avoiding impact on the brackets, helping them remain secure and stable.
- Milk for braces wearers, shrimp for braces wearers, cheese for braces wearers: These foods are rich in calcium, vitamin D, and essential minerals, helping to limit tooth damage and supporting strong jawbones.
- Green vegetables for braces wearers: Cook vegetables until soft before eating to make them easy to chew, while also providing fiber and vitamins beneficial for the body.
- Fruits for braces wearers: Choose fruits rich in vitamins and juice them instead of eating them directly to ensure adequate nutrients while remaining easy to digest.
Additionally, you should cut food into small pieces or shred food to make it easier to chew and avoid affecting the brackets.
Foods to Avoid When Wearing Braces
In addition to foods good for braces wearers, you also need to be careful to limit or even avoid foods that negatively affect brackets and orthodontic progress.
Foods that are too hard, sticky, or chewy
Dishes like taffy, mochi, crispy fried foods, etc., require significant chewing force, causing teeth to work continuously, which can easily lead to misaligned teeth or dislodged brackets.
Dark-colored foods
When wearing metal braces, cleaning teeth becomes more challenging. If you eat many foods that easily stain, such as curry, soy sauce, coffee, etc., without thorough cleaning, your teeth may discolor and affect aesthetics.
Foods high in sugar
Sweets, soft drinks, and pastries can easily cause tooth decay or even pulpitis. If you develop dental problems while wearing braces, you might be forced to undergo treatment, incurring costs and prolonging treatment time.
7-Day Menu for Braces Wearers
Day 1 Menu for Braces Wearers
On the first day after getting braces, your oral cavity is still sensitive, so prioritize soft, easy-to-chew foods. For breakfast, choose soft oatmeal porridge cooked with flaxseed, adding a spoonful of fruit jam for natural sweetness. Serve with plain yogurt or a glass of soy milk to support digestion and supplement probiotics.
Lunch can consist of boiled broccoli soup or barley soup, served with boiled vegetables, a slice of soft bread, and a soft banana – rich in potassium and easy to digest. This is an ideal combination to ensure new braces wearers still get enough energy.
A simple afternoon snack with a cold glass of soy milk, served with a soft bread roll spread with light cheese, easy to swallow and not putting pressure on the teeth.
For dinner, you can have steamed fish with lemon-butter sauce, combined with steamed rice or rice porridge, and boiled green watercress. These dishes are not only delicious but also provide sufficient nutrition and are easy to digest – very suitable for those starting their orthodontic journey.
Day 2 Food Menu for Braces Wearers
On the second day after getting braces, it’s still necessary to maintain a soft menu, but you can prioritize vegetables, tubers, and fruits to supplement vitamin C and fiber – supporting tissue healing and reducing inflammation.
For breakfast, sweet potato porridge is suggested, which is both easy to swallow and provides fiber, making it very suitable for a sensitive digestive system.
Lunch is simple but nutritious with a soft salad portion including lettuce, avocado, ripe tomatoes, served with two soft-boiled eggs. This choice ensures adequate fiber and protein for the day.
Dinner continues with soft, light foods: soft rice and thoroughly cooked vegetable soup made from carrots, pumpkin, and potatoes. This meal not only ensures full nutrition but also supports good oral health during the orthodontic process.
Day 3 Braces Menu – Nutritional Boost
In the Day 3 braces menu, new braces wearers should prioritize soft and easy-to-chew dishes to reduce pressure on the brackets. One prominent dish is creative steamed eggs – naturally steamed, then added with pure honey to create a delicious flavor and natural sweetness that won’t cause discomfort when eating.
Additionally, pumpkin soup stewed with minced lean pork is not only packed with nutrients but also has a unique and wholesome flavor, suitable for those in the sensitive teeth phase.
Finishing the meal with soft yogurt is an ideal choice – easy to eat, helps improve digestion, and contributes to a perfect meal in both taste and nutritional value.
Day 4 Braces Menu – When Teeth are Used to Braces
Moving into the Day 4 braces menu, once teeth are used to wearing braces, users can start eating protein-rich dishes, but they should still be prepared in small, soft pieces to limit food getting stuck between teeth and make chewing and swallowing easier.
- Breakfast: A bowl of soft brown rice porridge supplemented with flaxseeds and fruit jam – combined with plain yogurt or soy milk to provide fiber and good bacteria for the gut.
- Lunch: A serving of easy-to-eat soft rice accompanied by tender, rich braised pork to enhance the flavor. Combined with minced pork pumpkin soup, it’s a delicious and nutritious dish worth trying for braces wearers.
- Green vegetables like boiled broccoli should be added to balance the meal.
- If hungry between meals, you can choose a soft banana or soft apple – both convenient and light on the stomach, without affecting the braces.
Day 5 Soft Food Menu for Braces Wearers
In the Day 5 menu for braces wearers, you’ll experience a rich meal with many soft food options. Today’s main dish is shrimp and straw mushroom porridge – a combination of finely minced fresh shrimp, ground pork, and thoroughly cooked straw mushrooms, creating an appealing shrimp and straw mushroom porridge with a rich and irresistible flavor. The dish is not only easy to digest but also supplements essential protein and minerals for those undergoing orthodontic treatment.
The Day 5 dessert is cheese flan – a familiar and delicious dish loved by many. The flan is soft, creamy with a distinctive cheese flavor, and a gentle sweetness, adding harmony to a perfect meal. This is also a popular dessert choice to gently replenish energy after the main meal.
Day 6 Menu for Braces Wearers
The Day 6 menu for braces wearers continues to offer soft, easy-to-digest foods while ensuring nutrition. Start the day with minced meat porridge with vegetables, a dish that is both easy to eat and provides vitamins and nutrients from vegetables to naturally improve digestive function.
Additionally, an orange sponge cake with a gentle sweet and sour taste will be a light dessert that stimulates the appetite. This delicious and nutritious dish is not only appealing in flavor but also in color, rich in fruit nutrients, helping to effectively restore energy.
For lunch and dinner, you can enjoy rice with your favorite dishes suitable for your braces condition. Prioritize soft, easy-to-chew dishes to ensure no damage or pain to your teeth and gums.
Day 7 Menu – Ideal Breakfast
Start your new day gently with shrimp, straw mushroom, and carrot porridge – a soft, easy-to-eat, and nutritious dish, especially suitable for those undergoing braces treatment. The porridge grains are cooked until tender, blended with the natural sweetness of carrots, the aromatic scent of straw mushrooms, and the rich flavor of fresh shrimp. All these elements combine to create a simple yet appealing and delicate dish, allowing you to enjoy it fully without needing too much chewing force.
The combination of sweet flavors, soft, tender porridge, and ideal consistency is not only easy to digest but also helps braces wearers chew easily, minimizing damage to the bracket system.
After each meal in the 7-day menu for braces wearers, thorough oral hygiene is extremely important. You should combine several cleaning methods such as using a specialized toothbrush for braces. Use dental floss or a water flosser to remove food debris between teeth. Rinse your mouth with antibacterial mouthwash to keep your breath fresh and your mouth clean.
