Do Braces Hurt, and What Can I Eat With Them?

Fitting braces is not itself painful, because bonding brackets to teeth involves no drilling. The soreness arrives a few hours later, as the teeth begin to move and the ligament around each root becomes inflamed. It feels like a dull ache or a bruised sensation, most noticeable when chewing.

It peaks on the second day and fades over the next two to four days. After that, adjustments and wire changes produce a similar but usually milder episode each time. Many people find the first fitting the worst, and then barely notice later ones.

Pain that is sharp, one-sided, keeps getting worse or does not settle after a week is not typical and is worth a call to the clinic.

Eat soft food for the first few days. Cold things such as curd, chilled water or ice cream can soothe the teeth.

For rubbing on the lips and cheeks, press a small piece of orthodontic wax over the bracket or wire that is causing it, and rinse with warm salt water. The soft tissue toughens within a few weeks.

If you need a painkiller, paracetamol or ibuprofen can be used as directed on the label. Avoid ibuprofen if you have a stomach ulcer, kidney disease, asthma that it has triggered before, or are on blood thinners, and check with a doctor or pharmacist first if you are pregnant. Do not rely on painkillers day after day without telling your orthodontist.

If a wire is sticking out and jabbing you, see the notes in braces side effects. If you are weighing braces against aligners, do clear aligners work covers the aligner side, including whether they hurt.

In the first week, stick to soft food that needs little chewing: dal, khichdi, curd, soft rotis dipped in curry, idli, mashed potato, scrambled eggs, soup, smoothies, bananas, well-cooked vegetables and soft pasta or noodles.

After that, most food is fine if you cut it small and chew with the back teeth. Cut apples, carrots and cucumber into thin pieces rather than biting into them whole. Rice, paneer, fish and cooked vegetables rarely cause trouble.

Eat what feels comfortable, and give yourself a few days after each adjustment to take it a bit easier. Keeping to a routine of brushing after meals matters more than the exact menu.

Hard foods that can snap a bracket or bend a wire: nuts, hard candy, ice, popcorn kernels, chana, papad and namkeen, and biting straight into whole apples, corn on the cob or raw carrots.

Sticky and chewy foods that pull on brackets: toffee, caramel, chewing gum, chikki and gajak, and chewy sweets. They also cling to the wires, which raises the risk of decay and white marks.

Sugary drinks and snacks, especially fizzy drinks and frequent sweet tea, since sugar sitting around brackets feeds plaque. Biting nails, pens and ice also damages braces.

Every broken bracket is an appointment in which the teeth are not moving, so avoiding these foods can shorten treatment. How long braces take explains how breakages add up.

Soreness comes from the force on the teeth, so it is similar whichever bracket you have. Metal vs ceramic braces goes into the differences in rubbing and comfort. Aligners also cause tenderness when a new tray goes in.

If the discomfort is more than you expected, say so at your next visit. Your orthodontist can check for a wire that is too heavy or a bracket that is rubbing, and treatment is explained further on the braces and orthodontics page.