🎁 Holidays With Braces: How To Keep Treats Fun (And Brackets Safe)
There’s a lot for kids to get excited about during the holidays: decorations, time off school, family time, music, and presents. Of course, holiday treats are a big part of the fun, too. However, holidays with braces can get tricky when hard or sticky snacks bend wires or pop brackets off. As a result, repairs can cost money and slow treatment down.
Fortunately, your child doesn’t have to miss out. Instead, choose softer, braces-friendly treats that keep spirits bright—and appliances intact. ✨
🚫 Holidays With Braces: Treats To Avoid
Before you plan the fun treats, it helps to know what to skip. In general, kids with braces should avoid hard, chewy, sticky, and crunchy snacks. For example, the American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) recommends avoiding items like these:
- Caramel
- Licorice
- Lollipops
- Bubblegum
- Popcorn
- Taffy
- Jelly beans
- Hard pretzels
These are just a few examples of treats that can bend or break metal brackets. Still, use your best judgment. If a treat isn’t sticky, chewy, or hard, it’s usually a safer choice.
✅ Holidays With Braces: Treats You Can Eat
Now for the good stuff! Instead of focusing on what your child can’t eat, try these festive ideas that are typically safer for braces.
🍓🎅 Strawberry Santas
All you need is strawberries, whipped cream, and chocolate sprinkles!
- Slice off the stem-side so the strawberry stands up.
- Cut off the top quarter (Santa’s hat).
- Add whipped cream for the face.
- Use two sprinkles for eyes.
- Place the hat on top and add a tiny dot of cream at the tip.
🦌🧀 Reindeer Cheese
With soft cheese triangles, yellow bell pepper, olives, and cherry tomatoes:
- Place a soft cheese triangle on a plate (the point becomes the nose).
- Push in pepper strips for antlers.
- Add olive pieces for eyes.
- Use half a cherry tomato for Rudolph’s nose.
⛄ Marshmallow Snowmen
All you need is marshmallows, white chocolate coating, chocolate chips, a small carrot piece, and a skewer/straw.
- Melt the coating.
- Stack three marshmallows on the skewer.
- Dip and coat.
- Press chocolate chips for eyes before it sets.
- Add a tiny carrot piece for the nose (keep it small to protect brackets).
🎄🍫 Christmas Tree Brownie Lollipops
Most lollipops aren’t braces-friendly. However, brownie “lollipops” work differently because they don’t involve biting hard candy.
- Bake brownies and cut into triangles.
- Spread green frosting.
- Add sprinkles as ornaments.
- Insert a stiff straw and trim the end to form the stick.
🍓🍌 Strawberry Banana Candy Cane
Candy canes can damage braces. Instead, make a soft fruit version:
- First, slice bananas into 1/2 inch pieces.
- Next, slice strawberries into similar pieces.
- Then, alternate pieces into a cane shape.
- Finally, serve and enjoy.
🪥 Holidays With Braces: Practicing Good Oral Hygiene
After your child eats holiday treats (or any meal), oral hygiene matters even more. Encourage them to:
- First, rinse with water. 💧
- Start brushing at the gumline at a 45-degree angle (use a braces brush if possible).
- Next, brush on top of the brackets by angling down.
- Then, angle up to clean beneath each bracket.
- Also, consider a floss threader, water flosser, and antimicrobial rinse if recommended.
Even when kids understand the long-term benefits of straight teeth, the holidays can feel challenging. That said, fun alternatives make it easier to stay on track. Ultimately, your child gets a bonus gift: a healthier, straighter smile for life. 😄✨To keep holidays with braces merry (and low-drama), schedule regular checkups and ask us for personalized tips for your child.
