Life with braces involves some sacrifices. The common Thanksgiving advice is to cut down on sweets and hard foods. However, you don’t need to give up your favorite holiday dishes, you just need to make a few small adjustments.
- Main dishes: Both meat and stuffing are safe for braces, so bring on the turkey and ham. Just be sure to cut the meat into small pieces and never eat directly off the bone.
- Casseroles: As long as the dish doesn’t contain nuts, croutons or anything else crunchy, casseroles are safe to enjoy.
- Salads: Before diving into your delicious greens, make sure your salad doesn’t have any nuts, croutons or crunchy chunks of fruits and vegetables (like apples and carrots).
- Side dishes: For the most part, you are clear to enjoy all the traditional favorites like sweet and mashed potatoes, green beans, steamed veggies and cornbread muffins. Corn on the cob won’t work, but simply cut the soft kernels off with a knife and enjoy your corn with everyone else.
- Dessert: As a general rule, you should avoid sweets when you have braces. However, a little Thanksgiving indulgence is acceptable, so go ahead and enjoy some pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie or chocolate mousse pie. If your dessert has crunchy parts like nuts or crumble topping, just remove those parts or avoid that dish. Unfortunately, pecan pie falls on the foods-to-avoid list.
- Cranberries: Fresh cranberries are perfectly fine. However, cranberry sauce and dried cranberries stick to your teeth and braces and can cause trouble, so just skip those items this year.
What to Avoid
Even though you can enjoy most of the classics, there are still foods you should avoid altogether, such as:
- Popcorn
- Caramel and caramel apples
- Chips
- Crispy baked potatoes
- Nuts
Enjoy your holiday and remember to brush your teeth after your Thanksgiving dessert. If you live in the Stapleton area and would like to learn more about the proper care of your braces, contact our experienced dentist today online or at 303-331-0222 to schedule an appointment. We proudly serve patients from Denver area.
