Dinner Ideas For The Days Your Braces Are Tightened

ON BRACES-TIGHTENING DAY, you might want to eat something soft and easy when you get home. There are plenty of options for meals that are not only easy to eat, but delicious as well! The key to braces-friendly cooking is to replace hard, crunchy foods or ingredients with softer substitutes. 

7 Tips For Easy Chewing

Foods that don’t require much chewing make mealtime easier. We’ve done the thinking for you and yes… There are more options than just Jell-O! These tips should be handy when planning your menu on tightening day:

1. Macaroni and cheese is easy to eat with braces, since pasta is soft and the cheese won’t stick to braces. There’s a reason mac ’n cheese is such an infamous comfort food!
2. Soft foods like burritos and lasagna are a better choice than crunchy foods like tacos or pizza–unless you can make a homemade soft crust pizza!
3. Prepare meals with cooked vegetables instead of raw vegetables. A soft vegetable stir-fry is a healthy and soft dinner choice for tightening day.
4. Although meat is a great source of protein, it can be tricky to eat with braces. Softened beef in sloppy joes is a good option. Avoid working around a bone, or chewing tough meat.
5. Mashed potatoes or polenta are great sides for any dish on tightening day.
6. Smoothies, applesauce, yogurt, and hummus are great snack options.
7. For a sweet treat, consider soft cookies, ice cream, cake, or a mousse.

More Great Ideas:

What’s Your Favorite Post-Tightening Meal?

Sensitivity after a tightening should go away after a day or two, but choosing the right foods can help you feel comfortable sooner. There are lots of great ideas and recipes for tender teeth. Do you have your own favorite food to eat after tightening?Share with us below! We love hearing from you.

Thanks for being our valued patient and friend. We appreciate you!

Top image by Flickr user José Carlos Cortizo Pérez used under Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 4.0 license. Image cropped and modified from original.